The image above is of the clown fish, Amphiprion Ocellaris. This fish was most famously popularized by the 2003 Pixar movie, Finding Nemo. A clown fish is an interesting specimen because it lives in what is called a mutual symbiotic relationship with sea anemones. Sea Anemones are poisonous Cnidarians that kill prey by using powerful neurotoxins found on their tentacles. The interesting part is that clown fish live within the tentacles of the anemone and go completely unharmed. The anemone provides shelter and safety for the clown fish in addition to food supplements while the clown fish provides protection from the anemones predators and food by luring fish to it as well as through its excrement. Both animals live in a mutual symbiosis, meaning that it is beneficial for both. This is a good example of what I’m going to be

discussing and what I consider to be my personal political view — mutualism, or more specifically, Anarcho-mutualism.

Mutualism is an economic theory and anarchist school of thought that advocates a society where each person might possess a means of production, either individually or collectively, with trade representing equivalent amounts of labor in the free market. Deriving from the works of Pierre-Joseph Proudhon, Mutualism is based on a labor theory of value that holds that when labor or its product is sold, in exchange, it ought to receive goods or services embodying “the amount of labor necessary to produce an article of exactly similar and equal utility”. Basically, if I were to sell something to you, I should receive goods or services that are comparable to the goods or services I’m providing you. If I fix your washing machine, you fix me dryer and vice versa. Mutualist believe in the establishment of a mutual-credit bank that would lend to producers at a minimal interest rate, just high enough to cover administration costs. So if I lend you money, the only money I would require above the principal is what is required for me to operate as a business and provide you my services. I would not charge you ridiculous fees and interest rates that will put you in debt for many years like capitalists do. A capitalist will lend you $20,000 on a 60 month term with 25% interest rate. By the time you finish paying off this loan you will have paid $38,177.17 into it, earning the capitalist $18,177.17. A mutualist will lend you the same amount of money. However, I will not charge you interest and I’ll still give you 60 months to pay it off. The only thing I would charge is around $1,500 for the administration costs. I have a building to pay for, I have a family to feed. That’s what that fee pays for. This is also a biblical concept.

“If your brother becomes poor and cannot maintain himself with you, you shall support him as though he were a stranger and a sojourner, and he shall live with you. Take no interest from him or profit, but fear your God, that your brother may live beside you. You shall not lend him your money at interest, nor give him your food for profit.” – Leviticus 25:35-37 “Who does not put out his money at interest and does not take a bribe against the innocent. He who does these things shall never be moved.” – Psalm 15:5 A capitalist will tell you that it’s all in fair competition and the interest charged allows the entrepreneur to make money. But making over $18,000 for putting a man in debt is not only wrong, it’s sinful. Mutualists oppose the idea of individuals receiving an income through loans, investments, and rent, as they believe these individuals are not laboring. Proudhon opposed this type of income, though he expressed that he had never intended “…to forbid or suppress, by sovereign decree, ground rent and interest on capital. I think that all these manifestations of human activity should remain free and voluntary for all: I ask for them no modifications, restrictions or suppressions, other than those which result naturally and of necessity from the universalization of the principle of reciprocity which I propose.” This is where the anarchism school of thought comes into play. When people hear anarchy or anarchism they automatically think of chaos, rioting, and general disorder. Anarchism is a political philosophy. They believe in stateless societies based on non-hierarchical free associations. Anarchism is very anti-dogmatic and most of its members do not adhere to a specific set of beliefs or doctrine. Anarchism allows the person to decide what he or she believes for themselves and structure it in such a way as fits there own moral or ethical code. Proudhon proposed spontaneous order, whereby organization emerges without central authority, a “positive anarchy” where order arises when everybody does “what he wishes and only what he wishes” and where “business transactions alone produce the social order.” Similar to laissez-faire, anarcho-mutualism calls for a hands off approach by any existing state. This allows freedom in transaction and business. Mutualists secure the worker’s right to the full product of their labor, mutualists also support markets and property in the product of labor. However, they argue for conditional titles to land, whose ownership is legitimate only if it remains in use or occupation (which Proudhon called “possession”); thus advocating personal property, but not private property. Capitalists believe they have a hold on the free market. Capitalists will tell you that the, “don’t work, don’t eat” concept is theirs. They believe that success is only driven through, and by capitalism and any other system is faulty or flawed. Capitalism has one focus, making yourself rich. They do not care about the worker or his life or health, only his wallet and its thickness. Capitalists will tell you that they believe in the “good” parts of capitalism and reject the “bad”. But I think if you listen carefully you’ll find that these good parts of capitalism are not solely capitalistic ideals. The only thing that defines capitalism as anything different is its focus on private ownership and money. I look at it this way: There are two big points for any business or market, greed and labor. Capitalism is all about the greed aspect. It is trying to earn as much money as you can doing as little work as you can. Take away the greed aspect of capitalism and your left with nothing. Add the greed to any market, and you have JP Morgan. Capitalism means bailing out big companies that gamble and lose, paying your workers a wage that does not support living in order to make as much money as possible, and serving yourself before your fellow man. Mutualism means working as hard as you can to earn the most honest living you can. Bottom line, I believe that if I don’t work, I don’t eat. I believe that everyone deserves a chance. I believe in a truly free market. I believe that lying and greed are immoral. This is why I am not a capitalist.