Statism (French; étatisme) is a term used by political scientists to describe the belief that a government should control either economic or social policy or both to some degree.^[1][2][3][4] Statism is effectively the opposite of anarchism.^[4][1][2][3] Statism can take many forms. Minarchists prefer a minimal or night watchman state to protect people from aggression, theft, breach of contract, and fraud with military, police, and courts.^[5][6][7][8] Some may also include fire departments, prisons, and other functions.^[5][6][7][8] Totalitarians prefer a maximum or all encompassing state.^{[9][10][11][12][13]} Limited government, welfare state, and other options make up the middle territory of the scale of statism.^[14][15] Some anarchists use the term statist in a derogatory sense.^[16][17][18]

State, society and individuals[link]

Some statist analyses use a dichotomy between state and society, viewing the state as a homogeneous institution capable of using political power to force policy on a passive or resisting society. Such an analysis depends on an elitist theory of power rather than a pluralist theory of power; that power is exercised by individuals and competing organisations within society.^[19]

Right-wing authoritarianism, on the other hand, views a strong, authoritative state as required to legislate or enforce traditional morality and cultural practices. The ideology of statism espoused by fascism holds that sovereignty is not vested in the people but in the nation state, and that all individuals and associations exist only to enhance the power, prestige and well-being of the state. It repudiates individualism and exalts the nation as an organic body headed by the Supreme Leader and nurtured by unity, force, and discipline.^{[citation needed]} Fascism and some forms of corporatism extol the moral position that the corporate group, usually the state, is greater than the sum of its parts and that individuals have a moral obligation to serve the state.^{[citation needed]}

Economic statism[link]

Economic statism promotes the view that the state has a major and legitimate role in directing the economy, either directly through state-owned enterprises and other types of machinery of government, or indirectly through economic planning.^[20] The term statism is sometimes used to refer to state capitalism or highly-regulated market economies with large amounts of government intervention, regulation or public ownership over industry. It is also used to refer to state socialism or co-operative economic systems that rely upon state ownership as a means of running industry.^{[citation needed]} Economic interventionism asserts that the state has a legitimate or necessary role within the framework of a capitalist economy by correcting market failures, promoting economic growth and/or low levels of unemployment.^{[citation needed]} State socialism refers to any socialist political movement that advocates the use of the state apparatus as a strategy for building a socialist society (or for achieving a socialist revolution), either through nationalization or through a workers' state based on workers' councils.^{[citation needed]}

References[link]

See also[link]

Adam Charles Kokesh
Kokesh in 2009
Born	(1982-02-01) February 1, 1982 (age 30) California
Allegiance	USA
Service/branch	United States Marine Corps
Years of service	1999–2007
Rank	Corporal
Unit	3rd Civil Affairs Group[1]
Battles/wars	Iraq War
Other work	Talk show host, political activist

Adam Charles Kokesh (born February 1, 1982) is an American activist and talk radio host. Kokesh was a Corporal in the United States Marine Corps Reserve and is a veteran of the Iraq War. He is an outspoken opponent of the U.S. military intervention in Iraq and has received media attention related to anti-war protest activities. He is the son of Charles Kokesh, a Santa Fe venture capitalist, founder of a firm called Technology Funding and owner of the Santa Fe Horse Park.^[2]

Marine Corps service[link]

Kokesh attended the Native American Preparatory School in San Ysidro, New Mexico.^[3] He enlisted in the United States Marine Corps in 1999.^[4] In 2004, he served in Fallujah.^[5] He was a liaison between the U.S. military and Iraqi civilians as a member of the 3rd Civil Affairs Group.^[1] He also worked a security checkpoint while in Iraq.^[6] He brought home a pistol from Iraq in 2004^[4] in violation of military rules, which prevented his return for a second Iraq tour.^[6] Kokesh "had risen to the rank of sergeant after three-and-a-half years in the Reserves" and "was demoted to corporal and soon thereafter discharged honorably with a re-enlistment code that basically said, 'you can't re-enlist.'"^[6] Having experienced combat in Fallujah, Kokesh received the Combat Action Ribbon and the Navy Commendation Medal after his honorable discharge from active duty.^[7]

After his discharge, and during a March 19, 2007 protest he attended, Kokesh was in the Individual Ready Reserve (IRR);^[6] a superior officer identified him in a photo caption in the Washington Post.^[8] On "March 29, a Marine major sent him an e-mail to tell him he was being investigated for misconduct by appearing at a political event in uniform. Kokesh responded, telling the major what he thought" and used an expletive in his reply, resulting in an additional misconduct charge.^[6] The charges were "brought under the Uniform Code of Military Justice, which applies only to service members," confusing some veterans and lawyers.^[6]

Hearing[link]

In May 2007, a hearing was convened to consider changing Kokesh's military discharge from "honorable" to "other than honorable" on two points: "Disrespect toward a Superior Commissioned Officer," and violating "Wearing of the uniform" regulation.^[9][10] The panel recommended Kokesh be given a "general discharge under honorable conditions,"^[11] a discharge status below "honorable," and above "other than honorable".^[12] Kokesh appealed the decision, and was denied.^{[13][broken citation]}

Protest activities[link]

