Samuel Edward Konkin III (8 July 1947 – 23 February 2004), also known as SEK3, was an American
libertarian philosopher and
Austrian school
The Austrian School is a heterodox school of economic thought that advocates strict adherence to methodological individualism, the concept that social phenomena result exclusively from the motivations and actions of individuals. Austrian schoo ...
economist. As the author of the publication ''
New Libertarian Manifesto'', he was a proponent of a
political philosophy
Political philosophy or political theory is the philosophical study of government, addressing questions about the nature, scope, and legitimacy of public agents and institutions and the relationships between them. Its topics include politics, ...
he named
agorism.
Personal life
Konkin was born in
Edmonton, Alberta
Edmonton ( ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Alberta. Edmonton is situated on the North Saskatchewan River and is the centre of the Edmonton Metropolitan Region, which is surrounded by Alberta's central region. The city anch ...
, 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
John Ronald Reuel Tolkien (, ; 3 January 1892 – 2 September 1973) was an English writer and philologist. He was the author of the high fantasy works ''The Hobbit'' and ''The Lord of the Rings''.
From 1925 to 1945, Tolkien was the Rawlins ...
.
Konkin was also notable 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".
[ 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 his apartment in
West Los Angeles
West Los Angeles is an area within the city of Los Angeles, California. The residential and commercial neighborhood is divided by the Interstate 405 freeway, and each side is sometimes treated as a distinct neighborhood, mapped differently by di ...
,
California
California is a state in the Western United States, located along the Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the most populous U.S. state and the 3rd largest by area. It is also the m ...
. He was buried alongside his father in
Edmonton, Alberta
Edmonton ( ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Alberta. Edmonton is situated on the North Saskatchewan River and is the centre of the Edmonton Metropolitan Region, which is surrounded by Alberta's central region. The city anch ...
.
Political opinions
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
Active parties by country
Defunct parties by country
Organizations associated with Libertarian parties
See also
* Liberal parties by country
* List of libertarian organizations
* Lists of political parties
Lists of political part ...
, which he regarded as a
statist
In political science, statism is the doctrine that the political authority of the state is legitimate to some degree. This may include economic and social policy, especially in regard to taxation and the means of production.
While in use since ...
co-option of libertarianism. He was an opponent of influential
minarchist
A night-watchman state, or minarchy, whose proponents are known as minarchists, is a model of a state that is limited and minimal, whose functions depend on libertarian theory. Right-libertarians support it only as an enforcer of the non-aggre ...
philosopher
Robert Nozick, 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 and ]grey market
A grey market or dark market (sometimes confused with the similar term " parallel market") is the trade of a commodity through distribution channels that are not authorized by the original manufacturer or trade mark proprietor. Grey market pr ...
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 ...
.' Peaceful transactions take place in a free market, or agora: hence his term ' agorism' for the society he sought to achieve."[ He also strongly opposed the idea of ]intellectual property
Intellectual property (IP) is a category of property that includes intangible creations of the human intellect. There are many types of intellectual property, and some countries recognize more than others. The best-known types are patents, cop ...
.[
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
Science fiction (sometimes shortened to Sci-Fi or SF) is a genre of speculative fiction which typically deals with imaginative and futuristic concepts such as advanced science and technology, space exploration, time travel, parallel uni ...
tribute featuring a Robert A. Heinlein
Robert Anson Heinlein (; July 7, 1907 – May 8, 1988) was an American science fiction author, aeronautical engineer, and naval officer. Sometimes called the "dean of science fiction writers", he was among the first to emphasize scientific accu ...
cover (issue 187, 1990).
Konkin was an opponent of imperialism and interventionism.
Controversies
In her book ''Anarchism: Left, Right, and Green'', political theorist and anarcho-syndicalist
Anarcho-syndicalism is a political philosophy and anarchist school of thought that views revolutionary industrial unionism or syndicalism as a method for workers in capitalist society to gain control of an economy and thus control influence i ...
, Ulrike Heider accused Konkin of endorsing historical negationism
Historical negationism, also called denialism, is falsification or distortion of the historical record. It should not be conflated with ''historical revisionism'', a broader term that extends to newly evidenced, fairly reasoned academic reinterp ...
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 " his ...
, 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's book on Raphael Lemkin, which was published by the IHR. Konkin personally rejected Holocaust denial
Holocaust denial is an antisemitic conspiracy theory that falsely asserts that the Nazi genocide of Jews, known as the Holocaust, is a myth, fabrication, or exaggeration. Holocaust deniers make one or more of the following false statements: ...
, 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.
See also
* Economic secession
* Victor Koman
Victor Koman (born August 9, 1954) is an American science fiction and fantasy writer and agorist. A three-time winner of the Prometheus Award, Koman is mainly popular in the libertarian community. He is the owner of the publishing house KoPubCo. ...
* J. Neil Schulman
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
Murray Newton Rothbard (; March 2, 1926 – January 7, 1995) was an American economist of the Austrian School, economic historian, political theorist, and activist. Rothbard was a central figure in the 20th-century American libertarian ...
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
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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
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