Anarcho-capitalism

"Ancap" redirects here. For other uses, seeANCAP.

Not to be confused withnarco-capitalism.

Anarcho-capitalism(colloquially:ancaporan-cap) is apolitical philosophyandeconomic theorywhich posits that all government institutions are unnecessary or harmful and can be abolished or replaced with private ones.Anarcho-capitalists hold that society tends to contractually self-regulate and civilize through thevoluntary exchangeof goods and services. This would ideally result in avoluntary societybased on concepts such as thenon-aggression principle,free marketsandself-ownership.In such a society,private propertyrights would be enforced by private agencies. In the absence ofstatute,private defence agencies and/orinsurance companieswould operate competitively in a market and fulfill the roles of courts and the police.

The black and gold flag, a symbol of anarchism (black) and capitalism (gold) which according to Murray Rothbard was first flown in 1963 inColoradoand is also used by the SwedishAnarkoKapitalistisk Front

According to its proponents, various historical theorists have espoused philosophies similar to anarcho-capitalism.While the earliest extant attestation of "anarchocapitalism" [sic] is inKarl Hess's essay "The Death of Politics" published byPlayboyin March 1969,American economistMurray Rothbardwas credited with coining the termsanarcho-capitalistandanarcho-capitalismin 1971.A leading figure in the 20th-centuryAmerican libertarianmovement,Rothbard synthesized elements from theAustrian School,classical liberalismand 19th-centuryAmerican individualist anarchistsandmutualistsLysander SpoonerandBenjamin Tucker,while rejecting thelabor theory of value.Rothbard's anarcho-capitalist society would operate under a mutually agreed-upon "legal code which would be generally accepted, and which the courts would pledge themselves to follow".Thislegal codewould recognize contracts between individuals, private property, self-ownership andtort lawin keeping with the non-aggression principle.Unlike a state, enforcement measures would only apply to those who initiated force or fraud.Rothbard views the power of the state as unjustified, arguing that it violatesindividual rights,reduces prosperity, and creates social and economic problems.

Anarcho-capitalists and right-libertarians cite several historical precedents of what they believe to be examples of quasi-anarcho-capitalism,including theRepublic of Cospaia,Acadia,Anglo-Saxon England,Medieval Iceland,theAmerican Old West,Gaelic Ireland,andmerchant law,admiralty law,and earlycommon law.

Anarcho-capitalism is distinguished fromminarchism,which advocates a minimal governing body (typically a night-watchman state limited to protecting individuals from aggression and enforcing private property) and fromobjectivism(which is a broader philosophy advocating a limited role, yet unlimited size, of said government).Anarcho-capitalists consider themselves to be anarchists whilst supporting private property and private institutions, as opposed toAnarcho-communism,which rejects these ideas.

Classification

See also:Anarchism and capitalism

Anarcho-capitalism developed fromAustrian School-neoliberalismandindividualist anarchism.Most left wing anarchist movements do not consider anarcho-capitalism to be anarchist because it lacks the historically centralanti-capitalistemphasis of older ideas of anarchism. They also argue that anarchism is incompatible with capitalist structures.According to several scholars, Anarcho-capitalism lies outside the tradition of the vast majority of anarchist schools of thought and is more closely affiliated withcapitalism,right-libertarianismandneoliberalism.Traditionally, left-anarchists oppose and reject capitalism, and consider anarcho-capitalism to be acontradiction in terms,although anarcho-capitalists and some right-libertarians consider anarcho-capitalism to be a form of anarchism, or even the only legitimate form of anarchism.

According to theEncyclopædia Britannica:

Anarcho-capitalism challenges other forms of anarchism by supporting private property and private institutions with significant economic power.

Anarcho-capitalism is occasionally seen as part of theNew Right.

Philosophy

Murray Rothbard(1926–1995), who is credited with coining the wordsanarcho-capitalistandanarcho-capitalism.

Author J Michael Oliver says that during the 1960s, a philosophical movement arose in the US that championed "reason, ethical egoism, and free-market capitalism". According to Oliver, anarcho-capitalism is a political theory which logically follows the philosophical conclusions ofObjectivism,a philosophical system developed byAyn Rand,but he acknowledges that his advocacy of anarcho-capitalism is "quite at odds with Rand's ardent defense of 'limited government'".ProfessorLisa Dugganalso says that Rand's anti-statist, pro–free market stances went on to shape the politics of anarcho-capitalism.

According toPatrik Schumacher,the political ideology and programme of anarcho-capitalism envisages the radicalization of theneoliberal"rollback of the state", and calls for the extension of "entrepreneurial freedom" and "competitive market rationality" to the point where the scope for private enterprise is all-encompassing and "leaves no space for state action whatsoever".

On the state

Anarcho-capitalists oppose the state and seek to privatize any useful service the government presently provides, such as education, infrastructure, or the enforcement of law.They seecapitalismand thefree marketas the basis for a free and prosperous society.Murray Rothbardstated that the difference betweenfree-market capitalismandstate capitalismis the difference between "peaceful, voluntary exchange" and a "collusive partnership" between business and government that "uses coercion to subvert the free market".Rothbard argued that all government services, including defense, are inefficient because they lack a market-basedpricing mechanismregulated by "the voluntary decisions of consumers purchasing services that fulfill their highest-priority needs" and by investors seeking the most profitable enterprises to invest in.

Rothbard used the termanarcho-capitalismto distinguish his philosophy from anarchism that opposes private propertyas well as to distinguish it from individualist anarchism.Other terms sometimes used by proponents of the philosophy include: Individualist anarchism Natural order Ordered anarchy Private-law society Private-property anarchy Radical capitalism

Maverick Edwards of theLiberty Universitydescribes anarcho-capitalism as a political, social, and economic theory that places markets as the central "governing body" and where government no longer "grants" rights to its citizenry.

