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Joined: 2009-08-30
Columns on STR: 29
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Name: 
Marcel Votlucka
Sex: 
Male
Country: 
United States

Short bio:

 Marcel Votlucka writes from Brooklyn NY.  His work focuses on the connections between psychology, culture, and anti-politics.  Visit his new website at http://marcelvotlucka.wordpress.com/

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Columns by Marcel Votlucka

A Silver Lining Shines Within the Odious Debt
7
Marcel Votlucka 2011-02-22 04:00
Column by Marcel Votlucka. Exclusive to STR Co-winner (with Mark Davis) of the 2011 Strike the Root "Odious Debt" essay contest   Fourteen trillion, one hundred twenty-three billion, five hundred eighty-nine million, three hundred-seven thousand, one hundred ninety dollars and fifty-three cents.   That’s the total US national debt as of February 17, 2011. I figured I...
Would You Hurt Me If I Said No to Your Politics?
8.66667
Marcel Votlucka 2010-01-04 04:00
  Exclusive to STR   “Put down the gun, then we’ll talk.” This is the core morality of both libertarianism and civilization.” ~ Stefan Molyneux     Would you hurt me if I said "no" to your favored politics or policies?   “Of course not!” you say. “I’d never dream of it, this is a democratic country!” But I...
The Undergraduate Degree--A Bourgeois Cult Symbol
0
Marcel Votlucka 2009-10-06 16:00
Exclusive to STR Everyone has the right to go to college and get a good education. It's the key to success in the job market. Not so fast. If there's one thing job-hunting in this economy has taught me, it's that an undergraduate education is vastly overrated as far as success goes. Notwithstanding the specious right to go to college for free of which today's youth and leftist politicians...
Resisting Power and the Curse of Greyface
0
Marcel Votlucka 2009-06-14 16:00
Exclusive to STR June 15, 2009 Money is not the root of all evil, power is -- or at least, the desire for power. As an activist, I see that many of the injustices we face can be clearly traced back to that. A fat cat Wall Street banker can gamble away millions of people's financial futures, a racist pig can deny you a job, an insane President can murder Iraqi and Afghan children, your community...
Don't Privatize, Marketize!
0
Marcel Votlucka 2009-03-26 17:00
Exclusive to STR March 27, 2009 Corruption. Waste. Fraud. Inefficiency. Irresponsibility. Shortsightedness. Lack of accountability. You might immediately assume I'm talking about some of the, uh, virtues of government. Normally you'd be right, but today I'm discussing so-called "privatization" schemes. John Stossel of ABC does some good work in his investigative reports on...
Law and Ethics--A Great Divorce?
0
Marcel Votlucka 2009-01-19 17:00
Exclusive to STR January 20, 2009 If a woman enters a bakery and steals a loaf of bread to feed her starving child, is it wrong? Well, technically, she violated the baker's rights by trespassing on his property (the bakery) and stealing the product of his labor (the bread), so under our beloved non-aggression axiom, the baker has every right to prosecute her for aggressing against his rightful...
Fear Not the Gallows, Ye Radicals
0
Marcel Votlucka 2008-12-23 17:00
Exclusive to STR "If you don't like the way things are here, why don't you just leave?" "All this talk about government and statism... You're so paranoid!" "This is a democracy; we have so many rights and freedoms. Stop complaining and vote for change!" "Hey, at least you're not in one of Stalin's gulags!" Ah, yes, here we have some of my favorite...
Beware the Man on the White Horse
0
Marcel Votlucka 2008-11-09 17:00
Exclusive to STR November 10, 2008 It nearly happened in 2004 when I watched him speak at the Democratic National Convention. It nearly happened again when I watched him address tens of thousands of screaming supporters at the 2008 convention. It tempted me -- oh, temptation! -- during his performance at the debates. I really had to hold myself back when I saw the crowd in Times Square going...
We Are the Neutered Bourgeois
0
Marcel Votlucka 2008-09-28 16:00
Exclusive to STR September 29, 2008 The other day I went down to downtown Manhattan to check out a demonstration against Bush's $700 billion economic bailout plan. It was a fairly quiet and subdued affair; no fire, no élan. I saw plenty of placards advocating Communism as "a new way", clever signs berating Bush and Cheney as socialists, pro-Obama buttons, etc. -- but not one...
Let the House of Cards Tumble!
0
Marcel Votlucka 2008-09-15 16:00
Exclusive to STR September 16, 2008 Question: What should you do when your good friend parties too hard one night, downs more alcohol than is thought humanly possible, generally makes a reckless ass of himself in his inebriation, and wakes up the following morning with a hellish hangover and confused guilt over what transpired before? Solution: you let him sit it out and suffer. That's right;...
