Tag: voluntaryism

People are more important than ideas – Episode 177

by  on  in Podcast • 0 Comments

The Story: Human connection trumps ideology

If you are passionate about something, it’s normal to speak out about it, and as a consequence, you can find yourself in debates or heated discussions in what would otherwise be polite company. In the worst case scenario, you might even get carried away, start talking over your companions or even calling them names.

In the heat of the moment, defending a humanitarian ideal, you might forget that there are humans right in front of you, with whom you have the opportunity to make a real human connection. The real tragedy is when you allow your political beliefs to interfere with your friendships, sacrificing something real and present for something abstract and distant. It can even tear families apart, and it can even be used deliberately by powerful people to do so – separating Republicans from Democrats, Labor from Liberal, ancoms from ancaps, Venezuelans who wear 7 stars from those who wear 8 stars.

After a bit of travelling, my friend David Robison wrote: “Everyone, and I mean EVERYONE whom I have talked with is willing to have a conversation. Left, right, up, down, doesn’t matter. If you simply approach them and demonstrate basic levels of respect as a human being they will sit with you and share their ideas, thoughts, concerns. All they want is to be UNDERSTOOD. You don’t have to agree, they just want to explain where they’re coming from and they want you to understand it.”

Understanding and being understood are things that are always available to us. Real human connection is always available to us. Feel free to debate, be controversial and contradict. But remember that we all want similar things – to be comfortable, to be understood, to be loved.

The Cash:

If you enjoy our posts, please become a patron on Patreon, or have a look at The Paradise Paradox’s page on Steemit where you can join, earn money, and upvote our posts to help support the show! You can also find a lot of additional content which is not posted on this site, with Kurt’s posts on Steemit.

We really appreciate all of your contributions! Every cent and satoshi we receive lets us know that we’re doing something worthwhile, that you are entertained by our program, and that you’re starting to question what you know more and more. Please be generous. Donate to The Paradise Paradox. Or buy some stuff on Amazon using this link. Or buy some of our great T-shirts here.

The Episode:

To download the audio, right click and press “save as”.

Remember to subscribe on iTunes or subscribe on Pocket Casts.

If you enjoyed the episode, don’t keep it a secret! Feel free to share it on Twitter, Tumblr, Facebook, Reddit, or your office bathroom wall.

How did I become an anarchist – Best Bits

by  on  in Best Bits • 2 Comments

Kurt is interviewed by Jeff Berwick on Anarchast, and is asked Jeff’s favourite question, “How did you become an anarchist?” Kurt explains how he put the pieces of liberty together – understanding social or personal liberty, understanding economic liberty, understanding the philosophical and legal aspects, and finally having the “click”, realising that a state is unnecessary and undesirable.

Watch and listen to the full interview here: Kurt on Anarchast – Living Freely and Enjoying the Ride

Kurt on Anarchast – Living Freely and Enjoying the Ride

by  on  in Podcast • 0 Comments

The Story: Kurt is interviewed by Jeff Berwick on Anarchast

A couple of weeks ago I had the opportunity to be interviewed by Jeff Berwick, known for his media outlet “The Dollar Vigilante” and his channel “Anarchast” in which he interviews notable anarchists, almost always beginning the interview with the question “How did you become an anarchist?”

I’ve been listening to the Anarchast for years, and hoping that one day I would be able to appear on it, so when Jeff asked me, my answer was an emphatic “Hell yes.”

I figured that, to make the interview entertaining for Jeff and for the thousands of listeners, I’d better prepare carefully, thinking about what would be engaging for them. So in the couple of weeks leading up to the interview, I wrote out many drafts thinking about how I would describe my journey of becoming an anarchist, “Free man on the land” type ideas and how they lead me to question authority, about the freedom that people enjoy in Mexico (despite its flaws), the anti-authoritarianism that exists here, spiritual experiences, and how life is full of wonders.

The Eps:

See the world with new eyes – Episode 147

Jeff Berwick: The Dollar Vigilante – Episode 77

Sterlin Lujan: Compassionate anarchy – Episode 156

The Links:

Anarchast on YouTube

The Dollar Vigilante on YouTube

The Cash:

If you enjoy our posts, please become a patron on Patreon, or have a look at The Paradise Paradox’s page on Steemit where you can join, earn money, and upvote our posts to help support the show! You can also find a lot of additional content which is not posted on this site, with Kurt’s posts on Steemit and Aaron’s posts on Steemit.