After returning from Iraq, Kokesh resumed his studies and completed his bachelor's degree in psychology at Claremont McKenna College. In February 2007, Kokesh became an active participant in the Iraq Veterans Against the War (IVAW). On March 19, 2007, to mark the 4th anniversary of the 2003 invasion of Iraq, Kokesh and 12 other Iraq Veterans Against the War members participated in an occupation-like mock patrol of Washington D.C.^[14] Kokesh first came to national attention after he was interviewed on CNN and his photograph appeared in newspapers throughout the country, including the front page of the Los Angeles Times at a protest during Alberto Gonzales's testimony to Congress regarding the dismissal of U.S. attorneys. Kokesh, wearing his Marine Corps Boonie hat, held up a large sign counting the number of times Gonzalez said "I don't remember" or "I don't recall" (Kokesh claimed Gonzalez used such phrases 74 times).^[15]

Kokesh arrest at Senate Hart office building, April 26, 2007

In April 2007 Kokesh and a number of other activists were arrested for protesting the Iraq war in the Senate Hart Office Building. Kokesh had performed a ceremony for lost service members using an American flag.^[16][17][18]

In June 2007 Kokesh, along with IVAW members Liam Madden and Nate Lewis, were arrested for crossing onto the property of Ft. Benning near Columbus, Georgia. On June 13, the government filed a motion to dismiss the trespass charges.^{[19][verification needed]} The property is the former location of the School of the Americas.

Kokesh enrolled in graduate studies in political management at George Washington University.^[20] In October 2007, Kokesh, along with six other students, created controversy by putting up satirical political posters across the university campus. The posters featured a picture of a stereotypical Arab man and the headline "Hate Muslims? So do we!!!," with illustrative captions explaining that the typical Muslim is equipped with a venom-spouting mouth, laser-shooting eyes, and hidden AK-47:s, among other parodical features. The poster was signed "Students for Conservativo-Fascism Awareness," and encouraged students to visit the right-wing website terrorismawareness.org. Kokesh and the six other students publicly admitted to responsibility amidst accusations that the poster was Islamophobic, maintaining that their intent was to spread awareness of what they considered to be the overtly racist intentions of the above-mentioned website's "Islamo-Fascism Awareness Week" organized by a conservative student organization and featuring David Horowitz.^[21]

On September 2, 2008, Kokesh spoke at Representative Ron Paul's Rally for the Republic in St. Paul, Minnesota, where he stated, "While it is our responsibility now to resist tyranny civily, while we still can, there may come a time when we will say to the powers that be, be it with your blood or ours we have come to water the tree of liberty … who will stand with me?"

On September 4, 2008, Kokesh interrupted Senator John McCain's acceptance speech of the GOP nomination for President at the Republican National Convention in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Holding a sign reading "McCain Votes Against Vets" on one side and "You can't win an occupation" on the other,^[22] Kokesh yelled, "Ask him why he votes against vets!" A member of the audience grabbed the sign and tore it in two. Kokesh was released shortly after being detained by local police.^[23]

On May 28, 2011, Kokesh and other activists participated in a flash mob-silent dance at the Thomas Jefferson Memorial in Washington, D.C. in protest of a recent ruling against dancing at federal monuments; the activists were arrested through the use of physical force by U.S. Park Police officers after actively resisting arrest and ignoring officers' commands.^[24] A much larger protest the following Saturday, June 4, 2011, organized by Kokesh and Code Pink, involved about 200 protesters and 75 dancers. About 10 minutes after the dancing began, police began clearing the monument.^[25] No arrests were made. When asked by a journalist if he had a permit to protest, Kokesh reportedly produced a copy of the Constitution and said, "Actually I got a permit. It's the same one I swore an oath to when I enlisted in the Marine Corps. And it says something about 'freedom of assembly.' Which means you don't need permission from anybody to come together and speak your mind."^[26]

VFW position[link]

The national commander of the Veterans of Foreign Wars has defended the right of Kokesh and others who have been given honorable discharges to protest in uniform or in a tank.^[20]

2010 congressional campaign[link]

In 2010, Adam Kokesh attempted to unseat Democratic representative Ben Ray Luján in New Mexico's heavily Democratic 3rd congressional district running as a libertarian-oriented Republican.^[27] Kokesh received mostly out-of-state money,^[27] support from Ron Paul,^[28] and an endorsement from the Republican Liberty Caucus, the organization that represents the libertarian wing of the Republican Party.^[29] Kokesh's opponent in the New Mexico GOP primary was Tom Mullins^[30] to whom he lost.^[31]

"Adam vs The Man"[link]

Since July 2010 Kokesh hosted a talk radio program called "Adam vs. The Man." The program airs weekdays from the studios of 1550 KIVA in Albuquerque, New Mexico.^[32] In April 2011 his show was picked up by Russia Today television network ("RT").^[33] Accuracy in Media criticized Kokesh's appearing on RT, a non-profit organization which largely is funded by the Russian government.^[34][35][36] The conservative group wrote that RT uses Americans like Kokesh to make propaganda points.^[37] The show was canceled in August 2011.^[38]

Kokesh has continued his "Adam vs. The Man" video reports independently on YouTube, noting he was "fired from my only radio and TV gigs."^[39] On the channel he has filed some critical reports of the "Occupy DC" version of the Occupy Wall Street movement.^[40][41]

See also[link]

	Biography portal
	United States Marine Corps portal
	Dance portal

• List of U.S. Marines
• Campaign for Liberty

References[link]

External links[link]

• Adam Kokesh's talk radio show: ADAM VS THE MAN
• Adam Kokesh's blog
• Adam Kokesh's profile at IVAW.org
• Adam Kokesh's Debut on RT