Non-aggression principle

Writer Stanisław Wójtowicz says that although anarcho-capitalists are against centralized states, they believe that all people would naturally share and agree to a specific moral theory based on thenon-aggression principle.While theFriedmanianformulation of anarcho-capitalism is robust to the presence of violence and in fact, assumes some degree of violence will occur,anarcho-capitalism as formulated by Rothbard and others holds strongly to the centrallibertariannonaggressionaxiom,sometimes non-aggression principle. Rothbard wrote:

The basic axiom of libertarian political theory holds that every man is a self-owner, having absolute jurisdiction over his own body. In effect, this means that no one else may justly invade, or aggress against, another's person. It follows then that each person justly owns whatever previously unowned resources he appropriates or "mixes his labor with". From these twin axioms –self-ownershipand "homesteading" – stem the justification for the entire system ofproperty rightstitles in afree-marketsociety. This system establishes the right of every man to his own person, the right of donation, of bequest (and, concomitantly, the right to receive the bequest or inheritance), and the right of contractual exchange of property titles.

Rothbard's defense of the self-ownership principle stems from what he believed to be his falsification of all other alternatives, namely that either a group of people can own another group of people, or that no single person has full ownership over one's self. Rothbard dismisses these two cases on the basis that they cannot result in auniversal ethic,i.e. a just natural law that can govern all people, independent of place and time. The only alternative that remains to Rothbard isself-ownershipwhich he believes is both axiomatic and universal.

In general, the non-aggression axiom is described by Rothbard as a prohibition against the initiation of force, or the threat of force, against persons (in which he includes direct violence, assault and murder) or property (in which he includes fraud, burglary, theft and taxation).The initiation of force is usually referred to asaggressionorcoercion.The difference between anarcho-capitalists and other libertarians is largely one of the degree to which they take this axiom.Minarchistlibertarians such aslibertarian political partieswould retain the state in some smaller and less invasive form, retaining at the very least public police, courts, and military. However, others might give further allowance for other government programs. In contrast, Rothbard rejects any level of "state intervention",defining the state as acoercive monopolyand as the only entity in human society, excluding acknowledged criminals, that derives its income entirely from coercion, in the form of taxation, which Rothbard describes as "compulsory seizure of the property of the State's inhabitants, or subjects."

Some anarcho-capitalists such as Rothbard accept the non-aggression axiom on an intrinsic moral or natural law basis. It is in terms of thenon-aggression principlethat Rothbard defined his interpretation of anarchism, "a system which provides no legal sanction for such aggression ['against person and property']"; and wrote that "what anarchism proposes to do, then, is to abolish the State, i.e. to abolish the regularized institution of aggressive coercion".In an interview published in theAmerican libertarianjournalThe New Banner,Rothbard stated that "capitalism is the fullest expression of anarchism, and anarchism is the fullest expression of capitalism".

Property

Private property

Anarcho-capitalists postulate theprivatizationof everything, including cities with all their infrastructures, public spaces, streets and urban management systems.

Central to Rothbardian anarcho-capitalism are the concepts ofself-ownershipandoriginal appropriationthat combinespersonalandprivate property.Hans-Hermann Hoppewrote:

Everyone is the proper owner of his own physical body as well as of all places and nature-given goods that he occupies and puts to use by means of his body, provided only that no one else has already occupied or used the same places and goods before him. This ownership of "originally appropriated" places and goods by a person implies his right to use and transform these places and goods in any way he sees fit, provided only that he does not change thereby uninvitedly the physical integrity of places and goods originally appropriated by another person. In particular, once a place or good has been first appropriated by, inJohn Locke's phrase, 'mi xing one's labor' with it, ownership in such places and goods can be acquired only by means of a voluntary – contractual – transfer of its property title from a previous to a later owner.

Rothbard however rejected theLockean proviso,and followed the rule of "first come, first served", without any consideration of how much resources are left for other individuals.

Anarcho-capitalists advocate private ownership of the means of production and the allocation of the product of labor created by workers within the context ofwage labourand the free market – that is through decisions made by property and capital owners, regardless of what an individual needs or does not need.Original appropriation allows an individual to claim any never-before-used resources, including land and by improving or otherwise using it, own it with the same "absolute right" as their own body, and retaining those rights forever, regardless of whether the resource is still being used by them. According to Rothbard, property can only come about through labor, therefore original appropriation of land is not legitimate by merely claiming it or building a fence around it – it is only by using land and by mi xing one's labor with it that original appropriation is legitimized: "Any attempt to claim a new resource that someone does not use would have to be considered invasive of the property right of whoever the first user will turn out to be". Rothbard argued that the resource need not continue to be used in order for it to be the person's property as "for once his labor is mixed with the natural resource, it remains his owned land. His labor has been irretrievably mixed with the land, and the land is therefore his or his assigns' in perpetuity".

Rothbard also spoke about a theory of justice in property rights:

It is not enough to call simply for the defense of "the rights of private property"; there must be an adequate theory of justice in property rights, else any property that some State once decreed to be "private" must now be defended by libertarians, no matter how unjust the procedure or how mischievous its consequences.

