Alliance of the Libertarian Left folks from New Jersey, New York, and New Hampshire converged at the 2010 NYC Anarchist Book Fair. This is the first time ALL had a table at the event.

We had a good mix of cheap and free literature:

The table got more organized as the day went on. Unfortunately we had less than half the display space we’re used to, so it took some work to keep a good representation of literature on the table.

Kevin Carson’s The Iron Fist Behind the Invisible Hand was a popular giveaway. We also gave out about 40 assorted Center For a Stateless Society pamphlets. Our free literature also included copies of ALLiance Journal, the Market Anarchy zine series, and New Libertarian Manifesto. Much of this can be downloaded at LibertyActivism.info.

There was also a great selection of titles from Corvus Editions, including some brand new booklets. They sold well. We also sold the fiction books Bring a Gun to School Day and The Walton Street Tycoons, and prints of An Agorist Primer and Agorist Class Theory. We had ALL buttons from Vegas ALL and shirts by Bosco.

This fair would not be a money-making trip for me, however. I ended up “investing” in lots of books and zines, plus some cool posters.

The fair provided a great opportunity to meet and talk to lots of folks from across the anarchist and radical spectrum. The space was packed with active and inquisitive people. I look forward to doing more anarchy in the New York metro area.

Much thanks to James from Tulsa ALL for contributing towards table costs, and thanks to everyone who came and made the experience awesome!

Last week I posted a new feature at Center for a Stateless Society: Build Liberty From the Ground Up. I turned the text into a pamphlet, which can be downloaded from LibertyActivism.info.

Speaking of Center for a Stateless Society pamphlets, they were popular handouts at the New York Anarchist Book Fair last weekend. I’ll post more about the fair tomorrow, but be assured that it was a great time.

Today I posted a new C4SS commentary, Free Space, which kind of has a pun for a title. Because I didn’t post a news commentary last week, I’ll post another commentary either tomorrow or Wednesday. I apologize to C4SS supporters for not meeting my pledge to post a weekly commentary. But I do think this fumble is mitigated by the fact that last week I not only posted my monthly feature, but put in the extra work to make it into a pamphlet and gave out C4SS literature at the NYC Anarchist Book Fair.

I didn’t post a link to my Center for a Stateless Society commentary last week. In Health Care Anger, Anarchist Solutions, I described how potentially violent power struggles can be defused by ceasing to struggle for power over people:

Consistent libertarian thought offers a clear path out of the conflicts that occur when people struggle to rule over each other.

Governments, or factions within governments, fight over who, what, and where they are to exert their authority. When these turf battles get serious, words like “war” are used.

My March feature article examines What the State is Made Of:

The state is an organization through which some people exercise political authority – coercive power with a claim of legitimacy – against other people.

A state is said to have the right to do things that ordinary individuals do not have the right to do. The state is conferred the right to rule over individuals. It works to control life in order to safeguard or expand the power of the people in charge and the powerful interests they answer to. Individuals may not opt out of state demands without being subject to legal sanctions (unless state agents find the cost of enforcing an individual infraction too high for the perceived benefit).

My latest commentary describes how A Free Society Would Have Safer Subways:

The recent Moscow subway bombings brought out the only response the state could make – more cops, harder crackdowns, and tougher talk. But what if there was another way?

In case you missed it, Charles “Rad Geek” Johnson’s Liberty Forum talk is online, and you can view it with some commentary by Charles over at Rad Geek People’s Daily.

There are other videos up at Blog of Bile Video. Jabob Hornberger’s speech, which I haven’t viewed yet, is online at the Future of Freedom Foundation website.

Somebody filmed Brad Spangler’s speech, and it will hopefully be available online soon.

Announcing the 4th Annual NYC Anarchist Book Fair:

April 17, 2010
11am-7pm
Judson Memorial Church, 55 Washington Square South, Manhattan

I will be there with some other excellent folks at an Alliance of the Libertarian Left table. We’ll have some mutualist, agorist, and individualist books and buttons. Some for sale, some for a requested donation. I look forward to some interesting discussions with other anarchists.

If you want to know more about our plans or want to offer suggestions, don’t hesitate to email me at darianworden[at]gmail[dot]com

I don’t feel like waiting for the forum registration process to be completed so I’ll just say it here: Seth Cohn is an authoritarian liar. He claims that he tried having a conversation with myself and others at Liberty Forum but we did not respond. What actually happened is that he started yelling at us and shaking his fingers in our faces about “somebody” counterfeiting lunch tickets at Liberty Forum. He absolutely refused to answer any of our questions [EDIT- He might have given us a bullshit non-answer here and there but he was demonstrably unwilling to have a real conversation - my bad] and he responded to every challenge by yelling louder and taking a more aggressive posture.

