Swartzism is a doctrine of information power, built from the record of Aaron Swartz — his essays, his manifestos, his projects, and his failures. It holds that:
- Knowledge about the world is a commons, and its enclosure is a harm.
- Information is power, and power should be accountable.
- Data about persons is not a commons. Privacy is a power too, held by the powerless against the powerful.
- A doctrine that needs its subject to be flawless is a hagiography, not an argument.
The name is a construction, not a claim. Swartz did not name a movement; he left a record. This blog argues about what that record implies — and stress-tests the argument.
The blog is the doctrine’s public face. Swartzism is apersonal by design: it belongs to no author, only to a record and an argument.