The counter-economic production of bicycles
Kudos to William Gillis for alerting us to the Strike Bike! Striking workers have occupied a bicycle factory in Germany and are preparing to resume bicycle production as their own self-managed enterprise with support from the anarcho-syndicalist Free Workers’ Union (German: Freie Arbeiterinnen- und Arbeiter-Union; abbreviated FAU).
From the English translation of the Strike Bike site:
“The 135 colleagues of the bicycle factory Bike Systems GmbH in the Thuringian Nordhausen, who keep the factory occupied since 10th of July 2007, decided to resume the production of bicycles in self-management. For this aim 1,800 binding orders on bicycles must be received till 2nd of October. So the collegues are working together with the anarcho-syndicalist union FAU (Freie Arbeiterinnen- und Arbeiter-Union – Free Workers-Union), which formed for this campaign the internetpage www.strike-bike.de.”
The occupation of the plant appears to be a “righteous taking” fully in accordance with the libertarian non-aggression principle and respect for authentic property rights. Just as the State, like any other criminal gang, is not the rightful owner of its ill-gotten gains, neither are the faux “private” members of the political class — the recipients of state favoritism and largesse that distinguish capitalism from a true free market economy. This understanding is fully in accordance with Rothbardian property theory (Lockean property theory 2.0, essentially). As such, the “property” of state subsidized business is, in ethical terms, unowned property fully open for “homesteading” by the first occupants/users not part of the state or its allied political class, provided that the rightful original owners can not be identified.
It may be the case with specific plots of land or other tangible assets that the rightful original owners can be found, but general subsidies to business in monetary form tend to come out of the common pool of tax revenue (stolen money), and individual units of currency are not so uniquely identifiable. Refer to Rothbard’s Confiscation and the Homestead Principle for the essential theory and then consider its potential for much fuller application in the context of Konkin’s agorist theory of revolution.
Thus, we arrive at the principal agorist message to anarcho-syndicalists vis a vis the revolutionary redistribution of property…
We’re basically with you, but we are insistent that the justice of such voiding of property titles be considered on a case by case basis and evaluated according to the relationship to the state of the individual or enterprise in question, in accordance with the class theory we promote.
As it turns out, the history of the factory in the Strike Bike case is, not so surprisingly, one of state subsidized business — to the tune of at least 5.2 million euros.
Consider this my statement of support for, solidarity with and best wishes for the Strike Bike effort. My opinion, based on application of my already existing ideology, is that the factory occupation is a valid “homesteading” as far as I can tell. As far as I’m concerned, that plant belongs to the workers who work there. It’s their property, in my opinion.
Furthermore, this assertion of valid property rights by the workers in defiance of the fraudulent state-recognized property title held by the capitalists in question is virtuously counter-economic in an agorist sense precisely because it is both productive (wealth, capital assets, have been added to truly private — i.e. non-statist — hands) and carried out in defiance of the state. If they succeed in getting production going again (and I suspect they will) it will be even more productive and, hence, even more counter-economic and more revolutionary.
To get production going again, though, the workers business plan sets a minimum goal of 1800 orders for their bicycles by October 2nd of this year in order for the project to be considered viable and move forward. That’s just barely over a week from now. If the 1800 order sales goal is not reached, orders reportedly will be refunded. The German anarcho-syndicalist Free Workers Union is assisting with the bicycle marketing effort. Market anarchism, indeed! [grin]
I also noticed that the workers bicycle enterprise is offering a price discount for wholesale orders and the direct sale to consumer price isn’t bad either. Folks, what we have here is a business opportunity. Take a look at this product page. Both mens and womens models are on sale for the low, low, LOW price of just 275 Euros (200 Euros wholesale). With the attractive retro-classic design and niche market appeal for socially conscious consumers, someone with a little cash laying around could potentially make a nice little profit advancing the anarchist / agorist / anarcho-syndicalist cause. If you agree and have the resources, send your order in today, comrade.
See also Shagya Blog and Molly’s Blog on this topic.
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Why do the workers need to manufacture bicycles in the factory? Why don’t some of them manufacture and sell bicycles from their homes?
That would be more truly counter-economic. Plus, then it would be practical for a few of them to work filling small orders, and then scale larger if they’re successful.