Alex Peak’s Dreams
2008/05/22:  The Agorist Party


   In this dream, I was somehow involved in the creation of an Agorist Party (AP).

   There are three libertarian parties currently active in the United States: the Libertarian Party (LP), the Boston Tea 
Party (BTP), and the Personal Choice Party (PCP).  In this dream, a fourth libertarian party was emerging, and was to take 
the mantle as the most radical of the four.

   For those not aware, agorism is a revolutionary form of market anarchism.  It was first promoted by Samuel Edward 
Konkin III.  According to Konkin, revolutionary change is not achievable through the political process, and thus the 
system must be fought from the outside, rather than from the inside.  To achieve this revolution against the state, Konkin 
advocated using counter-economics.  Essentially, this means focusing one’s energy on promoting the black and gray markets, 
while eschewing the white markets of the political class.  (Red markets ought also be eschewed.)

   Needless to say, this is an anti-political movement.  Konkin himself was very opposed to the use of political parties, 
and considered the Libertarian Party un-libertarian by the very fact that it was a political party.

   Those familiar with agorism would therefore immediately notice that there is something odd about my dream.  If agorism 
tends to oppose to participation in the political process, how on Earth could an Agorist Party arise?

   In my dream, this was not so much a political party as it was an anti-political party.  The platform, which was 
extremely short, called in no uncertain terms for the abolition of the state.  More importantly, it stressed the 
importance of counter-economics as the means toward this end.

   The party was not focused on running candidates and getting elected.  Instead, it served solely to get a mouthpiece who 
could espouse the importance of counter-economics and the evils of the state to the public through the media.

   I recall the movie <i>Brewster’s Millions</i> (1985) in which the main character, played by Richard Pryor, runs for 
office.  His goal, however, is not to win, and he uses his campaign to encourage people to vote against all of the 
candidates, himself included.  The Agorist Party platform held the same position, and all of its candidates were expected 
to make it clear to the public that the entire election process was an illegitimate means of imposing controls over people.

   Agorist candidates were free to speak as poorly about the political Establishment, including their competitors, as they 
wanted, as getting elected was absolutely not the goal of the campaign.

   Ballot access is, of course, the biggest hurdle that this dream doesn’t take into account.  It is the only reason I can 
currently conceive that an Agorist Party would not actually arise.  Agorists do not seem likely to care much for the idea 
of diverting resources that could be going into the black and gray markets instead into the building of state parties for 
the purpose of ensuring ballot access.  The only reason I could conceive of anyone going forward with the formation of an 
Agorist Party is for the publicity it would bring to counter-economics, and to anarchism in general.  Given that no major 
third party in America promotes anarchism (the Libertarian Party comes closest with its promotion of minarchism), and 
given how fun it would be for agorists to promote anarchism so openly through the media, it’s not impossible that some 
wealthy agorists might find this avenue worth the diversion of their resources, even if only for a single presidential 
campaign.  Regardless, I won’t hold my breath.

   What sort of effect would this have on the Libertarian Party?  I do not know, and could see it going either way.  On 
the one hand, it would help make the Libertarian Party look more moderate and approachable by the general public without 
the Libertarian Party needing to moderate even one of its stances.  On the other hand, it could divert energy away from 
the Libertarian Party, as some of its more radical members decide to focus their political energy on the development of 
the Agorist Party.

   None of these thoughts came to me in the dream, however.  In the dream, it was all about the explicitly anti-state 
platform and anti-political candidates.  In the dream, it was essentially <i>Brewster’s Millions</i> meets anarchism.  
All in all, it was a fun dream, just as <i>Brewster’s Millions</i> was a fun movie.


                            • These are actual dreams Alex Peak has had. All rights reserved. •