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Samuel Edward Konkin III
Samuel Edward Konkin III
Samuel Edward Konkin III
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Samuel Edward Konkin III (July 8, 1947 – February 23, 2004), also known as SEK3, was a Canadian-American libertarian writer. As the author of the publication New Libertarian Manifesto, he was a proponent of a political philosophy he named agorism.

Key Information

Personal life

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Konkin was born on July 8, 1947, 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] Konkin was an atheist.[1] Konkin was also noted 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".[2]

On February 23, 2004, Konkin died of natural causes in his apartment in West Los Angeles, California. He was buried alongside his father in Edmonton, Alberta.[1]

Fanzine contributions

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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.[3]: 124  In a 1976 issue of Alarums and Excursions, Konkin published a drawing depicting Dungeons & Dragons writers Gary Gygax, Len Lakofka and Tim Kask being hanged by a group of women. This came in the wake of community backlash after Lakofka had suggested new rules for women that would have rated their "beauty" and made them weaker in combat against male characters.[4]

Konkin himself attempted to propose a new character archetype, the damsel, which he depicted as a chaste character in search of love, in the vein of a Disney Princess.[3]: 124  Konkin's proposal was criticized for upholding gender stereotypes, in which chastity promoted the character to a "consort" while promiscuity demoted them to the role of "courtesan". He was also criticized for victim blaming in scenarios where the damsel is sexually assaulted, as he implied that suicide was a woman's only moral response.[3]: 124–125  Writer Aaron Trammell described Konkin's proposal as an objectification of women because it defined them by their sexuality.[3]: 125–126  Other D&D fans wrote to Konkin in objection to his character proposal, with many describing it as the work of a "male chauvinist pig" while one re-characterized it as satire.[3]: 128–129  Trammell characterized the letters as an act of restorative justice, where the writers attempted to privately explain to Konkin the problems they had with the character, rather than publicly denouncing him.[3]: 129 

Political opinions

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See also: Counter-economics
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Konkin considered libertarianism radical. He was an initiator of the Agorist Institute.

Konkin rejected voting, believing it to be inconsistent with libertarian ethics. He likewise opposed involvement with the Libertarian Party, which he regarded as a statist co-option of libertarianism. He was an opponent of influential minarchist philosopher Robert Nozick, and referred to Nozick's devotees as "Nozis".[2]

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 black market and grey market sources, which would not be taxed or regulated. Konkin called "transactions on these markets, as well as other activities that bypassed the State, 'counter-economics.' Peaceful transactions take place in a free market, or agora: hence his term 'agorism' for the society he sought to achieve."[2]

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).

Additionally, Konkin opposed wage labour,[5][6][2] intellectual property,[2][7] imperialism and interventionism.[8]

Agorism

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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. Most agorists strictly oppose 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[9]

Accusations of historical revisionism

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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),[10] at which he was a member of the board of directors; this included allotting advertisement space to the IHR in New Libertarian,[11] and writing a positive review of James J. Martin's book on Raphael Lemkin, which was published by the IHR.[12] Konkin personally rejected Holocaust denial, but defended the IHR because he believed its freedom of speech was being suppressed.[10][13] However, Konkin's appraisal of Martin's book, specifically the second chapter (in which Martin labelled the claims of the mass murder of Jews as "a well coordinated and orchestrated propaganda assault"[14]) as "a summary of Martin's libertarian-revisionist views of the Second World War" and "the highlight of the book and a valuable booklet on its own" for "the libertarian and the hard-core revisionist",[12] calls that framing into question.

See also

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References

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Samuel Edward Konkin III

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Samuel Edward Konkin III (July 8, 1947 – February 23, 2004), often known by his initials SEK3, was a Canadian-American anarchist philosopher and activist best known for developing agorism, a revolutionary market-based strategy to dismantle the state through voluntary counter-economic practices. Born in , , Konkin moved to the , where he immersed himself in circles, influenced by Austrian economics and figures like , before charting an independent path emphasizing non-political resistance. In his seminal New Libertarian Manifesto (1980), Konkin articulated agorism as a form of class theory distinguishing entrepreneurs from the state's parasitic "red" market, advocating "black" and "gray" markets to build parallel agoras that erode statist power without voting or . He founded the Movement of the Libertarian Left to advance this "left-" alliance of free-market radicals against both and conservative co-optation of . Konkin's rejection of electoral politics, including vehement opposition to the Libertarian Party, positioned him as a polarizing figure among libertarians, earning praise for principled consistency but criticism for strategic impracticality and later rifts, such as his dispute with Rothbard over tactics. His writings and activism, including publications like New Libertarian magazine, continue to inspire advocates of radical seeking societal transformation via entrepreneurial defiance rather than institutional capture.

