Тег: Greeting

2019, results

The most surprising achievement of the past year for me is that the channel continues to exist at all and is even doing quite well. I still have things to say, and the number of people wishing to read them continues to grow. In 2019, the channel’s audience tripled, and that is only among those who prefer texts. In addition, I started writing scripts for videos, and since July, eight of them have already been released on the Libertarian band channel, and a ninth should appear any minute now.

The format of answering scattered questions from the audience helped a lot with post topics at the start of the project; now, in addition to that, I have begun to devote a lot of time to a consistent presentation of my own vision of libertarian ideology, translations of interesting texts published by foreign authors, cooperation with other libertarians of related directions, and even with left-wing anarchists, which I could not have imagined a year ago.

I am sure that in another year I will again be writing with surprise about the unexpected ways the channel continued to develop, so for now I will refrain from making detailed plans. Well, except that I promise to finish the translation of The Mechanics of Liberty and continue working on the video course on libertarianism. I would like to gradually look for ways to move from theory to practice, but we will see how that goes.

I will be glad for your New Year’s gifts in my bitcoin wallet, greetings in the chat and comments, and simply a good mood expressed in likes under the post.

Happy Bitcoine’en!

Satoshi Nakamoto was so kind as to time the publication of his paper “Bitcoin: A Peer-to-Peer Electronic Cash System” exactly for Halloween, so that we can celebrate two holidays at once, addressing our unchanging trick or treat not to offline neighbors, but to the entire internet.

So let us glorify our ability to perform online peer-to-peer financial transactions on this evening of Saint Satoshi, without which true hardcore agorism today would simply be unimaginable! As for the state, let it be afraid—it is better at that than anything else—so if Bitcoin didn’t exist, it would have found something else to be afraid of anyway.

Anniversary of the project launch

A year ago, on May 30, 2018, the first post was published as part of this project. What followed was quite winding; you can read a brief summary on the “About the project” page.

Over the year, approximately 400 posts were published, 283 of which were answers to your questions. In recent months, there have been more long-reads and translations of English-language materials. I am terribly short on time, otherwise there would have been even more material.

As of today, the channel has 847 subscribers on Telegram, 135 on Facebook, and 78 on Twitter. This is modest; I was really itching to give myself an anniversary gift, buy a couple of promotional posts, and reach a thousand. On the other hand, I desire citability more than subscribers. Before the New Year, I complained about the same thing, but so far I have done little to correct the situation.

On the other hand, the small audience that the project managed to gather is inspiring. An exceptionally cozy chat has formed around the project, where, despite extremely light moderation, we manage to communicate quite civilly on topics of varying degrees of seriousness and intensity.

It is especially pleasant to see your regular donations. Over the year, you sent 0.3 bitcoin to the main wallet, and another 0.019 bitcoin via Lightning. I am terribly glad that you value me so much, and I hope that I can continue to justify your trust.

I want to separately mention the established ongoing cooperation with a number of other libertarian resources. First and foremost, this is, of course, Bitarch. As I understand it, he not only runs his own VKontakte public page but also actively sponsors content production by other authors, including myself. This also includes the public pages Freedom pride and Antistate. I don’t understand how one can seriously rely on VK as a primary channel for content distribution, but these guys somehow manage. The channels Dobroum and Tea Club stand slightly apart—systemic cooperation hasn’t happened there yet, but there is some exchange of ideas and episodic mutual promotion. I hope to grow closer in the future to the author channels of Vladimir Zolotorev and Vladimir Popov, but for now, my sympathy for them is mostly one-sided. I have successfully turned to Alexey Tereshchuk and Pavel Usanov for consultations, and I keep a few other experts on special issues in mind. Finally, a couple of reference bots operate in the expanses of Telegram, Mister Mises and Libertarian Answers—they use some of my texts. If the owners of these bots are reading me—friends, you can not only take ready-made answers but also request custom texts on specific topics. Just specify the topic and which resource the order is for.