We really appreciate all of your contributions! Every cent and satoshi we receive lets us know that we’re doing something worthwhile, that you are entertained by our program, and that you’re starting to question what you know more and more. Please be generous. Donate to The Paradise Paradox. Or buy some stuff on Amazon using this link. Or buy some of our great T-shirts here.

The Episode:

To download the audio, right click and press “save as”.

Remember to subscribe on iTunes or subscribe on Pocket Casts.

If you enjoyed the episode, don’t keep it a secret! Feel free to share it on Twitter, Tumblr, Facebook, Reddit, or your office bathroom wall.

How to Squash Mexican Protesters: Alfredo Romero – Episode 159

by  on  in Podcast • 0 Comments

The Story: How Mexico threatens, harasses and bribes activists

May 11th, 2012, Universidad Iberoamericana, Mexico City. Presidential candidate Enrique Peña Nieto gets up to do a speech, describing his political platform before hundreds of students. At the end of his discourse, a group of students stood up and demanded an explanation of the government action in the civil unrest of Atenco in 2006, which resulted in violent beatings, rapes, and even death. At that time, Peña Nieto had been the governor of the state of Mexico.

Peña Nieto responded that he had acted personally to re-establish order and peace, that it was within the legitimate use of public force, and that it was found valid by the supreme court.

Many of the students didn’t like it, and began screaming at Peña Nieto, and blocking his path. In order to get out of the university, he had to hide in a woman’s bathroom for some time.

After the event, Peña’s colleagues claimed that the screams from the crowd were organised by provocateurs, sent by the opposing candidate López Obrador, that they were too old to be students – 30 or 35 years and up, a small group of less than 20 people. In response, a group of 131 youths posted a video showing their university identification. Social media exploded throughout Mexico, with many showing their support of the students, and their disapproval of Peña Nietos candidacy and later presidency, using the slogan “Yo Soy 132”, or “I am number 132”.

From there, the movement grew to a national phenomenon, drawing inspiration from the Arab Spring movement, and the Occupy movement, developing national assemblies to discuss events, and of course, to attempt to impeach the president.

In this episode, Kurt interviews Alfredo Romero, a long time activist in Mexico who was involved in Yo Soy 132, among other social movements, was threatened, prevented violent agents provocateurs from throwing stones, was accused of throwing the same stones, was arrested and intimidated by the police, and even offered comfortable government positions to silence him. Alfredo also talks about a couple of grass-roots solutions that are popping up in Mexico right now, including the work of Archbishop Vera López, who is attempting to establish a parallel government, focused on the voice and the needs of the community.

Join us as Alfredo lays out the dirty tricks used by governments everywhere to silence dissent in this next episode of … The Paradise Paradox!

The Eps:

The Links:

Alfredo Romero interviewed on We Are Change about being kidnapped by police

Vera López in Wikipedia

 

The Cash:

If you enjoy our posts, please have a look at The Paradise Paradox’s page on Steemit where you can join, earn money, and upvote our posts to help support the show! You can also find a lot of additional content which is not posted on this site, with Kurt’s posts on Steemit and Aaron’s posts on Steemit.

We really appreciate all of your contributions! Every cent and satoshi we receive lets us know that we’re doing something worthwhile, that you are entertained by our program, and that you’re starting to question what you know more and more. Please be generous. Donate to The Paradise Paradox. Or buy some stuff on Amazon using this link. Or buy some of our great T-shirts here.

The Episode:

To download the audio, right click and press “save as”.

Remember to subscribe on iTunes or subscribe on Pocket Casts.

If you enjoyed the episode, don’t keep it a secret! Feel free to share it on Twitter, Tumblr, Facebook, Reddit, or your office bathroom wall.

Kurt Robinson Raps “False Flag” at Anarchapulco 2017

by  on  in Best Bits • 0 Comments

This is a track about how large governments like to threaten, scare and even murder the people they are supposed to represent, in order to achieve political, military or imperial goals. The video is from my performance at Anarchapulco 2017. If the audio isn’t clear enough, you can also listen to this version I recorded in my bedroom years ago.

Thanks Again to Doug Scribner, Ryan Herbison, Dan Dicks of Press For Truth, Nathan Freeman, and everyone who made this event possible.

