Per Bylund

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Per Bylund (born 1975 in Stockholm, Sweden), has become known as a radical libertarian writer and thinker. Apart from being frequently published on radical libertarian sites and ezines, he has edited the Swedish anthology Sådan är kapitalismen^[1] and the quarterly libertarian magazine Libertarianskt Forum (both in Swedish). He is also the founding editor of the "unifying" anarchist web site Anarchism.net. He is also known for being the original designer of the Libertatis Æquilibritas, a symbol of anarcho-capitalism that has gained significant following among anarcho-capitalists worldwide.

[edit] Biography

In 1991, at the time of the general elections, Bylund joined the Moderate Youth League. He remained a member for ten years, and was later elected in 1998 for the municipal council of Österåker, but resigned in early 2000 utterly disillusioned with party politics as a means of change.

After some years as a classical liberal and minarchist libertarian, Bylund was finally in 1998 convinced by anarcho-capitalism. Later this year he started the anarcho-capitalist portal Anarchism.net together with two other Swedish anarchists: Per Ericson and Thord Swedenhammar. Although once elected, in the general elections of 2002 he refused to vote and argued for non-voting as a means of resistance^[2] and for the right to shun voters.^[3]

The site, Anarchism.net, went through a number of re-designs and finally in 2003 ended up a gathering place with the purpose of unifying the global anarchist movement. The continuously changed mission^[4] of Anarchism.net, along with its content focus, closely follows Bylund's evolution from being a right libertarian towards agorism and individualist anarchism. The same course of change in values is evident in Bylund's writing, going from the early essays reflecting a libertarianism strongly influenced by the philosophy of Ayn Rand to a less "rightist" and more deeply anarchist conviction. The early anarchist Per Bylund was, as he would himself say, "ignorantly pro-capitalism" advocating a free market resembling the contemporary capitalist system — along with Big Business and globalization.^{[citation needed]}

Even though mainly known as a radical writer on libertarian web sites, Bylund is also an activist and events organizer. He is a core member of the Swedish libertarian network Frihetsfronten[1] (The Freedom Front),^{[citation needed]} and arranged the Walks for Capitalism[2] in Stockholm in 2001 and 2002. Bylund also frequently attends the International Society for Individual Liberty's[3] annual World Freedom Summits, and is a "member" of the Movement of the Libertarian Left[4].