InJustice and Property Rights,Rothbard wrote that "any identifiable owner (the original victim of theft or his heir) must be accorded his property".In the case of slavery, Rothbard claimed that in many cases "the old plantations and the heirs and descendants of the former slaves can be identified, and the reparations can become highly specific indeed". Rothbard believed slaves rightfully own any land they were forced to work on under the homestead principle. If property is held by the state, Rothbard advocated its confiscation and "return to the private sector",writing that "any property in the hands of the State is in the hands of thieves, and should be liberated as quickly as possible".Rothbard proposed thatstate universitiesbe seized by the students and faculty under the homestead principle. Rothbard also supported the expropriation of nominally "private property" if it is the result of state-initiated force such as businesses that receive grants and subsidies.Rothbard further proposed that businesses who receive at least 50% of their funding from the state be confiscated by the workers,writing: "What we libertarians object to, then, is not governmentper sebut crime, what we object to is unjust or criminal property titles; what we are for is not 'private' propertyper sebut just, innocent, non-criminal private property ".

Similarly,Karl Hesswrote that "libertarianism wants to advance principles of property but that it in no way wishes to defend, willy nilly, all property which now is called private... Much of that property is stolen. Much is of dubious title. All of it is deeply intertwined with an immoral, coercive state system".

Common property

As opposed to most other anarchists,most anarcho-capitalists reject thecommons.However, some of them propose that non-state public or community property can also exist in an anarcho-capitalist society.For anarcho-capitalists, what is important is that it is "acquired" and transferred without help or hindrance from what they call the "compulsory state".Deontological anarcho-capitalistsbelieve that the only just and most economically beneficial way to acquire property is through voluntary trade, gift, or labor-basedoriginal appropriation,rather than through aggression or fraud.

Anarcho-capitalists state that there could be cases wherecommon propertymay develop in aLockean natural rightsframework. Anarcho-capitalists make the example of a number of private businesses which may arise in an area, each owning the land and buildings that they use, but they argue that the paths between them become cleared and trodden incrementally through customer and commercial movement. These thoroughfares may become valuable to the community, but according to them ownership cannot be attributed to any single person andoriginal appropriationdoes not apply because many contributed the labor necessary to create them. In order to prevent it from falling to the "tragedy of the commons",anarcho-capitalists suggest transitioning from common to private property, wherein an individual would make a homesteading claim based on disuse, acquire title by the assent of the community consensus, form a corporation with other involved parties, or other means.

American economistRandall G. Holcombesees challenges stemming from the idea of common property under anarcho-capitalism, such as whether an individual might claimfishing rightsin the area of a majorshipping laneand thereby forbid passage through it.In contrast, Hoppe's work on anarcho-capitalist theory is based on the assumption that all property is privately held, "including all streets, rivers, airports, and harbors" which forms the foundation ofhis views on immigration.

Intellectual property

Most anarcho-capitalists strongly opposeintellectual property(i.e.,trademarks,patents,copyrights).Stephan N. Kinsellaargues that ownership only relates to tangible assets.

Contractual society

The society envisioned by anarcho-capitalists has been labelled by them as a "contractual society" which Rothbard described as "a society based purely on voluntary action, entirely unhampered by violence or threats of violence"The system relies on contracts between individuals as the legal framework which would be enforced by private police and security forces as well as private arbitrations.

Rothbard argues thatlimited liabilityfor corporations could also exist through contract, arguing that "[c]orporations are not at all monopolistic privileges; they are free associations of individuals pooling their capital. On the purely free market, those men would simply announce to their creditors that their liability is limited to the capital specifically invested in the corporation".

There are limits to the right to contract under some interpretations of anarcho-capitalism. Rothbard believes that the right to contract is based ininalienable rightsand because of this any contract that implicitly violates those rights can be voided at will, preventing a person from permanently selling himself or herself into unindenturedslavery.That restriction aside, the right to contract under anarcho-capitalist order would be pretty broad. For example, Rothbard went as far as to justify stork markets, arguing that a market in guardianship rights would facilitate the transfer of guardianship from abusive or neglectful parents to those more interested or suited to raising children.Other anarcho-capitalists have also suggested the legalization of organ markets, as inIran's renal market.Other interpretations conclude that banning such contracts would in itself be an unacceptably invasive interference in the right to contract.

Included in the right of contract is "the right to contract oneself out for employment by others". While anarchists criticize wage labour describing it aswage slavery,anarcho-capitalists view it as a consensual contract.Some anarcho-capitalists prefer to see self-employment prevail over wage labor.David D. Friedmanhas expressed a preference for a society where "almost everyone is self-employed" and "instead of corporations there are large groups of entrepreneurs related by trade, not authority. Each sells not his time, but what his time produces".

Law and order and the use of violence

Different anarcho-capitalists propose different forms of anarcho-capitalism and one area of disagreement is in the area of law. InThe Market for Liberty,Morris and Linda Tannehill object to anystatutorylaw whatsoever. They argue that all one has to do is ask if one is aggressing against another in order to decide if an act is right or wrong.However, while also supporting anatural prohibitionon force and fraud, Rothbard supports the establishment of a mutually agreed-upon centralized libertarian legal code which private courts would pledge to follow, as he presumes a high degree of convergence amongst individuals about what constitutes natural justice.

Unlike both the Tannehills and Rothbard who see an ideological commonality of ethics and morality as a requirement, David D. Friedman proposes that "the systems of law will be produced for profit on the open market, just as books and bras are produced today. There could be competition among different brands of law, just as there is competition among different brands of cars".Friedman says whether this would lead to a libertarian society "remains to be proven". He says it is a possibility that very un-libertarian laws may result, such as laws against drugs, but he thinks this would be rare. He reasons that "if the value of a law to its supporters is less than its cost to its victims, that law... will not survive in an anarcho-capitalist society".