Lyrics

if you want people to accept anything
first they’ve got to believe it’s for their benefit
if you can scare them, strike fear in their hearts
then you can start cutting their freedoms apart

they’re lonely, afraid, need leadership
show them you’ll be shepherd to their sheep again
give them the motivation which they surely lack
show them they need you with a false flag

nero wanted to rebuild Rome in his image
and turn the populace against the Christians
he took a torch to realise his fiery vision
playing the lyre for anyone who would listen

1915, Lusitania cruised the Irish Sea
100 Americans on her, loose & free
Germany warned, we know you have ammo on board
US ignored, it got torpedoed and torn

Times said Germany took the day off to applaud
perfect excuse to enter the First World War

1933 february
Nazis built a fire at parliament’s feet
hitler issued a decree, saying we’re under attack
that was his version of the PATRIOT act

six years later, Gleiwitz radio station
Himmler’s operation, set up the Polish invasion
SS troops in Polish uniforms, stormed the building
Found the Polish sympathiser and killed him

Broadcast some hate speech in their supposed language
Left the body as evidence for the cameras

40, mccollum wrote a memo, strategies and all
on how to lead Japan to an overt act of war
FDR fired the admiral wanting to leave Hawai’i
He knew if they stayed they did it suicidally
Then the Japs attacked at Pearl Harbour
Sending the boys home with caps on their caskets
doing exactly what it was sure to do
that’s how the US got into World War Deuce

Now 9/11 might have been a fine deception
you have an opinion what happened, i won’t question
the next day they passed the Act, hardly had to write it down
500 pages, they just had it lying around

if you want people to accept anything
first they’ve got to believe it’s for their benefit
if you can scare them, strike fear in their hearts
then you can start cutting their freedoms apart

they’re lonely, afraid, need leadership
show them you’ll be shepherd to their sheep again
give them the motivation which they surely lack
show them they need you with a false flag

Kurt Robinson Raps – “Free” Verse

by  on  in Best Bits • 0 Comments

freedom of movement and a free life
free love & compassion can free minds
free thinking your thoughts can be free
free association and freedom of speech

free to be emotional free to be calm
the right to self defence free to bear arms
while the kids demand a free education
shit ain’t free, you must be freebasin

i know you heard this one it’s some deep stuff
there ain’t no such thing as a free lunch
free mp3s downloaded we handle
i’ll steal the beat for this track a free sample

monogamy polyamory and free lovin
live your whole life think you’re in a free country
constitutional republic as long as it lasted
abolish gov. for a strong free market

wander through the hotel get free wifi
free your imagination through your mind’s eye
make freedom so common it seems boring
i forgot my clean underwear i’m freeballin

none of those phony laws you should believe in
victimless crime spree derrick j freeman
drug dealin free enterprise you can be the boss
and that reminds me man – free ross!

Without government, wouldn’t warlords take over?

by  on  in Politics • 0 Comments

If you believe government is needed, and someone suggests that it isn’t, you might be rather distressed. You might start to picture bands of rogues roving the land without cease, raping and stealing. In the minds of many statists, this fear is so real that it seems certain. But of course, little is certain in life, and we can no more say for sure that warlords will take over than we can say that they won’t. However, we can at least begin to estimate the likelihood.

If you’re like most people, it’s almost certain that you are threatened by group of people which claims to help you, a group which takes your money without asking first. Just as we can’t be sure that warlords won’t take over in a stateless society, it’s not certain that this violent group won’t grow larger, to expand to a level of control where many are fearful and even people with friends in high places can be destroyed without anyone being punished. In fact, such a case is much more likely to be found in a society with a state, than a society without a state, as the power structures are already there. In a stateless society, if these structures form, they’re likely to be smaller. It’s easier to go from 8 to 10 than it is to go from 0 to 10.

warlordsmight8eb17.jpg
To get to a society that has no rulers, first there has to be a cultural change. People have to learn to do things without the help of their rulers, and instead depend on each other. The less they can solve problems on their own and working in teams, the more chance they have to be seduced by a person offering easy answers, or threatened by someone who comes along with a few guns and a few demands. If certain states vanished tomorrow, there would be a 99% chance that warlords would take over. However, the more the people learn to support each other, and the more people love liberty, the less chance a tyrant has of taking hold. The tragedy is, the more people cling to these concerns about warlords, the less people who learn to love liberty.

In the end, the reason cling onto these ideas is because of a deep-seated fear. People want to feel like everything is under control, even if it’s by a someone who, in their hearts, they know is a devil. Their fear leads them to fearmonger, spilling endless “what if” cases, none of which can be allayed by logic alone. As I said, nothing in life is certain. Yet, by embracing our uncertainty, and our fears, we can learn to overcome them. It’s scary to stand at the edge of darkness, not knowing what lies within. It takes heart to put your foot over that threshold, yet, that is the only way that humans grow – by putting ourselves in realms where nothing is sure, but everything is possible. Screw your courage to the sticking place, and feel just for a moment, what it would mean to be free.