leftlibertarian.org

[cross-posted at Liberty & Power]

I don’t know anything about Robert Steinfeld’s book Coercion, Contract, and Free Labor in the Nineteenth Century except the following description, but it sounds interesting:

This book presents a fundamental reassessment of the nature of wage labor in the nineteenth century, focusing on the use of sanctions to enforce wage labor agreements. Professor Steinfeld argues that wage workers were not employees at will but were often bound to their employment by enforceable labor agreements, which employers used whenever available to manage their labor costs and supply. Modern free wage labor only came into being late in the nineteenth century, as a result of reform legislation that restricted the contract remedies employers could legally use.

Anybody know any more about it?

Kevin Carson has written an excellent response to Paul Marks’ muddled critique of Kevin’s earlier essay Contract Feudalism.

Also “Lysander’s Ghost” (I know who this is, but don’t know whether they want it made public) has an interesting article on debt here.

With regard to the concerns raised in this latter article, I’ve previously argued for libertarian-based restrictions on the extent of debt here.

So my former governor is out of prison, for now.

Was Don Siegelman targeted by Karl Rove? It looks like it.

But does that mean Siegelman was completely innocent? I’m inclined to doubt it. After all, this is the same guy who, when criticised for reappointing Auburn University’s most controversial trustee, replied: “But I had to reappoint him; he was my biggest donor” – a confession that doesn’t inspire much confidence in his integrity (or intelligence).

(A couple of Siegelman’s other bons mots: “If God had meant you to have pierced ears, you would have been born a girl,” and “No, I have no comment on whether the old law banning interracial marriage should be repealed; I ran on an education platform.” I admit I get a kick out of seeing all these clueless Yankee liberals rallying to the defense of their fellow Democrat.)

Still, regardless of his guilt or innocence, he certainly doesn’t belong in prison; no one should be there unless they pose a serious threat to others, and I doubt Siegelman could even successfully mug somebody.

P.S. – The headline on Dan Abrams’ show reads: “Former Governor Siegelman Freed From Prison After Dan’s Call For Justice.” C’mon, Dan, that’s getting a little O’Reillyish.

Tell me what you think, folks! It’s not done yet, but I am looking to finish it sometime this weekend or next week.

        Sex workers face violence from multiple directions. They not only end up dealing with abusive clients, but they also have to worry about the violence of the state being brought to bear against them. Every year, the violence against sex workers is spoken out against, and this year was no different. The annual International Day to End Violence Against Sex Workers took place last December 17^th. This report was written to bring you the scoop on what went down last year.

        First off, I want to thank all the following organizations for being sponsors. The respective groups were:

1. SWOP (Sex Workers Outreach Project)

2. Desiree Alliance

3. SWANK (Sex Workers Action New York)

4. Scarlet Alliance

5. Stella

6. ESPU (Erotic Service Provider’s Union)

7. SWIRL (Sex Worker’s Internet Radio Lounge)

8. Spread

9. PONY (Prostitutes of New York)

10. Venus Envy

11. Charis

12. Star Light Ministries

13. Lady Monster

14. SWAN (Sex Worker’s Advocacy Network)

SWAN is a coalition of groups from Central Europe, Eastern Europe, and Central Asia. It includes:

Aksion Plus, Albania, www.aksionplus.net
HESED, Bulgaria, www.hesed.bg
Bliss Without Risk, Czech Republic, http://www.rozkosbezrizika.cz/01_htm/100_ENGLISH.htm
MPEE, Hungary, www.prostitualtak.hu
Kovcheg, Kazakhstan, fsz@mail.ru
Tais Plus, Kyrgyzstan, gkurmanova@yandex.ru
Dia+Logos, Latvia, dialogs@diacentrs.lv
I Can Live, Lithuania, www.galiugyventi.lt
HOPS, Macedonia, www.hops.org.mk
Tada, Poland, www.tada.pl
ARAS-Romanian Association Against AIDS, Romania, www.arasnet.ro
Humanitarian Action, Russia, www.humanitarianaction.org
Siberian Initiative, Russia, http://www.sibin.ru
Jazas. Serbia, www.jazas.net
Odyseus, Slovakia, www.ozodyseus.sk
All Ukrainian Association on Harm Reduction, Ukraine, www.uhra.org.ua

(I was able to copy and paste the above list from the SWAN press release on December 17th)

        The events that took place that day occurred in multiple venues. They were not only limited to the United States of America – my current country of residence. And one of them even occurred online – the Sex Worker’s Outreach Project held an online conference.

The essays of Voltairine De Cleyre are wonderfully absorbing, and I have added her to the list of writers whose style I would love to emulate. She combines rigorous logic with some of the most beautiful sentimental and emotional writing that I have ever been privileged enough to read.

Go forth and read Sex Slavery.

Well, not quite. Still, though, the following ought to be required reading for left libertarians — Kevin Carson’s reply to Paul Mark’s critique of Carson’s pamphlet Contract Feudalism: Further Thoughts about “Contract Feudalism”: A Response to Paul Marks.

Speaking of Carson, he’s lately been blogging up a storm over at The Art of the Possible. Two recent posts definitely deserve to be highlighted — Meritocracy and “Public” vs. “Private” Sector.

You show me a polluter and I'll show you a subsidy. I'll show you a fat cat using political clout to escape the discipline of the market and load his production costs onto the backs of the public. Tax-payers give away $65 billion every year in subsidies to big oil, and more than $35 billion a year in subsidies to western welfare cowboys. Those subsidies helped create the billionaires who financed the right-wing revolution on Capitol Hill and put Bush in the White House. While communism is the control of business by government, fascism is the control of government by business. True free-markets, in which businesses pay all the costs of bringing their products to market, is the most efficient and democratic way of distributing the goods of the land – and the surest way to eliminate pollution. Free markets, when allowed to function, value raw materials and encourage producers to eliminate waste by reduc-ing, reusing, and recycling. I don't think of myself as an environmentalist anymore; I consider myself a free-marketeer.

Thud. That was the sound of the other shoe dropping. In response to severe problems in the credit markets, thanks to years of government intervention, the Federal Reserve, the government's counterfeiter and chief culprit in the current crisis, has opened its discount window to the investment banks. Interest rate: 2.5 percent. Until recently, only commercial banks could borrow money from the Fed. But now investment banks may also -- and here's the kicker: They can put up shaky mortgage-backed securities as collateral. Which means the American people are potentially on the hook for those loans. Should they go bad, we Americans will pay either in inflation-induced higher prices or higher taxes. Investment banks that may have invested in bad mortgages are already taking advantage of the new opportunity. Is this a great country or what?