Anarcho-capitalists only accept the collective defense ofindividual liberty(i.e. courts, military, or police forces) insofar as such groups are formed and paid for on an explicitly voluntary basis. However, their complaint is not just that the state's defensive services are funded by taxation, but that the state assumes it isthe only legitimate practitioner of physical force– that is, they believe it forcibly prevents the private sector from providing comprehensive security, such as a police, judicial and prison systems to protect individuals from aggressors. Anarcho-capitalists believe that there is nothing morally superior about the state which would grant it, but not private individuals, a right to use physical force to restrain aggressors. If competition in security provision were allowed to exist, prices would also be lower and services would be better according to anarcho-capitalists. According toMolinari:"Under a regime of liberty, the natural organization of the security industry would not be different from that of other industries".Proponents believe that private systems of justice and defense already exist, naturally forming where the market is allowed to "compensate for the failure of the state", namely private arbitration, security guards, neighborhood watch groups and so on.These private courts and police are sometimes referred to generically asprivate defense agencies.The defense of those unable to pay for such protection might be financed by charitable organizations relying on voluntary donation rather than by state institutions relying on taxation, or by cooperative self-help by groups of individuals.Edward Stringham argues that private adjudication of disputes could enable the market to internalize externalities and provide services that customers desire.

The death of GeneralJoseph Warrenat theBattle of Bunker Hillduring theAmerican Revolutionary War,a war which anarcho-capitalists such as Murray Rothbard admired and believed it was the only American war that could be justified

Rothbard stated that theAmerican Revolutionary Warand theWar of Southern Secessionwere the only two just wars in American military history.Some anarcho-capitalists such as Rothbard feel that violent revolution is counter-productive and prefer voluntary forms of economic secession to the extent possible.Retributive justiceis often a component of the contracts imagined for an anarcho-capitalist society. According to Matthew O'Keefee,some anarcho-capitalists believe prisons orindentured servitudewould be justifiable institutions to deal with those who violate anarcho-capitalist property relations while others believe exile or forcedrestitutionare sufficient.Rothbard stressed the importance of restitution as the primary focus of a libertarian legal orderand advocated for corporal punishment for petty vandals and the death penalty for murders.

American economistBruce L. Bensonargues that legal codes may impose punitive damages for intentional torts in the interest of deterring crime. Benson gives the example of a thief who breaks into a house by picking a lock. Even if caught before taking anything, Benson argues that the thief would still owe the victim for violating the sanctity of his property rights. Benson opines that despite the lack of objectively measurable losses in such cases, "standardized rules that are generally perceived to be fair by members of the community would, in all likelihood, be established through precedent, allowing judgments to specify payments that are reasonably appropriate for most criminal offenses".

Morris and Linda Tannehill raise a similar example, saying that a bank robber who had an attack of conscience and returned the money would still owe reparations for endangering the employees' and customers' lives and safety, in addition to the costs of the defense agency answering the teller's call for help. However, they believe that the robber's loss of reputation would be even more damaging. They suggest that specialized companies would list aggressors so that anyone wishing to do business with a man could first check his record, provided they trust the veracity of the companies' records. They further theorise that the bank robber would find insurance companies listing him as a very poor risk and other firms would be reluctant to enter into contracts with him.

Influences

Murray Rothbard has listed different ideologies of which his interpretations, he said, have influenced anarcho-capitalism.This includes his interpretation of anarchism, and more precisely individualist anarchism; classical liberalism and theAustrian Schoolof economic thought. Scholars additionally associate anarcho-capitalism withneo-classical liberalism,radicalneoliberalismandright-libertarianism.

Anarchism

Main article:Anarchism and capitalism

In both itssocialandindividualistforms,anarchismwas usually considered ananti-capitalistandradicalleft-wing or far-leftmovement that promoteslibertarian socialisteconomic theories such ascollectivism,communism,individualism,mutualismandsyndicalismbefore Rothbard challenged these ideas.Because left-anarchism is usually described alongsidelibertarian Marxismas thelibertarianwing of thesocialist movementand as having a historical association with anti-capitalism andsocialism,left-anarchists believe thatcapitalismis incompatible withsocialandeconomic equalityand therefore do not recognize anarcho-capitalism as ananarchist school of thought.In particular, left-anarchists argue that capitalist transactions are not voluntary and that maintaining the class structure of a capitalist society requires coercion which is incompatible with an anarchist society.The usage oflibertarianis also in dispute.While both anarchists and anarcho-capitalists have used it,libertarianwas synonymous withanarchistuntil the mid-20th century, when anarcho-capitalist theory developed.

Anarcho-capitalists are distinguished from the historically dominant left-anarchist tradition by their relation topropertyandcapital.While both anarchism and anarcho-capitalism share general antipathy towards government authority, anarcho-capitalism favorsfree-market capitalism.Left-anarchists, includingegoistssuch asMax Stirner,have supported the protection of an individual's freedom from powers of both government and private property owners.In contrast, while condemning governmental encroachment on personal liberties, anarcho-capitalists support freedoms based on private property rights. Anarcho-capitalist theoristMurray Rothbardargued that protesters should rent a street for protest from its owners. The abolition of public amenities is a common theme in some anarcho-capitalist writings.

