Samuel Edward Konkin III

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Samuel Edward Konkin III
Minarchism
(coining the term)

Samuel Edward Konkin III (8 July 1947 – 23 February 2004), also known as SEK3, was a Canadian-American

agorism
.

Personal life

Konkin was born in

Edmonton, Alberta, to Samuel Edward Konkin II and Helen Konkin. He had one brother named Alan. He married Sheila Wymer in 1990 and had one son named Samuel Evans-Konkin. The marriage ended soon afterward.[1] Although he was an atheist, Konkin was a lifelong fan of C. S. Lewis and J. R. R. Tolkien[1] and an avid fanzine contributor. He was a known figure among science fiction/fantasy fans for his writing on Alarums and Excursions and the like.[2]

Konkin was also notable for his style of dress: "To show his anarchist beliefs, he dressed completely in black, a color associated with that movement since the late nineteenth century".[3]

On 23 February 2004, Konkin died of

Edmonton, Alberta.[1]

Political opinions

Konkin considered libertarianism radical. He was an initiator of the Agorist Institute.

Konkin

minarchist philosopher Robert Nozick, and referred to Nozick's devotees as "Nozis".[3]

Konkin presents his strategy for achieving a libertarian society in his manifesto, New Libertarian Manifesto. Since he rejected voting and other means by which people typically attempt social change, he encouraged people to withdraw their consent from the state by devoting their economic activities to

agorism' for the society he sought to achieve."[3] He also strongly opposed the idea of intellectual property.[3][4]

Konkin was editor and publisher of the irregularly-produced New Libertarian Notes (1971–1975), the New Libertarian Weekly (1975–1978), and finally New Libertarian magazine (1978–1990), the last issue of which was a special science fiction tribute featuring a Robert A. Heinlein cover (issue 187, 1990).

Konkin was an opponent of imperialism and interventionism.[5]

Agorism

Konkin proposed a social political philosophy known as Agorism, which advocates for a society in which all relations between people are voluntary exchanges by means of counter-economics, engaging with aspects of nonviolent revolution. Agorism has similar elements to anarcho-capitalism, but unlike some anarcho-capitalists, most agorists are strictly opposed to voting as a strategy for achieving their desired outcomes.

The goal of agorism is the agora. The society of the open marketplace as near to untainted by theft, assault, and fraud as can be humanly attained is as close to a free society as can be achieved. And a free society is the only one in which each and every one of us can satisfy his or her subjective values without crushing others' values by violence and coercion.

— Samuel Edward Konkin III[6]

Controversies

In her book Anarchism: Left, Right, and Green, political theorist and

anarcho-syndicalist, Ulrike Heider accused Konkin of endorsing historical negationism in his dealing with the Institute for Historical Review (IHR),[7] where he served on the Board of Directors, which included allotting advertisement space to the IHR in New Libertarian,[8] and writing a positive review of James J. Martin's book on Raphael Lemkin, which was published by the IHR.[9] Konkin personally rejected Holocaust denial, but defended the IHR because he believed its freedom of speech was being suppressed.[7][10]

See also

References

  1. ^ a b c "A Fannish Tribute to Samuel Edward Konkin III". www.pulpless.com.
  2. ^ a b c d Gordon, David (2011-04-01) Sam Konkin and Libertarian Theory, LewRockwell.com; accessed October 28, 2017.
  3. ^ Samuel Edward Konkin III Copywrongs, EnemigosdelEstado.com
  4. ^ "El Salvador: The War to Come".
  5. ^ Konkin III, Samuel Edward. An Agorist Primer (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 11 March 2022.
  6. ^ .
  7. ^ "New Libertarian #11". KoPubCo. Retrieved 2017-10-01.
  8. ^ Konkin, Samuel (1984), Thrusting the Stake into Lemkin's Bleeding Heart
  9. ^ "The Last, Whole Introduction to Agorism" (PDF). Papers of the Libertarian Left. Archived from the original (PDF) on 27 April 2022. Retrieved 4 May 2022.

External links