Early Life and Background

Childhood and Family

Samuel Edward Konkin III was born on July 8, 1947, in Saskatchewan, Canada. He grew up in Edmonton, Alberta, amid the resource-based economy of the Canadian prairies during the post-World War II era. Konkin's family traced its roots to Slavic immigrants, specifically Russian Doukhobors— a pacifist Spiritual Christian denomination—who settled in Saskatchewan in the 1890s to escape religious persecution in the Russian Empire and conscription into military service. The Doukhobors emphasized communal agriculture, rejection of secular authority, and self-sufficient living on homesteads, often leading to conflicts with Canadian officials over oaths of allegiance and property registration. By Konkin's childhood, however, his immediate family resided in urban Edmonton, where his father worked in a professional capacity until his death in 1994 at age 73.

Education and Formative Influences

Konkin earned a with honors in chemistry from the in 1968. He initiated graduate studies in chemistry at the University of Wisconsin in Madison during the summer of 1968 before transferring to , where he completed a in but departed without pursuing a Ph.D. His formal training in the hard sciences emphasized empirical methods and precise reasoning, yet Konkin later identified limitations in institutionalized knowledge structures, particularly outside technical fields, which prompted greater reliance on self-directed inquiry. During the campus milieu, he engaged with counter-cultural currents through avid reading of , including Robert A. Heinlein's The Moon Is a Harsh Mistress (), which portrayed rational anarchist societies and individualist resistance to authority. Early intellectual encounters included Ayn Rand's objectivist emphasis on rational and market principles, introduced via associates like roommate Tony Warnock, alongside Heinlein's libertarian-leaning narratives that blended , , and . Konkin scrutinized these for internal contradictions, such as Rand's accommodation of minimal state mechanisms and Heinlein's occasional tolerance of coercive structures, applying a foundational market logic to highlight deviations from pure voluntary exchange. Such exposures, amid the era's ferment of alternative ideas, fostered his shift toward uncompromised individualist frameworks, bridging scientific empiricism with critiques of ideological inconsistencies.

Entry into Activism

Fanzine Contributions and Early Libertarian Engagement

In the late 1960s, Konkin engaged with fandom, contributing to apazines such as Clear Ether! through the APA-NYU and Tarzine, which allowed him to refine his writing amid a often receptive to libertarian themes of and anti-authoritarianism. His involvement in the Society further connected him to futurists exploring speculative critiques of state power, bridging niche fan publishing with emerging anti-statist ideas. By 1970, Konkin had transitioned to explicitly libertarian outlets, founding the Laissez Faire newsletter at the University of Wisconsin before relocating to that fall, where he assumed editorship of NYU Libertarian Notes and renamed it New Libertarian Notes (NLN) to reach a wider audience. He recruited contributors from the NYU Science Fiction Society, incorporating some fannish elements initially while shifting toward political content. NLN, published irregularly from starting in 1970, emphasized radical opposition to . In its early 1971 issues, such as Volume II, Number 2 (March), Konkin critiqued minarchist strategies— a term he coined in 1970 to denote advocates of minimal government—arguing they inevitably expanded state power rather than dismantling it. This marked his progression from subcultural experimentation to a platform for uncompromising anti-state discourse, engaging broader libertarian networks while rejecting electoral compromises like those later promoted by the Libertarian Party.

Shift to Radical Libertarianism

In the early 1970s, Konkin encountered the works of , whose advocacy for profoundly shaped his rejection of minarchist conservatism in favor of uncompromising . Rothbard's For a New Liberty (1973) articulated a vision of stateless markets that resonated with Konkin's growing skepticism toward , influencing his contributions to libertarian discourse. Konkin actively engaged through editing and writing for libertarian periodicals, notably launching New Libertarian Notes in 1971 as a platform for radical voices outside mainstream conservative circles. This publication hosted debates that highlighted tensions within the movement, including his October 1972 exchange with Libertarian Party founder David Nolan on the of voting, where Konkin argued electoral participation legitimized state . Following the 1972 presidential election, Konkin decisively broke from the Libertarian Party, decrying its pursuit of ballots as a dilution of voluntaryist principles and a pathway to co-optation by state power. He viewed party involvement as an "invasion from the State" into libertarian ranks, prioritizing instead non-political strategies rooted in individual action over reformist compromises. This radicalization intensified amid broader disillusionment with U.S. political scandals, including the Watergate affair (1972–1974) and the protracted , which exposed systemic corruption and imperial overreach to Konkin and reinforced his conviction that reliance on political processes perpetuated statist violence. He advocated shifting focus to decentralized, market-oriented resistance as the only viable path to erode state authority without conceding moral ground.