I am often asked if I will do streams. I won’t make any promises, but it is unlikely. The text format is the coziest for me, and also optimal in terms of maintaining anonymity. Perhaps I will be able to cooperate with someone on the production of videos, but only as a scriptwriter. I haven’t received any offers from anyone willing to take care of everything else, and I cannot handle the organization myself. So, it’s all in your hands.

And yet, Ukraine has finally gotten its libertarian president!

Remember, a long time ago, I rejoiced along with you that a libertarian ran for president of Ukraine? In the elections, Gennady Balashov received some ridiculously low numbers of support, partly because his electorate went to Volodymyr Zelenskyy. And, as it turned out, not in vain! A representative of Zelenskyy in the Rada just stated that his “Servant of the People” party will run in the parliamentary elections with a libertarian program.

Of course, judging by current polls, the chances of the libertarian party of Ukraine obtaining an absolute majority in the Rada are slim, and they will have to form a coalition, but slow and steady wins the race; this is already significantly more than one could have hoped for. I congratulate our neighbors on this stroke of luck; the cat that came out of the bag turned out to be exactly the right kind of cat.

April 12

They say that in the past, in the USSR, it was a nationwide holiday, but now it has lost its drive and in many ways has acquired the mood of “Sorry, Yura, we fucked everything up.”

No. The state fucked everything up. The “market” gradually crept into space, and once the market arrives somewhere, it settles in seriously and for the long haul. At first, private companies simply held contracts for state space companies. Then they started buying satellite launches from state companies. Then they learned to launch satellites themselves. They are just about to launch the first human. They have already launched a lunar expedition, albeit unsuccessfully.

Private space exploration is happening unobtrusively. In some places, it is the whim of a billionaire, in some it is the donations of enthusiasts, and in some it is a normal profitable business—and this, of course, is the most solid basis for expansion.

All of this applies to Russia as well. So S7 Space, Dauria Aerospace, or some other Russian private space companies will certainly enter the bright market paradise. And Roscosmos will simply die.

Happy holiday!

And the romance of space isn’t going anywhere. Starman sends his regards to Yuri Gagarin.

Anarcho-statism as the highest stage of ancap

Many people have insisted to me that a stateless society is impossible due to human nature. Man is a natural etatist; he always seeks a leader to follow, and in the absence of one, becomes one himself. This is confirmed by experiments on rats, the Stanford experiment, and many other independent studies, and it fully corresponds to the reality we observe. The time has come to admit that these guys are completely right; enough denying the obvious.

But who said that the current leaders are the only possible ones and there is no alternative? The “new transparency” that Ekaterina Schulmann tirelessly drones on about in her lectures clearly demonstrates to us the wretchedness of their motives and the shallowness of their minds. They are no better than we are, and we are no less worthy of ruling. The time has come for each of us to release our inner Leviathan!

It is the Leviathan, as Thomas Hobbes quite rightly notes, that is the only thing keeping humanity from a war of all against all. So, can two hundred Leviathans really save such a vast humanity? No, we need more Leviathans, otherwise the bright anarchist ideal will remain unattainable! Everyone reading this appeal must immediately declare themselves the authorized and sovereign ruler of their entire neighborhood, demand signs of respect from everyone around them, and begin collecting taxes, for it is precisely thanks to taxes that the construction of civilization is possible. Who, if not states, grants people all public goods? There are not enough public goods, which means we need more states!

Those who do not follow the appeal, fearing to recognize their own sovereignty, will only prove that they are unworthy of it. Well, there will always be those who take them under their benevolent patronage and make them their kind taxpayer. Thus, from shitty democracy, bypassing the pointless intermediate stage of monarchy, we will return once again to the ideal of natural aristocracy, in full accordance with the teachings of Hans-Hermann Hoppe—but on a new dialectical level, in full accordance with the teachings of Marx and Engels.

