====== Counter-economics ======

**Counter-economics** is a term originally coined by [[Samuel Edward Konkin III]], a radical [[libertarian]] activist and theorist, who defined it as:

>"...the study and/or practice of all peaceful human action which is forbidden by the State."

The term is short for "counter-establishment economics". Counter-economics is central to Konkin's doctrine of agorism, an explicitly revolutionary variant of [[market anarchism]].

The term counter-economics is also used in a separate but arguably compatible sense by some to refer to addressing social justice and sustainability concerns in a market context, although one more generally counter-establishment rather than explicitly illegal.

In both senses, it can include non-monetary forms of exchange, such as a [[barter economy]] or a [[gift economy]]. It can also include meeting wants and needs through [[self-sufficiency]] and [[DIY]] instead of inside the corporate-state nexus.

=====Origin=====
The first presentations of the theory of counter-economics were made by Samuel Edward Konkin III at two conferences organized by [[J. Neil Schulman]], CounterCon I in 1974 and CounterCon II in 1975, both held in Cheshire, Massachusetts. Other speakers at these conferences included [[Robert LeFevre]], Kenneth Kalcheim, and Dennis Turner.

The first book to portray counter-economics as a strategy for achieving a libertarian society was J. Neil Schulman's 1979 novel ''[[Alongside Night]]''. 

=====Relationship with agorism=====
Konkin's agorism, as exposited in his book [[http://agorism.info/docs/NewLibertarianManifesto.pdf|New Libertarian Manifesto]], postulates that the correct method of achieving a [[Market anarchism|market anarchist]] society is through advocacy and growth of the underground economy or "black market" -- the [[counter-economy]] as Konkin put it -- until such a point that the State's perceived moral authority and outright power have been so thoroughly undermined that revolutionary market anarchist legal and security enterprises are able to arise from underground and ultimately suppress government as a criminal activity (with taxation being treated as theft, war being treated as mass murder, ''et cetera'').

According to Konkin's pamphlet [[http://agorism.info/docs/Counter-Economics.pdf|Counter-Economics]]:

>"The Counter-Economy is the sum of all non-aggressive Human Action which is forbidden by the State. Counter-economics is the study of the Counter-Economy and its practices. The Counter-Economy includes the free market, the Black Market, the “underground economy,” all acts of civil and social disobedience, all acts of forbidden association (sexual, racial, cross-religious), and anything else the State, at any place or time, chooses to prohibit, control, regulate, tax, or tariff. The Counter-Economy excludes all State-approved action (the “White Market”) and the Red Market (violence and theft not approved by the State)."

According to Konkin, counter-economics also allows for immediate self-liberation from statist controls, to whatever degree practical, by applying entrepreneurial logic to rationally decide which laws to discreetly break when. The fundamental principle is to **trade risk for profit**, although profit can refer to any gain in perceived value rather than strictly monetary gains (as a consequence of the [[subjective theory of value]]).

=====Expanding on counter-economics=====
[[mutualism|Mutualist]] author Kevin Carson has mentioned counter-economics, offering his suggestions for how it can be improved:
>Unfortunately, SEK3 took too narrow a view of the counter-economy:  rather than viewing illegality as a means to an end, he viewed it as an end in itself, and as the defining characteric of counter-economics.  That approach is unsatisfactory, since it means we define our efforts in terms of the state rather than in terms of our own self-derived goals.
>
>Indeed, the state’s own statism is a means to an end, and defined largely in relation to our own self-determined goals:  to prevent us from supporting ourselves in comfort, independently of the corporate-state nexus and wage employment, and from receiving the full product of our labor.
>
>If counter-economics is the means, we should also remember that the means is the end in progress.  Evading the state is not an end in itself; it is, rather, a means of accomplishing what we would want to accomplish for its own sake, even if the state never existed.  Counter-economics is the building of the kind of society and economy we want right now.  And if we define it that way, it dovetails nicely with many similar concepts prevalent on the libertarian, decentralist Left:  counter-institutions, dual power, and (that wonderful Wobbly slogan) “building the foundation of the new society within the shell of the old.”
Carson advocates a [[dual power]] strategy which involves the creation of so-called "[[counter-institution|counter-institutions]]" to undermine the state and its corporate allies.

=====Alternative usage=====
The term counter-economics is also used in a separate but arguably compatible sense by some to refer to addressing social justice and sustainability concerns in a market context, although one more generally counter-establishment rather than explicitly illegal. In this second sense, counter-economics has been described as "money at the service of people, instead of the other way around." That's not what we're talking about here, but for those with an interest in this alternate use of the term, refer to [[http://webscribe.net/files/issue0.pdf|Just Things - The Fair Trade Journal of Applied Counter-Economics]].

=====See Also=====
  * [[Counter-Economy]]
  * [[Counter-economist]]
  * [[Ideas for counter-economists]]

=====Resources=====
  * Konkin's pamphlet, [[http://agorism.info/docs/Counter-Economics.pdf|"Counter-Economics"]]
  * [[http://groups.yahoo.com/group/smygo/links/Counter_Economics_001186112419/|YahooGroups page with information on counter-economics]]

==== Books about counter-economics====
  * [[http://agorism.info/docs/NewLibertarianManifesto.pdf|New Libertarian Manifesto]] by Samuel Edward Konkin III
  * [[http://www.kopubco.com/pdf/An_Agorist_Primer_by_SEK3.pdf|An Agorist Primer]] by Samuel Edward Konkin III

==== Articles and essays about counter-economics====
  * [[http://c4ss.org/content/724|"Barter Networks and the Counter-Economy"]] by Kevin A. Carson
  * [[http://c4ss.org/content/1492|"Making the State Irrelevant, Part One"]] [[http://c4ss.org/content/1503|"Part Two: Circumvention"]] [[http://c4ss.org/content/1520|"Part Three: Undermining Its Legitimacy"]] by Kevin A. Carson
  * [[http://bradspangler.com/blog/archives/1436|"How Counter-Economics Took Down The Polish Communist State"]] by Brad Spangler
  * [[http://theconverted.wordpress.com/2009/05/21/iphone-agorism/|"iPhone Agorism"]] by theConverted

====Other relevant books====
  * [[http://www.amazon.com/Guerrilla-Capitalism-Adam-Cash/dp/0915179164/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1258672435&sr=8-1|Guerilla Capitalism]] by Adam Cash
  * [[http://www.amazon.com/Community-Technology-Karl-Hess/dp/1559501340/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1258494478&sr=8-1|Community Technology]] by Karl Hess

====Other relevant articles and essays====
  * [[http://www.lewrockwell.com/orig6/bylund6.html|"A Strategy for Forcing the State Back"]] by Per Bylund
  * [[http://mutualist.blogspot.com/2005/07/northeastern-anarchist-on-dual-power.html|"Northeastern Anarchist on Dual Power Strategy"]] by Kevin A. Carson
  * [[http://www.sandiego.indymedia.org/en/2002/09/2403.shtml|"An Introduction to Dual Power Strategy"]] by Brian A. Dominick
  * [[http://www.campaignforliberty.com/article.php?view=261|"The New Left Was Right"]] by Dylan Hales