Philosophical Development

Foundations of Agorism

Agorism, as formulated by Samuel Edward Konkin III, posits a revolutionary strategy rooted in the non-aggression axiom, wherein all initiatory coercion is immoral and impermissible, and society emerges solely from voluntary human exchanges within the agora—the free market encompassing all peaceful interactions. This framework derives from first-principles libertarian reasoning, identifying the State as the primary institutional aggressor that extracts resources through taxation and regulation, thereby creating a fundamental class antagonism between statists—who derive privilege from coercion—and agorists, who produce value through consensual trade. Unlike mere advocacy for liberty, agorism demands praxis: the consistent application of market principles to undermine statism without seeking its reform or permission, viewing any collaboration with political mechanisms as a dilution of anti-coercive purity. Central to agorist ontology is the spectrum of market activities, categorized by their relation to state sanction: white markets operate legally under , gray markets involve quasi-legal evasion such as unreported transactions, and black markets encompass non-aggressive exchanges prohibited by law, like untaxed or unlicensed services. constitutes the engine of transformation, defined as the study and practice of all unsanctioned that trades risk for profit while defying state controls—encompassing evasion, avoidance, and entrepreneurial defiance that cumulatively erodes the State's economic base. This parallel economy grows organically through incentives of and subjective value, fostering a self-sustaining alternative where participants withdraw support from statist structures, leading causally to of coercion without declared violence. Agorism distinguishes itself from other libertarian strains, particularly Rothbardian approaches that tolerate temporary alliances with electoral or state mechanisms for incremental gains, by insisting on immediate, undeclared through counter-economic expansion alone. Konkin argued that political engagement, such as supporting libertarian parties, inevitably legitimizes the State and diverts resources from genuine market liberation, as historical precedents show no significant repeal of via ballots—only mass economic withdrawal achieves . Thus, agorism's non-political praxis prioritizes building the counter-economy as the sole path to a stateless order, where the State's fiscal renders it untenable.

Counter-Economics as Revolutionary Strategy

, as articulated by Samuel Edward Konkin III, encompasses the theory and practice of voluntary exchanges conducted outside state sanction, including black markets (fully illegal activities) and gray markets (activities evading partial regulation), thereby constituting all non-statist, non-coercive . This approach posits that participants in the counter-economy withhold economic support from the state—such as through , unlicensed production, and networks—directly diminishing state revenue and enforcement capacity over time. By prioritizing entrepreneurial initiative in these markets, individuals assume calculated risks to build parallel institutions, fostering self-reliance and eroding dependence on state-mediated exchanges. Konkin drew on historical examples like Prohibition-era smuggling in the United States (1920–1933), where bootleggers and rum-runners established vast underground networks that supplied illicit alcohol, generating economic activity that bypassed federal bans and weakened enforcement legitimacy. These operations demonstrated how prohibition inadvertently spurred entrepreneurial adaptation, with smugglers importing liquor via land, sea, and air routes, creating jobs and wealth outside legal channels that paralleled agorist projections of counter-economic expansion. Konkin envisioned similar dynamics scaling exponentially: initial gray-market entries, such as unlicensed services or home-based repairs, attract participants disillusioned by state burdens, leading to network effects where counter-economic volume grows faster than state countermeasures, ultimately precipitating institutional collapse through voluntary defection rather than confrontation. Empirical observations of underground economies bolster the feasibility of this , with estimates indicating they comprise 20–30% of GDP globally, rising to 67% in cases like during the late , where informal sectors sustained livelihoods amid regulatory overreach. In developing nations, such economies often exceed official GDP figures through unreported trade and services, illustrating how widespread evasion undermines fiscal extraction without requiring coordinated utopian reforms. Konkin's causal framework holds that as counter-economic participation diverts resources—depriving states of and eroding coercive monopolies—statist structures face mounting , compelling a phase shift toward agoric (market-based) order as entrepreneurial gray-market activities provide low-barrier gateways to for ordinary actors.

