Why Mutualism?: Building a Party on Freedom and Fairness (Announcing the Foundation of a Mutualist Party)

Graphic created for use by the Mutualist Party of Illinois

Designed by Joe Kopsick

     The Mutualist Party of Illinois was founded in June 2020 by Joseph W. Kopsick, as part of his independent campaign for the United States House of Representatives from Illinois’s 10th congressional district.

     Upon the occasion of the foundation of the party, its founder Mr. Kopsick - also the party's first candidate - had the following to say:

     “American states need mutualist parties because the sharper and deeper the left-vs.-right divide grows, the more there will develop a need to resolve the differences between - and moderate the extremes of - the far-left and far-right.

     Without a party throwing itself between the others, to protect the many factions of American voters from one another, the wealth gap will deepen, and the effects on our society will be profoundly tribalizing and isolating.

     We need a political philosophy based on mutual respect, to govern Illinois and to govern America. Most importantly, respect for each other’s human rights, and for alternative political and economic viewpoints. We must build a political party that values freedom and fairness equally, and sees human rights and natural liberties as one and the same. If we build that party, it will be in a unique position to resolve the social and economic conflicts of the day, and of the future. 

     Americans know all too well why we need a new party; the Democrats and Republicans are no longer trustworthy. But what good will it do to choose a new party, if it represents a biased form of government? After all, handing all control over to either working people in a socialist system, or to property owners in a capitalist system, could present its own biases and prejudices. So why not choose a party that’s fundamentally based on virtues like fairness, equality, compromise, and moderation?

     It’s not that the other political parties don’t have anything valuable to contribute; they do. It’s just that the Green Party, and socialist and communist parties, represent explicitly left-wing economic standpoints; while the Libertarian Party, Constitution Party, the Conservative Party of Illinois, and others, represent explicitly capitalist or right-wing standpoints. Well, not every American is a student of economics! Not every voter knows whether they are economically left-wing or right-wing! So give them a party that is acutely aware of the growing left-vs.-right divide, and aims to do something about it.

     Mutualism has implications in politics, ethics, money and credit, society, and even biology.

     Through direct action and mutual aid - simply put, “helping each other” - we can act directly to solve social and economic problems, without asking the state for permission, or turning the solution to the problem into a hyper-regulated, government-licensed job.

     Most Americans are still unfamiliar with what the Libertarian Party and the libertarian movement want, but many know that they want everything to be voluntary. The libertarians support voluntary exchange, and so does the Mutualist Party. We just want to remind libertarians that exchanges must be not only voluntary, but also mutually beneficial. That is, everyone who is involved must benefit, even third party actors who aren’t aware that they’re affected by a decision.

     The Mutualist Party supports all mutually beneficial voluntary exchanges and transactions in which no third party is harmed. We want to make it known that no person should be expected to sacrifice in any economic or social situation. A person should only sacrifice if they truly and genuinely want to do it, and understand that they may not “sacrifice others” without their permission; someone who sacrifices must take the responsibility and consequences wholly upon oneself. Also, no person may “volunteer others”; that is not true volunteering.

     In addition to mutual aid and mutual exchange, mutual protection and defense must occur. This really just means “protecting and defending each other”. The purpose of the military sector of the government is to provide an avenue through which the government and the people may pledge mutual loyalty to one another. If the police protect the residents, then the residents will want to become citizens, and they will want to become police officers and volunteer for the military. The public trust has been shattered, especially over the last two decades, and it needs to be revived.

The Mutualist Party will be the party to revive the public trust by bringing reciprocity and trust back to the relationship between the people, our political institutions, and those who administer the law. The Mutualist Party will end the legitimization of violent force by this police state, and it will do that by taking the force out of enforcement.

     We will ensure that all police responses to reports and accusations of non-violent crimes, are met with a non-violent administration of law and a de-escalation of force, not a ramping-up of force and escalation of violence in the name of establishing public order. That is not order; that is violence, and the purpose of government is to avoid violence, not use it to solve all of society’s problems.

     Government cannot be a “civilizing force” in people’s lives, by legitimizing violence. We must respect the right of the accused, not to be subjected to violence, unless they are proven guilty of a violent crime with absolute certainty.

     A society in which each person respects the other person’s right to agree to alternative political, social, and economic arrangements, will be a voluntary society with mutual respect for each other’s freedom to live differently (unless and until those freedoms start to interfere with other people’s freedom).

     The Mutualist Party of Illinois wishes to promote the study of Mutualist economics, occupancy and use norms (“O&U norms”, for short), Proviso-Lockeanism, and the works of Pierre-Joseph Proudhon and Josiah Warren, as well as the similar fields of Georgism and market socialism, and the hybrid Geo-Mutualist school of economics. We want Mutualist and Georgist economics to be taught in schools, as alternatives alongside socialism and capitalism.

     Mutualists want the prices of goods to be no higher than the cost of the labor and capital it took to produce them; this is called the “cost principle”. We want free competition and free cooperation at the same time; we want total freedom of opportunity to compete against anyone, even monopolists and the government.

