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Tag Archives | Left-Libertarian

Aragorn! Anarchy! Action!

By on March 17, 2012 10
pubkeeper Bilbo trying to make sense of threatening legal missive from Mordor

pubkeeper Bilbo trying to make sense of threatening legal missive from Mordor

The copyright orcs at the Saul Zaentz Company were trying to shut down a pub named after The Hobbit, but thanks to enormous internet backlash, including Hobbit actors Ian McKellen (“as if it were possible to control the way Tolkien and his characters have entered the culture”) and Stephen Fry (“what pointless, self-defeating bullying”), as well as a facebook support page set up by student Heather Cartwright (“how long do we need to protect works for? do we protect the works of Mozart and Shakespeare?”), the orcs have backed down, saying it was all a “misunderstanding,” and the pub now need only pay a tribute of $100 a year – which is still too much (the right to freedom of speech shouldn’t come with a pricetag), but it’s a lot better than being forced to change their name or go out of business.

It’s good to see that concerted activism can succeed in shaming these companies out of their cyberbullying. And it’s more evidence for the strategic effectiveness of direct action over legislative reform.

Dixie Street Cred

By on March 15, 2012 4

Mitt Romney

“I had catfish for the second time. It was delicious, just like the first time.” – Mitt Romney

“And I’m really enjoying this so called … ‘iced cream.’” – Montgomery Burns

Famous Blue Raincoat

By on March 7, 2012 7

A while ago I started using “Socks” and “Caps” as shorthand for social anarchists and anarcho-capitalists respectively. But then I drifted away from it, mainly because there seemed to be no useful article-of-clothing shorthand for us lefty individualist types in the middle.

Murray Bookchin manifesting deep ideologico-sartorial confusion

Murray Bookchin manifesting deep ideologico-sartorial confusion

But there is! “Mack” (or “Mac,” but I’d prefer to avoid the association with either computers or hamburgers) is an abbreviation for an article of clothing – a Mac(k)intosh raincoat – and also works as an abbreviation for “FMAC,” itself an acronym for Kevin Carson’s phrase “free-market anti-capitalist.”

Okay, it’s a bit less intuitive than “Sock” or “Cap” – but on the other hand it has the advantage that macks are generally worn between socks and caps, which is just where we Macks generally find ourselves – because, y’know, we’re the vital center, while Socks and Caps are bewildered deviationists.

Also, it’s more embarrassing to be caught wearing only socks, or only a cap, than to be caught wearing only a mack – thus reinforcing our dialectical superiority. Plus Zerzanites can denounce all three groups, since Zerzanites don’t approve of clothing of any kind.

It’s Hard Out There For a Bank

By on March 2, 2012 3

According to AP:

Since November, Wells Fargo has charged $15 a month for some checking accounts unless customers have three accounts with the bank, maintain a minimum balance of $7,500 or have a Wells Fargo mortgage. … Some Citibank customers are being charged $20 a month unless they keep $15,000 in their accounts, up from $6,000 before December. …

Banks aren’t charities, and they say they need to make money, or at least cover the cost of doing business. … The big banks are public companies and are expected to make a profit somehow.

You’d never guess from this writeup that bank deposits are loans to the bank – which means that deposits themselves already include payments for the bank’s services. In what other industry does the lender have to pay interest to the borrower?

As in most cases, the solution would be competition and free entry in the banking industry. But regulations make that a distant ideal.

Señales Mixtas

By on February 29, 2012 2

I just saw an ad in which ethnic-cleansing governor Jan Brewer was inviting people to “come to Arizona.”

Muchas gracias por la bienvenida, Señora Brewer.

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