Major Works and Publications

New Libertarian Manifesto

The New Libertarian Manifesto presents agorism as a strategy for achieving a through counter-economic activity rather than political engagement. Published in October 1980 by Anarchosamisdat Press, the work synthesizes Konkin's critique of with a blueprint for libertarian transformation, emphasizing voluntary market interactions over coercive state structures. Its structure divides into five main sections: an analysis of as inherent coercion; agorism as the goal of a pure market ; counter-economics as the primary means of evasion and resistance; via phased societal densification; and tactical calls to action. Central to the manifesto's arguments is agorist class theory, which posits a fundamental divide between a statist that extracts resources through state mechanisms and agorists who undermine it via market activities. Konkin rejects "paleo-libertarian" approaches—characterized by compromises with minarchism or electoral —as dilutions that perpetuate state power, arguing instead for immediate withdrawal into counter-economic networks to starve the state of revenue and legitimacy. The text outlines four phases of agorist : Phase Zero, a pre-agorist era of consciousness-raising; Phase One, low-density nucleation through radical caucuses combating statist principles; Phase Two, mid-density formation of agorist enclaves defended by New Libertarian Alliance (NLA) structures; and Phase Three, high-density crisis leading to state collapse and full agorist society. Konkin concludes with a summons to form the Movement of the Libertarian Left (MLL) as a vehicle for integrating theory and practice, beginning with libertarian defections from statist-oriented groups like the Libertarian Party. Circulated initially in form among underground libertarian networks, the influenced subsequent privacy-focused movements by framing as a scalable path to technological and economic , resonating with crypto-anarchist emphases on encrypted, state-evasive transactions.

Other Writings and Editorial Output

Konkin served as editor and publisher of New Libertarian, an irregularly issued periodical that ran from the mid-1970s through the , succeeding earlier formats such as New Libertarian Notes (1971–1975) and New Libertarian Weekly (1975–1978). The publication emphasized applied agorist strategies, including analyses of counter-economic practices that evade state-imposed monetary controls like fiat currency systems and restrictions, which Konkin viewed as barriers to voluntary exchange. It also critiqued pervasive statist influences in culture and media, arguing that such elements normalize and undermine individual . Among his standalone essays, Konkin's "Reply to Rothbard," published in May 1981 in Strategy of the New Libertarian Alliance, directly addressed Murray Rothbard's critique labeling agorism as impractical. In the piece, Konkin countered by asserting that —profitable black and gray market activities—offers a viable path to erode state power without relying on political engagement, emphasizing empirical examples of evasion over theoretical minarchism. This defense highlighted agorism's focus on immediate, self-interested action as superior to Rothbard's proposed defensive alliances or electoral strategies. Konkin contributed to agorist instructional materials, including An Agorist Primer, which outlines practical steps for implementing in daily life, such as and underground to build parallel markets. In the , he engaged in interviews and lectures reinforcing these themes, such as his 1995 "The Last, Whole Introduction to Agorism," where he described state dismantling through profit-driven evasion rather than confrontation. These outputs consistently prioritized market-based resistance, drawing on historical instances of and networks to illustrate scalable alternatives to .

