Samuel Edward Konkin III (8 July 1947 – 23 February 2004), also known as SEK3, was an American

libertarian Libertarianism (from french: libertaire, "libertarian"; from la, libertas, "freedom") is a political philosophy that upholds liberty as a core value. Libertarians seek to maximize autonomy and political freedom, and minimize the state's e ...

philosopher and Austrian school economist. As the author of the publication ''

New Libertarian Manifesto ''New Libertarian Manifesto'' is a libertarianism, libertarian philosophy, philosophical treatise by Samuel Edward Konkin III. It is the first explanation of agorism, a philosophy created by Konkin. Konkin proffers various arguments of how a free ...

'', he was a proponent of a political philosophy he named

agorism Agorism is a social philosophy that advocates creating a society in which all relations between people are voluntary exchanges by means of counter-economics, engaging with aspects of nonviolent revolution. It was first proposed by American liber ...

Personal life

Konkin was born 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. Although he was an atheist, Konkin was a lifelong fan of

C. S. Lewis Clive Staples Lewis (29 November 1898 – 22 November 1963) was a British writer and Anglican lay theologian. He held academic positions in English literature at both Oxford University (Magdalen College, 1925–1954) and Cambridge Univers ...

and J. R. R. Tolkien. Konkin was also notable for his style of dress: "To show his

anarchist Anarchism is a political philosophy and movement that is skeptical of all justifications for authority and seeks to abolish the institutions it claims maintain unnecessary coercion and hierarchy, typically including, though not neces ...

beliefs, he dressed completely in black, a color associated with that movement since the late nineteenth century". Gordon, David (2011-04-01
Sam Konkin and Libertarian Theory
LewRockwell.com; accessed October 28, 2017. On 23 February 2004, Konkin died of

natural causes In many legal jurisdictions, the manner of death is a determination, typically made by the coroner, medical examiner, police, or similar officials, and recorded as a vital statistic. Within the United States and the United Kingdom, a distinct ...

in his apartment in West Los Angeles, California. He was buried alongside his father in Edmonton, Alberta.

Political opinions

Konkin considered

libertarianism Libertarianism (from french: libertaire, "libertarian"; from la, libertas, "freedom") is a political philosophy that upholds liberty as a core value. Libertarians seek to maximize autonomy and political freedom, and minimize the state's en ...

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 Robert Nozick (; November 16, 1938 – January 23, 2002) was an American philosopher. He held the Joseph Pellegrino University Professorship at Harvard University,

, and referred to Nozick's devotees as "Nozis". Konkin presents his strategy for achieving a libertarian society in his aforementioned 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 A black market, underground economy, or shadow economy is a clandestine market or series of transactions that has some aspect of illegality or is characterized by noncompliance with an institutional set of rules. If the rule defines the se ...

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 Counter-economics is an economic theory and revolutionary method consisting of direct action carried out through the black market or the gray market. As a term, it was originally used by American libertarian activists and theorists Samuel Edward K ...

.' Peaceful transactions take place in a free market, or

agora The agora (; grc, ἀγορά, romanized: ', meaning "market" in Modern Greek) was a central public space in ancient Greek city-states. It is the best representation of a city-state's response to accommodate the social and political order of t ...

: hence his term '

' for the society he sought to achieve." He also strongly opposed the idea of intellectual property. 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). Konkin was an opponent of

imperialism Imperialism is the state policy, practice, or advocacy of extending power and dominion, especially by direct territorial acquisition or by gaining political and economic control of other areas, often through employing hard power (economic and ...

and interventionism.

Controversies

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 The Institute for Historical Review (IHR) is a United States-based nonprofit organization which promotes Holocaust denial. It is considered by many scholars to be central to the international Holocaust denial movement. Self-described as a "hist ...

, where he served on the Board of Directors, which included allotting advertisement space to the IHR in ''New Libertarian'', and writing a positive review of

James J. Martin James J. Martin (1916–2004) was an American historian and author known for espousing Holocaust denial in his works. He is known for his book, ''American Liberalism and World Politics, 1931–1941'' (1964). Fellow Holocaust denier Harry Elmer Ba ...

's book on

Raphael Lemkin Raphael Lemkin ( pl, Rafał Lemkin; 24 June 1900 – 28 August 1959) was a Polish lawyer who is best known for coining the term ''genocide'' and initiating the Genocide Convention, an interest spurred on after learning about the Armenian genocid ...

, which was published by the IHR. Konkin personally rejected Holocaust denial, but defended the IHR because he believed its freedom of speech was being suppressed. However, the fact that Konkin himself participated in holocaust denial and praised holocaust denial in his review of James martin's book calls that framing into question.

References

External links

Agorism.eu.org
has archived Konkin writings and pamphlets in PDF format ()
Collected writings of Samuel Edward Konkin III
()
Fanzines by SEK3
()

()
Konkin on Libertarian Strategy
by Murray Rothbard
Sam Konkin and Libertarian Theory
by David Gordon
KoPubCo
back issues of ''New Libertarian''

at AnthonyFlood.com * ttps://web.archive.org/web/20071118104121/http://www.isil.org/resources/fnn/2004spring/sek-iii-riggenbach.html Obituary for SEK3by Jeff Riggenbach
Obituary for Sam Konkin
by Phil Osborn {{DEFAULTSORT:Konkin III, Samuel Edward 1947 births 2004 deaths 20th-century American male writers 20th-century American non-fiction writers 21st-century American male writers 21st-century American non-fiction writers Agorists American atheists American economics writers American libertarians American male non-fiction writers American political philosophers American political writers American revolutionaries Anarchist theorists Anarchist writers Free-market anarchists Left-libertarians Libertarian theorists Non-interventionism Philosophy writers Revolution theorists Science fiction fans Writers from Edmonton

Personal life

Political opinions

Controversies

See also

References

External links