Rothbard argued that anarcho-capitalism is the only true form of anarchism – the only form of anarchism that could possibly exist in reality as he maintained that any other form presupposes authoritarian enforcement of a political ideology such as "redistribution of private property", which he attributed to anarchism.According to this argument, the capitalistfree marketis "the natural situation" that would result from people being free from state authority and entails the establishment of all voluntary associations in society such as cooperatives, non-profit organizations, businesses and so on. Moreover, anarcho-capitalists, as well asclassical liberalminarchists,argue that the application of anarchist ideals as advocated by left-anarchists would require an authoritarian body of some sort to impose it. Based on their understanding and interpretation of anarchism, in order to forcefully prevent people from accumulating capital, which is a goal of left-anarchists, there would necessarily be a redistributive organization of some sort which would have the authority to in essence exact a tax and re-allocate the resulting resources to a larger group of people. They conclude that this theoretical body would inherently have political power and would be nothing short of a state. The difference between such an arrangement and an anarcho-capitalist system is what anarcho-capitalists see as the voluntary nature of organization within anarcho-capitalism contrasted with a "centralized ideology" and a "paired enforcement mechanism" which they believe would be necessary under what they describe as a "coercively" egalitarian-anarchist system.

Rothbard also argued that the non-laissez-faire capitalist system of today is not properly anarchistic because it often colludes with the state. According to Rothbard, "what Marx and later writers have done is to lump together two extremely different and even contradictory concepts and actions under the same portmanteau term. These two contradictory concepts are what I would call 'free-market capitalism' on the one hand, and 'state capitalism' on the other". "The difference between free-market capitalism and state capitalism", writes Rothbard, "is precisely the difference between, on the one hand, peaceful, voluntary exchange, and on the other, violent expropriation". He continues: "State capitalism inevitably creates all sorts of problems which become insoluble".

Left-anarchist argue that anarcho-capitalism is not anarchism for several reasons.Albert Meltzerargued that anarcho-capitalism simply cannot be anarchism because, according to him, capitalism and the state are inextricably interlinked and because capitalism exhibits domineering hierarchical structures such as that between an employer and an employee.Anna Morgenstern approaches this topic from the opposite perspective, claiming that anarcho-capitalists are not really capitalists because "mass concentration of capital is impossible" without the state.According toJeremy Jennings,"[i]t is hard not to conclude that these ideas," referring to anarcho-capitalism, have "roots deep in classical liberalism" and "are described as anarchist only on the basis of a misunderstanding of what anarchism is." For Jennings, "anarchism does not stand for the untrammelled freedom of the individual (as the 'anarcho-capitalists' appear to believe) but, as we have already seen, for the extension of individuality and community."Similarly, Barbara Goodwin, Emeritus Professor of Politics at the University of East Anglia, Norwich, argues that anarcho-capitalism's "true place is in the group of right-wing libertarians", not in anarchism, despite the fact that right-wing libertarianism itself is largely Rothbardian and based around a moderated form of Rothbard's ideas in the modern day as opposed to the other way around.

Some right-libertarian scholars likeMichael Huemer,who identify with the ideology, describe anarcho-capitalism as a "variety of anarchism".British authorAndrew Heywoodalso believes that "individualist anarchism overlaps with libertarianism and is usually linked to a strong belief in the market as a self-regulating mechanism, most obviously manifest in the form of anarcho-capitalism".Frank H. Brooks, author ofThe Individualist Anarchists: An Anthology of Liberty (1881–1908),believes that "anarchism has always included a significant strain of radical individualism, from the hyperrationalism of Godwin, to the egoism of Stirner, to the libertarians and anarcho-capitalists of today".

While both anarchism and anarcho-capitalism are in opposition to the state, it is anecessary but not sufficientcondition because left-anarchists and anarcho-capitalists interpret state-rejection differently.Austrian school economistDavid Prychitko,in the context of anarcho-capitalism says that "while society without a state is necessary for full-fledged anarchy, it is nevertheless insufficient".In the opinion ofRuth Kinna,anarcho-capitalists areanti-statistswho draw more on right-wingliberal theoryand theAustrian Schoolthananarchist traditions.Kinna writes that "[i]n order to highlight the clear distinction between the two positions", anarchists describe anarcho-capitalists as "propertarians".Anarcho-capitalism is usually seen as part of theNew Right.

Some anarcho-capitalists argue that, according to them, anarchists consider the word "anarchy" as to be the antithesis of hierarchy, and therefore, that "anarcho-capitalism" is sometimes considered to be a term with differences philosophically to what they personally consider to be true anarchism, as an anarcho-capitalist society would inherently contain hierarchy.Additionally, Rothbard discusses the difference between "government" and "governance"thus, proponents of anarcho-capitalism think the philosophy's common name is indeed consistent, as it promotes private governance, but is vehemently anti-government.

"I defineanarchistsociety as one where there is no legal possibility for coercive aggression against the person or property of any individual. Anarchists oppose the State because it has its very being in such aggression, namely, the expropriation of private property through taxation, the coercive exclusion of other providers of defense service from its territory, and all of the other depredations and coercions that are built upon these twin foci of invasions of individual rights. "—Murray RothbardinSociety Without a State

Classical liberalism

Main article:Classical liberalism

Historian and libertarianRalph Raicoargued that whatliberal philosophers"had come up with was a form of individualist anarchism, or, as it would be called today, anarcho-capitalism or market anarchism".He also said thatGustave de Molinariwas proposing a doctrine of the private production of security, a position which was later taken up by Murray Rothbard.Some anarcho-capitalists consider Molinari to be the first proponent of anarcho-capitalism.In the preface to the 1977 English translation by Murray Rothbard calledThe Production of Securitythe "first presentation anywhere in human history of what is now called anarcho-capitalism", although admitting that "Molinari did not use the terminology, and probably would have balked at the name".Hans-Hermann Hoppe said that "the 1849 article 'The Production of Security' is probably the single most important contribution to the modern theory of anarcho-capitalism". According to Hans-Hermann Hoppe, one of the 19th century precursors of anarcho-capitalism were philosopherHerbert Spencer,classical liberalAuberon Herbertandliberal socialistFranz Oppenheimer.