Organizational Activities

Movement of the Libertarian Left

The Movement of the Libertarian Left (MLL) was founded by Samuel Edward Konkin III in 1978 as a loose of aboveground anti-political libertarians, designed to operationalize agorist strategies via decentralized activist networks in contrast to the hierarchical of electoral parties or minarchist organizations. Drawing from earlier alliances between libertarians and figures like and John Oglesby, it sought to counter state influence through systematic boycotts of government-supported institutions and for voluntary, non-statist alternatives. The MLL's emphasized autonomous cells and agents over centralized , enabling flexible responses to statist encroachments without the vulnerabilities of party-based hierarchies. Core activities centered on practical , including the distribution of counter-economic primers that instructed participants in gray-market and non-voting as forms of resistance, alongside literature like the What’s Left? to reclaim libertarianism's anti-imperialist roots. The group published an internal newsletter, Tactics of the MLL, and a theoretical journal building on Konkin's New Libertarian Manifesto, while organizing conferences—such as debates at the 1985 Libertarian International convention in —and classes to propagate these tactics. These efforts prioritized direct, nonviolent market-based actions over political lobbying, positioning the MLL as a to libertarian drift toward or . The MLL encountered empirical hurdles in scaling, with membership remaining confined primarily to California and scattered nuclei elsewhere, hampered by the legal perils of counter-economic practices that exposed participants to prosecution risks. This constrained growth contributed causally to broader libertarian disunity, as the group's rejection of electoralism amplified existing rifts between political reformers and radical market anarchists, though it later saw partial revival through initiatives like the Karl Hess Club in 1994. The Agorist Institute was established by Samuel Edward Konkin III on December 31, 1984, in , functioning as the educational and outreach arm of the agorist movement. Headquartered at 236 East Third Street, it served as a and training center focused on , offering seminars and classes to develop practical strategies for black-market operations and voluntary exchange networks. The institute's logo depicted "the tip of the iceberg," symbolizing the hidden scale of underground economies beneath visible statist structures. Konkin personally delivered lectures at the institute, including his 1989 "Introduction to Agorism" series to the Class of 1989, which covered foundational principles of counter-economic praxis such as entrepreneurial evasion of state regulations. These sessions emphasized hands-on market strategies, drawing participants from libertarian circles to simulate and analyze gray- and black-market dynamics in a controlled educational setting. The institute also coordinated with the nearby Anarcho-Village community in Long Beach, fostering experiments in agorist living arrangements and resource sharing independent of state oversight. Collaborations extended to figures like J. Neil Schulman, a close associate who integrated agorist concepts into media productions, including adaptations and discussions of counter-economic scenarios tied to institute teachings. Schulman's novel (1979), which dramatized agorist resistance through underground networks, aligned with the institute's on . These efforts produced and simulations aimed at training participants in scalable, non-violent economic defiance. Institute activities peaked in the late but declined in the amid Konkin's waning personal energy and the broader transition to digital platforms for disseminating agorist ideas, reducing reliance on physical venues. By the early , operational focus shifted from in-person classes to archival preservation, though core counter-economic training models persisted in adapted forms.

Political Views and Critiques

Rejection of Electoral Politics

Konkin argued that voting constitutes an immoral endorsement of state coercion, as it implies consent to a system predicated on the non-aggression principle's violation. In the New Libertarian Manifesto, he critiqued electoral participation as a statist mechanism that perpetuates ruling-class dominance through "partyarchy," whereby involvement in parties preserves the state's foundational structure rather than dismantling it. This stance crystallized in his October 1972 debate with David Nolan, Libertarian Party co-founder, published in New Libertarian Notes, where Konkin asserted that casting votes lends moral legitimacy and practical reinforcement to the state's authority, urging libertarians to abstain in favor of principled non-involvement. Beyond ethical concerns, Konkin emphasized the opportunity costs of political activism, contending that time, funds, and ideological fervor expended on campaigns and parties divert essential resources from counter-economic enterprises, which offer direct paths to agorist growth through risk-reward voluntary exchanges. He pointed to the Libertarian Party's track record as evidence of strategic failure, observing that despite two decades of operation by the mid-1990s, no measurable rollback of had occurred, with party efforts instead co-opting radicals only to disillusion them into apathy or, at best, redirect them toward agorism. Konkin's preferred alternative framed agorism as enabling a " in one lifetime" via immediate market withdrawal, exemplified by and black-market operations that yield profits unattainable under regulation while eroding state revenue and control. These counter-economic tactics, he maintained, demonstrate self-sustaining viability—such as the New Libertarian Alliance's full-time counter-economic operations from 1975 to 1985—contrasting sharply with the and inefficacy of electoral strategies.

Positions on Historical and Geopolitical Issues

Konkin analyzed through a lens of state-driven causation, critiquing U.S. policies such as the 1941 oil embargo on , transfer of 50 destroyers to Britain, and incidents of firing on Axis submarines as deliberate provocations that escalated to the attack and U.S. entry into the conflict. He rejected orthodox portrayals of the war as a moral crusade, instead highlighting how it enabled permanent expansions of state power via wartime economic controls, industry cartelization, and nationalizations that were not reversed postwar, unlike after . Konkin attributed these outcomes to ruling-class manipulations, including financial elites' , framing Roosevelt's anti-Axis as an avoidable escalation rooted in elite interests rather than existential threats. In addressing the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, Konkin condemned both Zionist and Arab state nationalisms as inherently statist enterprises grounded in conquest and expropriation, incompatible with absolute individual property rights. He cited the 1948 displacement of roughly 780,000 of 950,000 Arabs in the new Israeli territory—facilitated by acts like the Irgun's Deir Yassin massacre of 250 civilians and subsequent seizure of abandoned properties—as direct violations of libertarian principles, likening them to pillage rather than legitimate homesteading. Konkin opposed U.S. backing of Israel, which he saw as subsidizing oppression via foreign aid, and invoked a 1970s UN resolution (passed 142-7) affirming Palestinian territorial claims to underscore the need for non-interventionist isolationism over support for either side's coercive state-building. Konkin's geopolitical stance emphasized as core to libertarian , viewing U.S. interventions—from provocations to later entanglements—as mechanisms for imperial consolidation that diverted resources from domestic liberty. He advocated agorist withdrawal from state-orchestrated global conflicts, arguing that such policies perpetuated "" hegemony at the expense of counter-economic , aligning with historical Old Right opposition to Wilsonian internationalism and Roosevelt's expansions.