The Dangerous Question
0
Marcel Votlucka 2008-07-21 16:00
Exclusive to STR July 22, 2008 The powers that be hate, above all else, the following question: "Why?" And we the people are more than happy to avoid asking it. For that dangerous question is often the first step toward any positive personal, political, or social transformative process. Case in point: Congress currently enjoys abysmal approval ratings and a sore lack of public...
The Forgotten Meaning of Independence Day
0
Marcel Votlucka 2008-07-08 16:00
Exclusive to STR July 9, 2008 A recent poll on this site asked if respondents planned to observe ( U.S. ) Independence Day this year. My belated response is a "yes", I did observe Independence Day as I always do -- and not just because I like having a day off from work. I did so because I know what the holiday really means. Yes, Jefferson was a slaveholder, Adams and Hamilton were...
The Olympic 'Truce'
0
Marcel Votlucka 2008-04-20 16:00
Exclusive to STR April 21, 2008 You've no doubt heard much about the recent protests of the Olympics, with pro-Tibet activists and curmudgeons of all stripes disrupting ceremonies to try to send the Chinese hosts a message. "Oh, but the Olympics aren't supposed to be political!" we hear. For the record, I do admit it's kinda messed up that a post-Communist police state should have the...
Emerald City Goes Bust
0
Marcel Votlucka 2008-04-03 16:00
Exclusive to STR April 4, 2008 "The economy is, uh, very strong, we're uh, not in a recession! Everything will start to go back to normal as things, um, stabilize with the Fed's new rate cuts. The signs...simply do not point to a recession!" But the man on my TV screen stuttered and sweated as he spoke. As I watched this interview one morning before going to work, the man's demeanor...
Reflections on the Newly Independent Kosovo
0
Marcel Votlucka 2008-02-18 17:00
Exclusive to STR February 19, 2008 With Kosovo's declaration of independence, the "Balkanization" of the former Yugoslavia continues...and thank goodness for that! After all, what right does any Serb, particularly their President, have to keep control over another group of people? And for that matter, what right does the president of Russia have to press his iron boots upon the necks...
If Only the Super Bowl Could Replace Politics
0
Marcel Votlucka 2008-02-03 17:00
Exclusive to STR February 4, 2008 On Super Bowl Sundays, my TV remains resolutely turned off. It's not just that football isn't my cup of tea. It's not just that I care little for fancy-shmancy-yet-insipid commercials hawking new drugs and beer and cars and life insurance. And it's not just because of the sad irony that the New York Giants are based in New Jersey. No...it's because people are...
I'm an Anarchist, and I Don't Hate the Troops
0
Marcel Votlucka 2008-01-29 17:00
January 30, 2008 First, let it be known that I despise the State and everything it stands for. Let it also be known that as long as people like me exist, Judgment Day forever reigns upon this amoral, criminal institution. Let it further be known that I am under no natural obligation to support its functions, monetarily, morally, or otherwise -- the only reason I cooperate is because I will be...
A Revolutionary Psychology
0
Marcel Votlucka 2007-10-28 17:00
Exclusive to STR October 29, 2007 Imagine it. The State is on the verge of total collapse. Seeing little difference between the federal government and a Mafia gang, the people are increasingly refusing to pay taxes to the corrupt government. Elections see dramatically lower turnout over the years as politicians no longer command power or respect within the community. Cops and soldiers...
Are We Against Authority?
0
Marcel Votlucka 2007-08-27 16:00
Exclusive to STR August 28, 2007 When people think of anarchists, they often envision ragtag groups of spoiled college kids burning things and hoisting black flags at rallies, nihilists who are angry at the world, hippies who want to do whatever they want to do, consequences or responsibility be damned. And to be fair, there are a lot of people out there calling themselves anarchists who do...
The Psychology Behind the State
0
Marcel Votlucka 2007-08-19 16:00
Exclusive to STR August 20, 2007 A co-worker of mine often laments, "Maybe we should take the Noah's Ark route -- 40 days and 40 nights of rain, flood the world, start all over again". Indeed, when I talk about anti-statist or individualist ideas, people respond with dismal appraisals of the human race as proof that an anarchist society "wouldn't work". "People are...
You Can't End the 'Politics of Division'
0
Marcel Votlucka 2007-07-08 16:00
Exclusive to STR July 9, 2007 Politics is based on divisive conflict. Therefore it is a logical fallacy to think you can end the "politics of division". We hear a lot of complaints nowadays about how this country is oh-so divided politically and that we should be "united". We hear endless moping about the "politics of division" and "bipartisanship" and...