I was going to let the issue go because I understand someone being angry and acting irrationally when an event that he cares about and probably worked hard on is defrauded. Also, I’d rather not help cast negative attention on the Free State Project or Liberty Forum, which was an absolutely fantastic event. And frankly, I want to spend my time on productive things.

However, Cohn continues to lie about myself and others in online forums related to the FSP and New Hampshire activism, and I can only assume that he is lying about me in person also.

With one idiotic tirade Cohn deliberately insulted two people who were invited to speak at Liberty Forum, three people staffing a LF vendor table (two of whom plan to move to NH), and a longtime New Hampshire activist who was a leading figure in organizing a major contributing event to Liberty Forum. Instead of giving any of these people the apology they deserve he continues to self-righteously insult their integrity. In addition, he tries to portray everyone who disagrees with him on anything in the forum threads as people who support stealing from and defrauding the Free State Project.

Complaining about the likely defrauding of an organization while you yourself repeatedly lie to the public is hypocritical at best. I would have helped the Liberty Forum organizers deal with issues at the event if I was asked to. However, I was not asked to do anything of the sort. One man told me to be quiet while he tried to exert some kind of social status bully bullshit on me before he stormed out of the room. If Cohn actually believes this counts as a conversation, there is a deeper problem.

Until Cohn admits that he was wrong and displays willingness to repair bridges that he burned, I hope he makes good on his promise to not associate with me.

[EDIT - In case this hastily-written post doesn't make it clear enough, Cohn did in fact initiate the exchange by yelling accusations at six people while using aggressive body language. He has tried to portray events as happening otherwise.]

Last night Tennyson, bile, and I discussed Liberty Forum with special guest Laur. The archive is online at patriotradio.com. Bonus: the archive contains a clip about hussies and crashing a van before Thinking Liberty musically begins.

During the recent Alternatives Expo at New Hampshire Liberty Forum, I gave an informal talk on the connection of free-market libertarian thought to the left. I went through some history, discussed things of value in the present anti-authoritarian left, and noted some philosophical and strategic reasons for thinking in terms of left rather than right or neither.

I do think it would have been better if I’d got more sleep (Liberty Forum creates a lot of fun, fatigue-obscured memories), if I’d talked a little about the often complicated relationship between libertarian socialism and free market libertarianism, and if I’d given more examples of mutual aid, solidarity, and left/post-left anti-authoritarian groups (though I will take credit for bringing Situationist ideas to Alt Expo). It also would have been good to discuss why a libertarian society hasn’t existed on a continental scale at least for a very long time, and why that doesn’t make it unfeasible for one to exist in the future.

But it went really well, and everyone in the room seemed to enjoy it.

Bile already posted the video of the speech online. He also recorded the Q&A session after my speech, as well as Charles Johnson’s Liberty Forum talk, but hasn’t had time to post them yet. Stay tuned to Blog of Bile Video for the goods. [Update: the Q&A session is now online and posted below.]

Much thanks to the Free State Project, the Liberty Forum staff, and Jack and the Alt Expo crew for an outstanding weekend. Thanks to Bile and Laur for video, carpooling, and general tomfoolery. Thanks to everyone who came to my talk and to everyone else who made Liberty Forum and the Alternatives Expo such a good time. I’m really looking forward to Porc Fest, and have a few plans to contribute to its awesomeness.

This weekend the Liberty Forum happens in New Hampshire. It’s a big conference of liberty-oriented folks featuring a broad array of speakers and exhibitors – a great opportunity to meet cool people and exchange ideas. The Alternatives Expo is a related event at the same hotel which includes speakers, workshops, and low-cost crash space. It aims to be an incubator of alternatives to the modern lifestyle of state and corporate control.

I’ll be speaking at AltExpo about libertarianism’s historic and current relation to the left. I’ll also have books for sale and literature for free at the main Liberty Forum exhibitor area.

I’m looking forward to it.

Last night’s Thinking Liberty was a fun show, even though nobody in the studio turned into a Super Saiyan.

This isn’t a scripted show or a lecture. We discuss things as we think of them, and we like the audience to think through them with us.