Controversies and Criticisms

Accusations of Historical Revisionism

Konkin faced accusations of historical revisionism primarily due to his associations within 1980s libertarian circles and his editorial decisions in New Libertarian, a publication he edited from the 1970s to the 1990s. Critics, including a 2004 Reason magazine obituary, highlighted that Konkin "opened his pages to Mr. Death-style believers in Holocaust 'revisionism,'" referring to figures like Fred Leuchter, whose 1988 Leuchter Report questioned aspects of Holocaust gas chamber claims and was promoted in denialist contexts. These inclusions were portrayed as lapses in judgment that aligned Konkin with fringe elements skeptical of mainstream World War II atrocity narratives. Further scrutiny arose from Konkin's ties to the Institute for Historical Review (IHR), an organization founded in 1979 and widely regarded for promoting revisionism. He presented a paper at the IHR's Third International Conference on October 3-5, 1981, contributed articles to its Journal of Historical Review, and served for several years on the journal's Editorial Advisory Committee, where he was listed alongside other libertarians advocating free inquiry into historical events. These activities positioned him among supporters who challenged orthodox histories, including those involving state-perpetrated violence, amid broader libertarian efforts to re-examine corporate-state alliances and wartime . Konkin, however, maintained that his involvement stemmed from a commitment to free speech and intellectual liberty rather than endorsement of denialist claims. He personally rejected Holocaust denial, emphasizing critiques of state power and empirical scrutiny of historical records over outright rejection of documented atrocities. Associates and later analyses, such as those from agorist commentator Derrick Broze, affirmed that Konkin did not share IHR's revisionist interpretations of the Holocaust, viewing his support as a defense against censorship threats to taboo topics. His writings consistently prioritized anti-statist analysis—such as questioning government narratives on interventions like El Salvador in the 1980s—without direct evidence of him authoring or advocating Holocaust minimization. This distinction underscores a focus on causal mechanisms of power rather than fringe evidentiary disputes, though critics argued the associations lent undue legitimacy to denialist fringes within libertarianism.

Debates Within Libertarian Circles

Konkin's agorism provoked significant debate among libertarians, particularly with , who offered a mixed assessment in his 1980 critique "Konkin on Libertarian Strategy." Rothbard acknowledged Konkin's attempt to devise a practical revolutionary path through as superior to mere anti-party posturing by others, yet deemed agorism a "total failure" for insufficient emphasis on defensive violence, ideological education, and broader political engagement to counter state power. Konkin responded sharply in "Reply to Rothbard," defending agorism's focus on immediate, non-coercive market expansion as the true path to libertarian consistency, while accusing Rothbard of compromising principles through alliances with minarchists. Tensions extended to clashes with minarchists, whom Konkin viewed as insufficiently radical for tolerating minimal state structures; he rejected Libertarian Party involvement outright, labeling it an " from the State" that co-opted libertarian energy into electoral rather than counter-economy building. This purist stance positioned Konkin as a consistent anarchist opponent of any statist , but critics accused him of schism-mongering by boycotting unified efforts like party platforms, which they argued diluted libertarian influence despite tactical disagreements. These disputes sharpened libertarian discourse on means-ends consistency, with agorism compelling rivals to justify why reformist tactics like voting aligned with anti-statist goals, highlighting potential in using state mechanisms against the state itself. However, detractors contended that Konkin's marginalized agorism, limiting its adoption by fostering fragmentation over pragmatic coalition-building in a movement already outnumbered by statists.