Paul Dragos Aligica writes that there is a "foundational difference between the classical liberal and the anarcho-capitalist positions". Classical liberalism, while accepting critical arguments against collectivism, acknowledges a certain level of public ownership and collective governance as necessary to provide practical solutions to political problems. In contrast anarcho-capitalism, according to Aligica, denies any requirement for any form of public administration, and allows no meaningful role for the public sphere, which is seen as sub-optimal and illegitimate.

Individualist anarchism

Main article:Individualist anarchism

Lysander Spooner,an American individualist anarchist andmutualist,who is claimed to have influenced anarcho-capitalism

Murray Rothbard,a student ofLudwig von Mises,stated that he was influenced by the work of the 19th-centuryAmerican individualist anarchists.In the winter of 1949, Rothbard decided to rejectminimal statelaissez-faireand embrace his interpretation of individualist anarchism.In 1965, Rothbard wrote that "Lysander SpoonerandBenjamin R. Tuckerwere unsurpassed as political philosophers and nothing is more needed today than a revival and development of the largely forgotten legacy they left to political philosophy ".However, Rothbard thought that they had a faulty understanding of economics as the 19th-century individualist anarchists had alabor theory of valueas influenced by theclassical economists,while Rothbard was a student ofAustrian Schooleconomics which does not agree with the labor theory of value.Rothbard sought to meld 19th-century American individualist anarchists' advocacy ofeconomic individualismandfree marketswith the principles of Austrian School economics, arguing that "[t]here is, in the body of thought known as 'Austrian economics', a scientific explanation of the workings of the free market (and of the consequences of government intervention in that market) which individualist anarchists could easily incorporate into their political and social Weltanschauung".Rothbard held that the economic consequences of the political system they advocate would not result in an economy with people being paid in proportion to labor amounts, nor would profit and interest disappear as they expected. Tucker thought that unregulated banking and money issuance would cause increases in the money supply so that interest rates would drop to zero or near to it.Peter Marshallstates that "anarcho-capitalism overlooks the egalitarian implications of traditional individualist anarchists like Spooner and Tucker".Stephanie Silberstein states that "While Spooner was no free-market capitalist, nor an anarcho-capitalist, he was not as opposed to capitalism as most socialists were."

In "The Spooner-Tucker Doctrine: An Economist's View", Rothbard explained his disagreements. Rothbard disagreed with Tucker that it would cause the money supply to increase because he believed that the money supply in a free market would be self-regulating. If it were not, then Rothbard argued inflation would occur so it is not necessarily desirable to increase the money supply in the first place. Rothbard claimed that Tucker was wrong to think that interest would disappear regardless because he believed people, in general, do not wish to lend their money to others without compensation, so there is no reason why this would change just because banking was unregulated.Tucker held a labor theory of value and thought that in a free market people would be paid in proportion to how much labor they exerted and that exploitation or usury was taking place if they were not. As Tucker explained inState Socialism and Anarchism,his theory was that unregulated banking would cause more money to be available and that this would allow the proliferation of new businesses which would, in turn, raise demand for labor.This led Tucker to believe that the labor theory of value would be vindicated and equal amounts of labor would receive equal pay. As an Austrian School economist, Rothbard did not agree with the labor theory and believed that prices of goods and services are proportional tomarginal utilityrather than to labor amounts in the free market. As opposed to Tucker he did not think that there was anything exploitative about people receiving an income according to how much "buyers of their services value their labor" or what that labor produces.

Benjamin Tucker,another individualist anarchist, who identified as a socialist and his individualist anarchism asanarchistic socialismversusstate socialism,said to have influenced anarcho-capitalism

Without the labor theory of value,some argue that 19th-centuryindividualist anarchistsapproximate the modern movement of anarcho-capitalism,although this has been contestedor rejected.As economic theory changed, the popularity of the labor theory ofclassical economicswas superseded by thesubjective theory of valueofneoclassical economicsand Rothbard combined Mises' Austrian School of economics with the absolutist views of human rights and rejection of the state he had absorbed from studying the individualist American anarchists of the 19th century such as Tucker and Spooner.In the mid-1950s, Rothbard wrote an unpublished article named "Are Libertarians 'Anarchists'?" under the pseudonym "Aubrey Herbert", concerned with differentiating himself from communist and socialistic economic views of anarchists, including the individualist anarchists of the 19th century, concluding that "we arenotanarchists and that those who call us anarchists are not on firm etymological ground and are being completely unhistorical. On the other hand, it is clear that we are not archists either: we do not believe in establishing a tyrannical central authority that will coerce the noninvasive as well as the invasive. Perhaps, then, we could call ourselves by a new name:nonarchist. "Joe Peacott, an American individualist anarchist in themutualisttradition, criticizes anarcho-capitalists for trying to hegemonize the individualist anarchism label and make appear as if all individualist anarchists are in favor ofcapitalism.Peacott states that "individualists, both past and present, agree with the communist anarchists that present-day capitalism is based on economic coercion, not on voluntary contract. Rent and interest are the mainstays of modern capitalism and are protected and enforced by the state. Without these two unjust institutions, capitalism could not exist".

Historical precedents

Several anarcho-capitalists andright-libertarianshave discussed historical precedents of what they believe were examples of anarcho-capitalism.

