IDEA: Snazzy Multi-Author Libertarian Anarchist Blog for a Mainstream Audience

Update: I did this in early 2011 as Anarch.me but interest fizzled and I couldn’t get enough posts. I’m passing the project on to someone else.

Here’s an idea: a multi-author libertarian anarchist blog, well-designed and -marketed, that stands out (just short of attention-whoring) and addresses a mainstream audience. The concept is one of many short, highly-opinionated posts from a wide range of authors, sound-bite-ish but very striking-the-root-ish and always well-reasoned and factually-founded. Who’s in?

Erode Support for the State

My goal is to get the message of liberty to a wider audience, to split the statist crowd and erode their support for the state (see the Free Me Project’s principle number one). Instead of divide and conquer, I would call it unite for liberty and unconquer them from the government. But I also want to make money. So this can be an experiment in agorism and worker-owned business, if that’s what the self-selected participants want.

Generate Evolution

My strategy is to offer something new, thought-provoking, challenging and exciting. That’s inevitably what happens when you comment on current events from an anarchist perspective, right? The idea is to generate interest and discussion from statists that leads to evolutions in their thinking. They don’t have to become dyed-in-the-wool voluntaryists. All we need is to neutralize them as aggressors (and give them the tools for self-empowerment).

Thoughts on Format

I’d like to see five to ten short linked multimedia posts per day from multiple authors. The posting cycle must be kept short. You see something that needs the anarchist perspective, you post it and your concise but clear commentary. If we’re not sure whether any given post is “right” for the blog, we run it anyway and find out! The C4SS website has excellent content in this area but is more intellectual (and long) than a mainstream audience is ready for.

Needed: Good People

Who do we need to get this done? Who is missing from the below list?

• IT person to handle the technical/production side.
• Editor to source and manage the content.
• Writers to produce the content.
• Marketer to build mindshare for the effort.

No Money, No Point

How will this make money? That’s a critical question because if it won’t make money, it’s pointless and should not be done. People have little inkling of what’s to come and need things like silver, gold, training in farming, books and other media. They’ll need preparedness supplies and advice. They’ll want T-shirts, firearms training and natural, sustainable solutions to the problems coming down the pike. They’ll need knowledge, information and tools. We can provide this. We talk about this stuff all day long on facebook and twitter.

Your Input

I think the challenge is to reach a mainstream audience, to balance left and right enough to not allow either to write us off and to frustrate enough to keep ’em both coming back for more. Please keep in mind that these are just my initial thoughts and I’m open to others. I appreciate any thoughts you’re willing to share.

Photo credit: Yodel Anecdotal. Photo license.