Legacy and Influence

Impact on Anarchist and Libertarian Thought

Konkin's formulation of agorism as a libertarian strategy centered on —the pursuit of voluntary exchange in black, gray, and white markets to erode state power—extended Murray Rothbard's anarcho-capitalist framework by rejecting all forms of political participation, including libertarian party involvement or defensive violence coalitions, in favor of immediate, non-coercive market buildup. This positioned agorism as a purification of Rothbardian thought, emphasizing class analysis through entrepreneurial "silver" and "gold" market participants versus state-entangled "red" statists, thereby radicalizing toward entrepreneurial over institutional reform. Agorism's emphasis on stateless markets inspired elements of modern digital , particularly in cryptocurrencies and platforms, where 's pseudonymous, decentralized transactions echo Konkin's vision of counter-economic tools bypassing state monopolies on and exchange. Early adopters of such technologies cited agorist principles in fostering parallel economies, as seen in Silk Road's operation from 2011 to 2013, which facilitated over $1.2 billion in transactions via , embodying Konkin's call for revolutionary market activity outside systems. The enduring influence is evidenced by scholarly citations and tributes within libertarian circles; for example, the Journal of Libertarian Studies in September 2025 described Konkin as a "revolutionary friend" whose agorism advanced Rothbardian by insisting on market purity without political compromise, influencing ongoing debates on non-statist paths to . This recognition underscores agorism's role in shifting libertarian discourse toward verifiable, action-oriented metrics of influence, such as the proliferation of crypto-agorist communities post-2010, rather than electoral metrics.

Evaluations of Agorism's Practicality

Agorism's proponents maintain that its strategy of offers a practical path to societal transformation by fostering voluntary exchanges that erode state dependency, superior to electoral or reformist approaches that compromise with . This approach draws theoretical rigor from Konkin's , positing that consistent withdrawal from white-market (state-sanctioned) activities builds institutions capable of outcompeting the state without . Real-world informal economies substantiate this viability, as in where the sector employs a substantial and mitigates by enabling untaxed labor and amid regulatory burdens. In and broader , informality rates surpassing 65% in countries like demonstrate how counter-economic activity sustains populations during economic crises and state overreach, aligning with agorist predictions of market resilience. Critics, including some within libertarian circles, argue that agorism's reliance on black and gray markets risks co-optation by non-voluntary actors, as underground economies often fall under organized crime's control, introducing violence and hierarchy antithetical to agorist ideals. For example, black markets in labor or goods frequently intertwine with criminal networks that enforce participation through rather than , undermining the philosophy's voluntaryist core. Scalability poses further hurdles in high-regulation contexts; post-September 11, 2001, enhanced U.S. and enforcement apparatuses have intensified scrutiny on illicit trades, complicating the expansion of counter-economic networks beyond niche operations. Defenders rebut these concerns by emphasizing that agorism prioritizes entrepreneurial integrity over criminal opportunism, with success measured in phased growth toward a full rather than immediate dominance, as evidenced by persistent informal sectors outlasting state interventions. Empirical persistence of in surveilled regimes, coupled with voluntaryism's avoidance of statist compromises, is held to trump reformist failures, where partial often reinforces state power. While scalability critiques highlight real barriers, agorists contend that in evasion tactics—rooted in market incentives—addresses them more effectively than political advocacy, which historically dilutes libertarian ends.

Death and Posthumous Recognition

Samuel Edward Konkin III died on February 23, 2004, at age 56, after collapsing in the shower of his apartment due to natural causes; he was discovered the following morning. Following his death, Konkin's agorist writings gained sustained attention in niche libertarian and anarchist circles, with reprints of works like the New Libertarian Manifesto and posthumous efforts by KoPubCo to compile his unfinished magnum opus. His concepts of and black-market activism as non-political resistance to have informed subsequent analyses, including examinations of agorism's role in voluntaryist strategies. In 2021, supporters launched a GoFundMe campaign that raised funds to digitize and preserve Konkin's personal archives, preventing their loss after 17 years in storage. A memorial event was held shortly after his passing, featuring tributes from fellow libertarians organized by J. Neil Schulman. Obituaries, such as one in Reason magazine, underscored his eccentric rejection of electoral politics and car ownership while affirming his foundational role in radical libertarian theory. Despite limited mainstream acknowledgment, Konkin's emphasis on counter-economics persists in discussions of practical anarchism, though critics within libertarianism debate its scalability against state power.

