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

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.

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 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