Agorism is a social philosophy that advocates creating a society in which all relations between people are voluntary exchanges by means of counter-economics, engaging with aspects of nonviolent revolution. It was first proposed by American libertarian philosopher Samuel Edward Konkin III (1947–2004) at two conferences, CounterCon I in October 1974 and CounterCon II in May 1975. Etymology The term was coined by Samuel Edward Konkin III and comes from the word agora (), referring to an open place for assembly and market in a polis (; city-state). Origins According to Konkin, agorism and counter-economics were originally fighting concepts forged in the revolutionary atmosphere of 1972 and 1973. Konkin credits the Austrian School and particularly Ludwig von Mises as the base of economic thought leading to agorism and counter-economics. In the 1960–1970s, there was an abundance of political alienation in the United States, particularly for those in favor of libertarian ideologies. Whereas Murray Rothbard chose to create political alliances between the Old Right and the New Left, Robert LeFevre and his West Coast followers pursued a non-participatory form of civil disobedience. LeFevre's anti-collaboration methods ultimately lost favor and faded away. According to Konkin, after the creation of the Libertarian Party in 1971, the debate shifted from anarchy vs. minarchism to partyarchy vs. agorism. Ideology Konkin characterized agorism as a form of left-libertarianism, and, generally, that agorism is a strategic branch of left-wing market anarchism. Although this term is non-standard usage, agorists identify as part of left-wing politics in the general sense and use the term left-libertarian as defined by Roderick T. Long, i.e. as "an integration, or I'd argue, a reintegration of libertarianism with concerns that are traditionally thought of as being concerns of the left. That includes concerns for worker empowerment, worry about plutocracy, concerns about feminism and various kinds of social equality". Counter-economics The concept of counter-economics is the most critical element of agorism. It can be described as such: Profitable civil disobedience Agorism advocates for gradual withdrawal of state support through what Konkin described as "Profitable Civil Disobedience". Starving the state of its revenue and purpose by transferring these responsibilities over to decentralized institutions is the most feasible way to achieve free markets according to agorism: Opposition to political parties Agorism does not support political engagement in the form of political party promotion as a means to transition to a free-market anarchism. The methods of the Libertarian Party