References

  1. https://www.libertarianism.org/columns/black-market-activism-agorism-samuel-edward-konkin-iii
  2. https://mises.org/mises-daily/samuel-edward-konkin-iii
  3. https://theanarchistlibrary.org/library/samuel-edward-konkin-iii-new-libertarian-manifesto
  4. https://reason.com/2004/02/24/sam-konkin-rip/
  5. https://theanarchistlibrary.org/library/samuel-edward-konkin-iii-reply-to-rothbard
  6. https://theanarchistlibrary.org/library/samuel-edward-konkin-iii-history-of-the-libertarian-movement
  7. https://fancyclopedia.org/Samuel_Edward_Konkin_III
  8. https://www.newspapers.com/newspage/475155397/
  9. https://www.ebay.com/p/167878436
  10. https://theanarchistlibrary.org/library/samuel-edward-konkin-iii-smashing-the-state-for-fun-and-profit-since-1969
  11. https://fancyclopedia.org/wiki/New_Libertarian_Notes
  12. https://kopubco.com/nl007.html
  13. https://www.anarchistfederation.net/samuel-edward-konkin-iii-the-last-whole-introduction-to-agorism/
  14. https://theanarchistlibrary.org/library/samuel-edward-konkin-iii-invaders-from-the-state
  15. https://usa.anarchistlibraries.net/library/samuel-edward-konkin-iii-invaders-from-the-state
  16. https://theanarchistlibrary.org/library/samuel-edward-konkin-iii-countercampaign-76
  17. https://theanarchistlibrary.org/library/samuel-edward-konkin-iii-corporativism-revivus
  18. https://theanarchistlibrary.org/library/samuel-edward-konkin-iii-the-last-whole-introduction-to-agorism
  19. https://c4ss.org/content/45999
  20. https://www.britannica.com/topic/bootlegging
  21. https://www.imf.org/external/pubs/ft/issues/issues30/
  22. https://kopubco.com/nlm_trade.html
  23. https://news.bitcoin.com/cryptocurrency-is-agorism-in-action/
  24. https://kopubco.com/nlwcvrs.html
  25. http://alexpeak.com/twr/nlm/cr4.html
  26. https://www.amazon.com/Agorist-Primer-Samuel-Edward-Konkin/dp/0977764974
  27. https://usa.anarchistlibraries.net/library/samuel-edward-konkin-iii-smashing-the-state-for-fun-and-profit-since-1969
  28. https://archives.kopubco.com/pdfs/NL180.pdf
  29. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mMUxsQjfZKo
  30. https://www.agoristnexus.com/anarchovillage-ground-zero-of-agorism/
  31. https://jls.mises.org/api/v1/articles/144346-samuel-edward-konkin-iii-revolutionary-friend.pdf
  32. https://c4ss.org/content/54465
  33. https://theanarchistlibrary.org/library/samuel-edward-konkin-iii-know-thine-enemy
  34. https://theanarchistlibrary.org/library/samuel-edward-konkin-iii-a-cram-history-of-the-libertarian-movement
  35. https://www.anarchistfederation.net/samuel-edward-konkin-iii-palestine-liberty-and-justice/
  36. https://www.libertarianism.org/publications/essays/libertarian-party-cause-hope-or-trojan-horse
  37. http://www.revisionists.com/revisionists/konkin.html
  38. http://www.ihr.org/jhr/jhrlisting.html
  39. https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2021/4/16/holdagorism-what-is-the-ideologyoftheboogaloobois
  40. http://www.anthonyflood.com/rothbardkonkin.htm
  41. https://jls.mises.org/article/144346-samuel-edward-konkin-iii-revolutionary-friend
  42. https://jls.mises.org/article/144346
  43. https://www.coindesk.com/markets/2017/09/23/welcome-to-bitcoin-country-silk-road-and-the-lost-threads-of-agorism
  44. https://crypto.news/the-rise-of-crypto-agorism-how-agorism-is-thriving-thanks-to-cryptocurrencies/
  45. https://borgenproject.org/informal-employment-argentina/
  46. https://www.wiego.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/09/Tokman-Informality_in_Latin_America_2008.pdf
  47. https://fastercapital.com/topics/characteristics-of-black-markets.html/1
  48. https://www.quora.com/What-do-you-think-of-agorism
  49. https://www.hollywoodinvestigator.com/2004/konkin.htm
  50. https://www.gofundme.com/f/save-agorist-archives-of-samuel-edward-konkin-iii
  51. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ul-rwxnlftY
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