By Akracia – Fenikso Nigra
They talk about the free market as if it were synonymous with human freedom. But the market has never been free as long as hierarchies exist that force people to sell their time in order not to fall into need. Free is the one who can refuse, who has autonomy over their own means of subsistence, who does not depend on someone else’s permission to exist. For those who live under such dependence, the market is a cage disguised as opportunity.
The freedom exalted by the market is always the freedom of those who command over those who obey. Free to hire and fire, free to impose working hours and wages, free to accumulate property while others pay to live, move, and survive. There is no voluntary exchange when the alternative is hunger, eviction, or abandonment. What they call a contract is managed coercion.
They call this competition. In practice, it is naturalized hierarchy. People compete for crumbs while owners, shareholders, and rentiers decide who will have access to the basics. The problem is not only who profits, but the very existence of positions that concentrate decision-making power over other people’s lives. It is not enough to change managers — the logic of command itself must be abolished.
When companies make demands, they receive subsidies, police protection, and laws tailored to fit. When workers organize, they face repression, layoffs, and criminalization. The state does not act as a neutral arbiter; it operates as a guarantor of market order. Privatizing or nationalizing changes little if the structure remains the same: a few decide, many obey.
Market discourse turns exploitation into opportunity. If someone does not prosper, they say it was a lack of effort. If someone grows rich by exploiting the labor of others, they call it entrepreneurship. Thus domination becomes merit and submission becomes personal choice. Structural violence disappears under the language of individual responsibility.
The market does not respond to human needs; it responds to purchasing power. It produces abundance where there is money and scarcity where there are people. Food is discarded for not being profitable while communities go hungry. Homes sit empty waiting for appreciation while families sleep on the streets. This is not a failure of the system — it is its normal functioning.
As long as we accept private property and hierarchy as natural, we accept that our lives depend on the will of bosses, landlords, and managers. There is no free market when survival is hostage to those who control resources. There is no freedom when living means obeying.
Questioning the market is not about proposing another center of command; it is about rejecting every form of command over life. We defend horizontal organization, mutual aid, and direct management of the spaces we inhabit and the resources we produce. Real freedom begins when we stop asking permission to exist and start deciding collectively, without bosses or states, how we want to live.
In self-management, we are dignified and free people!