We want to recognize people’s right to keep whatever they produce on top of the land, without having to pay taxes or rent. In a mutualist economy, monopolies, wage theft, housing fraud, predatory lending, excessive taxation and unnecessary fees, congressional insider trading, and fractional-reserve banking (usury) will become things of the past.

     No longer will the public be expected to foot the tax bill to protect the property and wealth of corrupt companies, environmentally harmful resource extraction operations, or unfinished construction projects which serve no purpose to the public.

It will be easier to start a family business, but it will also be easier to start a cooperative enterprise. It will be easier to form a union and strike and boycott, but it will also be easier to become an independent contractor. It will be easier to file a patent, but the patent won’t last so long that people are unable to afford the product, or legally use alternatives to it. It will be easier to produce consumer goods (as long as you do it in a healthy environment), but we will know much more about the products we consume.

     There’s something in Mutualism for everyone! All it takes is getting workers and consumers to talk to each other directly, so they can make decisions that benefit us all.

     The Mutualist Party of Illinois will be the party of free land, free credit, free competition, and free cooperation. We want free and open markets, moderated with the fairness provided through equal protection under the law.

     Mutualists believe that freedom and fairness don’t have to be balanced; society becomes totally free only when each of us treats others fairly, and it becomes totally fair when each and every one of us is afforded freedom over our own affairs.

If those who have no property, also have no realistic way to ever fully own property, then the American dream is no more. If those who have done wrong and served their time, have no chance of ever having meaningful participation in our civic institutions, then the phrase “justice for all” (in the Pledge of Allegiance) means nothing.

     The Mutualist Party will restore the American dream, public trust in government, and worker and consumer faith in our economy.

     Join my campaign for the U.S. House, and this effort to establish a Mutualist Party in the State of Illinois. Together, we can build a unique, grassroots movement that doesn’t fall prey to the biases of so-called “normal politics” where all parties are in it for themselves.

     The Mutualist Party is in it for the people of Illinois. The Mutualist Party is in it for the American people. Mutualism is in it for the people of the world. A world in which everyone has access to opportunities, is a world in which nobody will tolerate being unfree, and nobody will tolerate unfair treatment.

     But we can get there; through building a free society based on mutual respect and trust, genuine volunteering, and reciprocity; delivering on our promises. Not just because we want to make sure that people get compensated for all the work they do (and we do); but because humans are innately social creatures. We care what happens to each other.

     Our ability to protect, defend, and care for one another, is what determines the future of human survival on this planet, and whether we live in harmony with the planet and other species living upon it. A party that protects the environment, will itself receive the mutual protection of the planet.

     That is why we need Mutualist and Georgist economics; one system focused on a fair economy, and the other focused on the land itself.

     Please help the economy, the planet, and each other, by joining the Mutualist Party today. We don’t want your money, we just want to work with you to the extent that you want to work with us.

     That’s how you negotiate, and build coalitions, but it’s also how you know when you’ve found something that is non-negotiable. Until that happens, it’s how you make sure that everyone involved in a transaction is comfortable, and can easily go their separate ways when their interests diverge.

     That is how you foster an economy, and a society, in which both individuals and groups can flourish, and in which nobody goes hungry while others have much more than they need. Hardly any government would be necessary, if it were not “necessary” to protect the immense wealth of the rich against the bodies of the poor.

     A society in which nobody has to consider stealing - whether from a store, or from their employee - will be a society in which openness, respect, and trust will flourish. The Mutualist Party will get the boot of taxation off of the throats of hard working employees as well as small businessmen alike, instead of pillaging from both of them while pitting them against each other.

     It’s time to knock some sense back into our government and our economy.”

     To join the Mutualist Party of Illinois, e-mail Joe Kopsick at jwkopsick@gmail.com, or call him at 608-417-9395, and ask to sign the petition to help establish the party (and also helps Kopsick get on the ballot in 2020).

     Facebook users can like the page Mutualist Party of Illinois by following this address: http://www.facebook.com/MutualistPartyIL/?modal=admin_todo_tour

     Facebook users can also keep up on Mutualist Party of Illinois politics by visiting the Joe Kopsick for Congress (IL-10) / Mutualist Party of Illinois group, which can be found at the following address: http://www.facebook.com/groups/586988188625917/?ref=search

     The online e-petition to help Kopsick get on the ballot, is available at the following links:

     http://app.signnow.com/webapp/document/ea1ff1fceb49415e8e75996303b9c9113cc1dfd1?fieldinvite_id=443b98ffbb9243258a41eb31eb4fa50a83278f18&mobileweb=app_only&route=fieldinvite

     http://app.signnow.com/webapp/document/ea1ff1fceb49415e8e75996303b9c9113cc1dfd1

A Mutualist-Anarchist flag

Image not created by the author of this blog

Written on June 30th, 2020

Edited on July 1st and 3rd, 2020

Originally Published to This Blog on July 3^rd, 2020