Endless 'Problems' Fuel Statist Hubris
0
Marcel Votlucka 2007-06-26 16:00
Exclusive to STR June 27, 2007 People in power have an annoying tendency to fabricate a horde of complex, difficult, mind-wrenching "problems" that need solving. It seems that these problems are so utterly complex and nuanced that a free market society cannot solve them -- no, only overpaid, Ivy League-educated bureaucrats have the will, the know-how, and the testicular fortitude to...
The Anarchist's Gift
0
Marcel Votlucka 2007-02-06 17:00
Exclusive to STR February 7, 2007 I don't have just one reason to hate the State, I have over 180 million of them. That is a conservative estimate of the number of people killed in the last century alone by governments, whether through wars, genocides, pogroms, and miscellaneous acts of murder and oppression. All of these people died because some pig in a suit wanted more land, wealth, power,...
Building Bridges Between Anarchists and Non-Voters
0
Marcel Votlucka 2006-11-06 17:00
Exclusive to STR Some will say that this year's election season has been the most bitterly divisive in recent memory. The Iraq War continues to be divisive along partisan lines. "Illegal aliens," same sex marriage, and Presidential power grabs in the name of "fighting terror" are topics sure to provoke food fights at the Thanksgiving table. Meanwhile, Democrats and...
Social Welfare Programs: Are They Really "Socially Just"?
0
Marcel Votlucka 2006-10-03 16:00
Exclusive to STR October 4, 2006 You'd think I'd be happy now that I've got a secure job and I can quench those bill collectors' ravenous appetites, to say nothing of Uncle Sam's. But there's something on my mind; my inability to pay for health insurance or put away anything for my retirement. And why, you wonder, is this so? It's simple. Social Security is the culprit -- that and Medicare,...
"Illegal" Immigration Is a Phantom Problem
0
Marcel Votlucka 2006-03-28 16:00
"Illegal" Immigration Is a Phantom Problem by Marcel VotluckaI Exclusive to STR Last year I attended a sociology lecture which began with the professor citing attacks upon minorities in the context of their struggle for equal dignity in our society. He cited Native Americans, Blacks, women, gays and lesbians, and Arabs and Muslims as examples. Seizing the moment, I raised my hand and...
Why the State Cannot Offer a "Moral Economy"
0
Marcel Votlucka 2006-03-16 17:00
Exclusive to STR In the latest issue of The Nation, sociologist Fred Block offers a compelling look into how we can restore a "moral economy". At least, it would be compelling if it didn't rely on the tired old economically-ignorant propaganda the left and right have used since time forgotten. In other words, Block attacks the free market, incoherently and inconsistently, and he doesn...
Taxation Is Extortion
0
Marcel Votlucka 2006-03-01 17:00
I sometimes wonder which is worse: the government or the Mafia. Oh wait; they may as well be the same thing. If you're wondering how the logic of this admittedly brash remark works itself out, try the following. It's simple; just publicly refuse to pay your taxes. The government will come for you and the police will try to throw you in jail. If you resist, you will be shot. Pay up, or get a...
The Free Market Did Not Kill New Orleans
0
Marcel Votlucka 2006-02-27 17:00
What is the free market? Economist Murray N. Rothbard explains, "Society rests upon a network of voluntary exchanges . . . these exchanges imply a division of labor in society, in which producers of [goods and services] exchange their goods for the goods of others. At each step of the way, every participant in exchange benefits immeasurably, for if everyone were forced to be self-...
Would You Hurt Me If I Said No to Your Politics?
8.66667
Marcel Votlucka 2010-01-04 04:00
  Exclusive to STR   “Put down the gun, then we’ll talk.” This is the core morality of both libertarianism and civilization.” ~ Stefan Molyneux     Would you hurt me if I said "no" to your favored politics or policies?   “Of course not!” you say. “I’d never dream of it, this is a democratic country!” But I...
A Silver Lining Shines Within the Odious Debt
7
Marcel Votlucka 2011-02-22 04:00
Column by Marcel Votlucka. Exclusive to STR Co-winner (with Mark Davis) of the 2011 Strike the Root "Odious Debt" essay contest   Fourteen trillion, one hundred twenty-three billion, five hundred eighty-nine million, three hundred-seven thousand, one hundred ninety dollars and fifty-three cents.   That’s the total US national debt as of February 17, 2011. I figured I...