Ivan Muñiz-Brown: The IAN Interview

 Ivan Muñiz-Brown

Ivan is a free man, a worker and a truth seeker, and thus a revolutionary. He is the founding member of the AFWP. Ivan has spent years studying logic, mathematics, classic literature, history, natural theology, ontology and political philosophy. He has a bachelor’s degree in economics, and he is a bus driver in Los Angeles, California.

IAN: Please tell us about your latest book.

Ivan Muñiz-Brown: Beyond the Kakotopias of the Liberal State and Its Nemeses is a deconstruction of the liberal state as an illegitimate political construct. It is an in-depth dissection of the catastrophic flaws of both Marxism and the bourgeois dystopia. And it is a book for all Americans living at the receiving end of that swindle.

I write from an experience familiar to many Americans: I am well-educated yet I work a low-paying job, often for almost double the hours of a regular workweek. In what free time I have, I put my economics degree to work by studying different branches of the field, as well as philosophy and history, to deductively deconstruct the current system and inductively infer the logical alternative.

More than anything else, Beyond the Kakotopias of the Liberal State and Its Nemeses is a road map to a worker-centered democratic and ethical state. It is a political alternative that starts with a clean break. It is free of the shallow dichotomy “left wing versus right wing” and it is an uncompromising leap of logic and will into a radically different future. And more importantly, it is a glimmer of hope for the forsaken—just about all Americans.  

IAN: Is Beyond the Kakotopias of the Liberal State and Its Nemeses published in print, e-book or both?

Ivan Muñiz-Brown: It’s available as both paperback and e-book.

IAN: Where can we go to buy Beyond the Kakotopias of the Liberal State and Its Nemeses?

Amazon, Barnes & Noble, AmericaFreeWorkersParty.org

IAN: How long did it take to write Beyond the Kakotopias of the Liberal State and Its Nemeses?

Ivan Muñiz-Brown: It took me 15 months to write the book and six additional months to go through all the different phases until it was finally published.

IAN: How did you come up with the title?

Ivan Muñiz-Brown: The title is both a hint of what the book is about plus a testament to the profound love I have for classical languages—specifically Greek and Latin. The etymology of the words “kakotopias” and “nemeses” is Greek. 

IAN: What do you hope your readers come away with after reading Beyond the Kakotopias of the Liberal State and Its Nemeses

Ivan Muñiz-Brown: I hope they feel inspired to break free from old paradigms and assumptions that are overwhelming in the ethos of the laissez-faire state. Most of the ideas upon which this state is predicated are not truisms but rather ideological lies. Furthermore, the first step toward social and political liberation is to develop the capacity to ask fundamental questions and be willing to accept the answers, no matter how unsettling they may be. I think this book will help that purpose.

IAN: How is Beyond the Kakotopias of the Liberal State and Its Nemeses different from others in your genre?

Ivan Muñiz-Brown: Unfortunately, the vast majority of books in this genre (social and political philosophy, political science and theory, etc.) are stuck in the liberal archetype, no matter the ideology the author subscribes to. In fact, all the present and historical counterparts of laissez-faire liberalism (communism, socialism, fascism, national socialism, and many other hybrids) were born as contraries of the liberal state and hence all of them are infected with many of the same ideological falsehoods. Moreover, academia has not helped matters because “intellectuals” and professors have been very reluctant to separate their own ideological inclinations from fundamental deontological principles that any legitimate state should adhere to. Tragically, politics without ethics is a destructive business.

IAN: What book are you reading now?

Ivan Muñiz-Brown: Harrie de Swart’s Philosophical and Mathematical Logic.

IAN: Do you see writing as a career?

Ivan Muñiz-Brown: I would like to make a living as a writer, but my interests as a man, worker, member of the body politic and finally author might be at the moment a very small niche. However, I am committed to work hard to expand that niche, more for the sake of the people than for my own sake.

IAN: If you had to do it all over again, would you change anything in your latest book?

Ivan Muñiz-Brown: I have heard some reasonable complaints about my idiosyncratic style and the excessive use of archaisms and philosophical lexicon. Sometimes I think I could have written in a more accessible way, but that requires skills that I might lack. It is indeed very difficult to write in plain English, specially when you are delving deep into complicated matters of political philosophy, political economy, ethics, etc. As for the archaisms, I certainly used a few to pay homage to Early Modern English and its masters. In this particular case, it was an artistic license born out of admiration and respect, and potentially a commercial toll that any writer should be willing to pay—lest his soul stops the creative flow in rebellion.

IAN: What was the hardest part of writing Beyond the Kakotopias of the Liberal State and Its Nemeses?

Ivan Muñiz-Brown: The time constraints were very challenging. I work long hours, at times exceeding 60 or even 70 hours a week. When I finally get to rest, I feel sometimes physically and emotionally drained. Under those circumstances it is not easy to muster up the energy and concentration to produce your best writing. However, the will is the most phenomenal force within—and possibly without—and I do believe when properly channeled, there is nothing that can stop you.

IAN: Did you learn anything from writing Beyond the Kakotopias of the Liberal State and Its Nemeses and what was it?

Ivan Muñiz-Brown: I learned that the writing is the easiest and most rewarding stage in the publishing process. After the final script is completed, the hard work begins. This marketing tasks can be daunting and yet again, through the power of the will, there is nothing that can make you quit.

IAN: Do you have anything specific that you want to say to your readers?

Ivan Muñiz-Brown: This is a long-term struggle. I would ask them to remain patient, strong, honest and hopeful. Enjoy the journey and keep educating yourselves and those around you. As I said in the book, the ripples always expand outward from the hardcore to those who are the weakest or the most damaged by propaganda and indoctrination. This founding work is the spring from where this innermost hardcore can articulate more powerful political actions in the future.

IAN: Tell us about your next book or a work in progress. Is it a sequel or a stand-alone?

Ivan Muñiz-Brown: It will be a stand-alone on ontology and logic, which are some of the most worthy branches of philosophy, in my opinion. But because of the massive time constraints I face it will not be out before 2027.