Free cities of medieval Europe

Economist and libertarian scholarBryan Caplanconsiders the free cities of medieval Europe as examples of "anarchist" or "nearly anarchistic" societies,further arguing:

One case that has inspired both sorts of anarchists is that of the free cities of medieval Europe. The first weak link in the chain of feudalism, these free cities became Europe's centers of economic development, trade, art, and culture. They provided a haven for runaway serfs, who could often legally gain their freedom if they avoided re-capture for a year and a day. And they offer many examples of how people can form mutual-aid associations for protection, insurance, and community. Of course, left-anarchists and anarcho-capitalists take a somewhat different perspective on the free cities: the former emphasize the communitarian and egalitarian concerns of the free cities, while the latter point to the relatively unregulated nature of their markets and the wide range of services (often including defense, security, and legal services) which were provided privately or semi-privately.

Medieval Iceland

19th-century interpretation of theAlthingin theIcelandic Commonwealthwhich authors such as David D. Friedman believe to have some features of anarcho-capitalist society

According to the libertarian theoristDavid D. Friedman,"[m]edieval Icelandic institutions have several peculiar and interesting characteristics; they might almost have been invented by a mad economist to test the lengths to which market systems could supplant government in its most fundamental functions".While not directly labeling it anarcho-capitalist, Friedman argues that the legal system of theIcelandic Commonwealthcomes close to being a real-world anarcho-capitalist legal system.Although noting that there was a single legal system, Friedman argues that enforcement of the law was entirely private and highly capitalist, providing some evidence of how such a society would function. Friedman further wrote that "[e]ven where the Icelandic legal system recognized an essentially 'public' offense, it dealt with it by giving some individual (in some cases chosen by lot from those affected) the right to pursue the case and collect the resulting fine, thus fitting it into an essentially private system".

Friedman andBruce L. Bensonargued that the Icelandic Commonwealth saw significant economic and social progress in the absence of systems of criminal law, an executive, or bureaucracy. This commonwealth was led by chieftains, whose position could be bought and sold like that of private property. Being a member of the chieftainship was also completely voluntary.

American Old West

According toTerry L. Andersonand P. J. Hill, theOld Westin the United States in the period of 1830 to 1900 was similar to anarcho-capitalism in that "private agencies provided the necessary basis for an orderly society in which property was protected and conflicts were resolved" and that the common popular perception that the Old West was chaotic with little respect for property rights is incorrect.Sincesquattershad no claim to western lands under federal law, extra-legal organizations formed to fill the void. Benson explains:

The land clubs and claim associations each adopted their own written contract setting out the laws that provided the means for defining and protecting property rights in the land. They established procedures for registration of land claims, as well as for the protection of those claims against outsiders, and for adjudication of internal disputes that arose. The reciprocal arrangements for protection would be maintained only if a member complied with the association's rules and its court's rulings. Anyone who refused would be ostracized. A boycott by a land club meant that an individual had no protection against aggression other than what he could provide himself.

According to Anderson, "[d]efining anarcho-capitalist to mean minimal government with property rights developed from the bottom up, the western frontier was anarcho-capitalistic. People on the frontier invented institutions that fit the resource constraints they faced".

Gaelic Ireland

Provinces ofIrelandin 900

In his workFor a New Liberty,Murray Rothbardhas claimed ancientGaelic Irelandas an example of nearly anarcho-capitalist society.In his depiction, citing the work of Professor Joseph Peden,the basic political unit of ancient Ireland was the tuath, which is portrayed as "a body of persons voluntarily united for socially beneficial purposes" with its territorial claim being limited to "the sum total of the landed properties of its members".Civil disputes were settled by private arbiters called "brehons" and the compensation to be paid to the wronged party was insured through voluntary surety relationships. Commenting on the "kings" of tuaths,Rothbard stated:

The king was elected by the tuath from within a royal kin group (thederbfine), which carried the hereditary priestly function. Politically, however, the king had strictly limited functions: he was the military leader of the tuath, and he presided over the tuath assemblies. But he could only conduct war or peace negotiations as an agent of the assemblies, and he was in no sense sovereign and had no rights of administering justice over tuath members. He could not legislate, and when he himself was party to a lawsuit, he had to submit his case to an independent judicial arbiter.

Law merchant, admiralty law, and early common law

Some libertarians have citedlaw merchant,admiralty lawand earlycommon lawas examples of anarcho-capitalism.

In his workPower and Market,Rothbard stated:

The law merchant, admiralty law, and much of the common law began to be developed by privately competitive judges, who were sought out by litigants for their expertise in understanding the legal areas involved. The fairs of Champagne and the great marts of international trade in the Middle Ages enjoyed freely competitive courts, and people could patronize those that they deemed most accurate and efficient.

Somalia from 1991 to 2012

Main article:History of Somalia (1991–2006)

EconomistAlex Tabarrokargued that Somalia in its stateless period provided a "unique test of the theory of anarchy", in some aspects near of that espoused by anarcho-capitalistsDavid D. FriedmanandMurray Rothbard.Nonetheless, both left-anarchists and anarcho-capitalists argue that Somalia was not ananarchist society.

Analysis and criticism

State, justice and defense

See also:Corporatocracy

Left-anarchists such asBrian Morrisargue that anarcho-capitalism does not in fact get rid of the state. He says that anarcho-capitalists "simply replaced the state with private security firms, and can hardly be described as anarchists as the term is normally understood".In "Libertarianism: Bogus Anarchy", anarchist Peter Sabatini notes:

Within Libertarianism, Rothbard represents a minority perspective that actually argues for the total elimination of the state. However, Rothbard's claim as an anarchist is quickly voided when it is shown that he only wants an end to the public state. In its place he allows countless private states, with each person supplying their own police force, army, and law, or else purchasing these services from capitalist vendors.... Rothbard sees nothing at all wrong with the amassing of wealth, therefore those with more capital will inevitably have greater coercive force at their disposal, just as they do now.