With this manifesto, I announce the founding of sovereign Ancapistan, the best of states. Bitcoins are declared the only legal means of payment in Ancapistan. Taxes are paid to the wallet 1A7Wu2enQNRETLXDNpQEufcbJybtM1VHZ8

Those who do not pay the tax will be left in Putin’s Russia. Is that really what you want?

Happy April 1st!

2018, results

Friends, thank you so much for being with me in the past year! Today marks exactly seven months since the project’s birth. It is already time to summarize some results.

The project has nearly five hundred subscribers on Telegram, nearly fifty on Twitter, and nearly a hundred on Facebook. This is modest. Next year, I want to pay more attention to viral content, whose task is simple — to be reposted and attract people to the main resource, where a more thoughtful acquaintance will take place.

The format of regular answers to readers’ questions, interspersed with separate notes, has proven itself excellent. I judge this primarily by the fact that new questions come in constantly, and the queue has stretched a month ahead. Your donations also help me understand that I am doing the right thing.

A community has gradually formed around the project, which not only inspires me to continue my activities but also greatly helps in the work. For instance, I have a permanent co-author, several consultants on specialized issues, regular authors of interesting questions — and simply a large number of well-wishers.

I will be glad to read your congratulations, wishes, and cooperation proposals in the comments or in the chat. I will be even happier to see reposts of any project materials on some active platforms.

I received a postcard of extreme kawaiiness for the New Year

Happy Constitution Day!

At the heart of documents such as constitutions lies a rather peculiar paradox of thinking. On one hand, law is equated with legislation, and any order from the reigning sovereign becomes law. On the other hand, there is a glimmer of understanding that the consistent implementation of such an approach creates conditions that are not very conducive to living and, in particular, greatly hinders long-term planning.

And here is what the creators of the idea of the constitution did. They proposed: let us establish a law that declares the people as the sovereign, and the actual ruler as merely the executor of the sovereign’s will. What would this achieve? This: we will explicitly write the limitations of the ruler’s powers in this very document. And since the ruler is not the sovereign, he cannot repeal them, meaning they must be observed—after all, the law is what is written on the paper.

Over several centuries of implementing the idea of constitutional limits on state power, it became clear how this works.

If relatively simple mechanisms for its amendment are embedded in the constitution, then it will be changed in accordance with the desires of interested parties in the government.

If, instead of concrete norms, the articles of the constitution provide references to laws that the government must adopt to comply with the constitution’s wishes, these laws very quickly become such that, in the name of the sovereign “people,” representatives of that very people—who have nothing to do with the exercise of state power—are repressed, while representatives of the “state” service organization are gently moved out of harm’s way.

Finally, if the constitution contrasts sharply with the wishes of sufficiently influential actors in the government, its norms are simply ignored, since a constitution usually does not contain norms specifying exactly how the sovereign has the right to hold the government—established by the sovereign—accountable when the government refuses to observe the constitutional restrictions established by that sovereign.

In short, the idea of a constitution is an interesting attempt to limit absolute power without departing from the principles of legalism, and this attempt had some success. However, no constitution has ever worked on its own. A constitution always works only on the general belief that, first, a constitution should exist and, second, it must be observed.

So, as long as we still live in a state, it is worth remembering that a constitution is a limitation on state power, not on civil rights. A citizen cannot violate the constitution; only a person vested with state authority can violate it. Since the constitution works on faith, shove this sacred scripture in the faces of government officials more often. Tell them: all laws are what you wrote against us, and only the constitution is what you wrote against yourselves. Therefore, I will demand that you observe the constitution, and specifically as I, the sovereign, understand it—that is, literally. And if any law, secondary act, job description, or oral directive from your immediate superiors violates this very constitution, then I, the sovereign, perceive this as a conspiracy against myself, the sovereign, and I will put a stop to it; so it is better to push aside all other scrap paper and talk about how you must observe my constitutional rights.

As lawyer Mikhail Benyash said in an interview with Mikhail Svetov: be as naive as children, demand the observance of the constitution.

For this post, a thank-you donation was received from John Griffith in the amount of
0.00258215 BTC