I recently came upon the term agorism. Under the current law when you produce and sell goods you are under the obligation to pay taxes on said goods hereby supporting the state. If I don’t comply the state will impose measures varying from fines to imprisonment and/or violence. The monopoly on violence by the state is a thing society agreed upon long ago but is never questioned.
Agorism implies that we can resist and undermine the current capitalist system through peaceful grey and black market activities.
A poignant example is luxury goods such as tobacco. The state has successively increased taxation on tobacco. Were I to say disagree with the state here I could proceed to import tobacco from elsewhere and sell it on the black market. The state would miss vital income, income on which the state thrives. This would undermine what I call the “nanny state.”
Sure, some form of government will always be necessary but incessant meddling in our private lives was never the agreed upon arrangement.
Another striking example is for instance marihuana. Most nation states prohibit the growing, selling, and use of marihuana. Due to increased demand and medical research pointing to the harmlessness of the plant, some governments have legalized marihuana.
This is an interesting example. Prior to the legalization, marihuana could exclusively be found on the black market. The state would demonize the product and lock up sellers and users. Nowadays we know marihuana is a harmless product and recognize the medicinal properties. States finally acknowledge what consumers already knew.
Legalizing the plant now puts marihuana outside of the scope of agorists. But, and here’s the clou; the sale of marihuana can now be taxed thus funding the state and inevitably state politics which almost always implies war and imperialism.