Similarly,Bob Blackargues that an anarcho-capitalist wants to "abolish the state to his own satisfaction by calling it something else". He states that they do not denounce what the state does, they just "object to who's doing it".

Paul Birch argues that legal disputes involving several jurisdictions and different legal systems will be too complex and costly. He therefore argues that anarcho-capitalism is inherently unstable, and would evolve, entirely through the operation of free market forces, into either a single dominant private court with anatural monopolyof justice over the territory (ade factostate), a society of multiplecity states,each with a territorial monopoly, or a 'pure anarchy' that would rapidly descend into chaos.

Randall G. Holcombeargues that anarcho-capitalism turnsjusticeinto a commodity as private defense and court firms would favour those who pay more for their services.He argues that defense agencies could form cartels and oppress people without fear of competition.PhilosopherAlbert Meltzerargued that since anarcho-capitalism promotes the idea of private armies, it actually supports a "limited State". He contends that it "is only possible to conceive of Anarchism which is free, communistic and offering no economic necessity for repression of countering it".

LibertarianRobert Nozickargues that a competitive legal system would evolve toward a monopoly government – even without violating individuals' rights in the process.InAnarchy, State, and Utopia,Nozick defendsminarchismand argues that an anarcho-capitalist society would inevitably transform into a minarchist state through the eventual emergence of a monopolistic private defense and judicial agency that no longer faces competition. He argues that anarcho-capitalism results in an unstable system that would not endure in the real world. While anarcho-capitalists such asRoy ChildsandMurray Rothbardhave rejected Nozick's arguments,with Rothbard arguing that the process described by Nozick, with the dominant protection agency outlawing its competitors, in fact violates its own clients' rights,John Jefferson actually advocates Nozick's argument and states that such events would best operate inlaissez-faire.Robert Ellicksonpresented a Hayekian case against anarcho-capitalism, calling it a "pipe-dream" and stating that anarcho-capitalists "by imagining a stable system of competing private associations, ignore both the inevitability of territorial monopolists in governance, and the importance of institutions to constrain those monopolists' abuses".

Some libertarians argue that anarcho-capitalism would result in different standards of justice and law due to relying too much on the market. Friedman responded to this criticism by arguing that it assumes the state is controlled by a majority group that has similar legal ideals. If the populace is diverse, different legal standards would therefore be appropriate.

Rights and freedom

Negative and positive rightsare rights that oblige either action (positive rights) or inaction (negative rights). Anarcho-capitalists believe that negative rights should be recognized as legitimate, but positive rights should be rejected as an intrusion. Many left-anarchists argue that positive rights are just as important if not equal to negative rights.

Economics and property

Social anarchists argue that anarcho-capitalism allows individuals to accumulate significant power through free markets and private property.Friedman responded by arguing that the Icelandic Commonwealth was able to prevent the wealthy from abusing the poor by requiring individuals who engaged in acts of violence to compensate their victims financially.

Left-anarchists argue that certain capitalist transactions are not voluntary and that maintaining the class structure of a capitalist society requires coercion which violates anarchist principles.AnthropologistDavid Graebernoted his skepticism about anarcho-capitalism along the same lines, arguing:

To be honest, I'm pretty skeptical about the idea of anarcho-capitalism. If a-caps imagine a world divided into property-holding employers and property-less wage laborers, but with no systematic coercive mechanisms[;] well, I just can't see how it would work. You always see a-caps saying "if I want to hire someone to pick my tomatoes, how are you going to stop me without using coercion?" Notice how you never see anyone say "if I want to hire myself out to pick someone else's tomatoes, how are you going to stop me?" Historically nobody ever did wage labor like that if they had pretty much [any] other option.

Some critics argue that the anarcho-capitalist concept of voluntary choice ignores constraints due to both human and non-human factors such as the need for food and shelter as well as active restriction of both used and unused resources by those enforcing property claims.If a person requires employment in order to feed and house himself, the employer-employee relationship could be considered involuntary. Another criticism is that employment is involuntary because the economic system that makes it necessary for some individuals to serve others is supported by the enforcement of coercive private property relations.Some philosophies view any ownership claims on land and natural resources as immoral and illegitimate.Objectivist philosopherHarry Binswangercriticizes anarcho-capitalism by arguing that "capitalism requires government", questioning who or what would enforce treaties and contracts.

Some right-libertarian critics of anarcho-capitalism who support the full privatization of capital such asgeolibertariansargue thatlandand the raw materials of nature remain a distinctfactor of productionand cannot be justly converted to private property because they are not products of human labor. Somesocialists,includingmarket anarchistsandmutualists,adamantly oppose absentee ownership. Anarcho-capitalists have strong abandonment criteria, namely that one maintains ownership until one agrees to trade or gift it. Anti-state critics of this view posit comparatively weak abandonment criteria, arguing that one loses ownership when one stops personally occupying and using it as well as the idea of perpetually binding original appropriation is anathema to traditional schools of anarchism.

Propertarianism

Main article:Propertarianism

Critics charge that the Propertarianism perspective prevents freedom from making sense as an independent value in anarcho-capitalist theory:

Looking at Rothbard’s definition of "liberty" quoted above, we can see that freedom is actually no longer considered to be a fundamental, independent concept. Instead, freedom is a derivative of something more fundamental, namely the "legitimate rights" of an individual, which are identified as property rights. In other words, given that "anarcho" -capitalists and right libertarians in general consider the right to property as "absolute," it follows that freedom and property become one and the same. This suggests an alternative name for the right Libertarian, namely "Propertarian." And, needless to say, if we do not accept the right-libertarians’ view of what constitutes "legitimate" "rights," then their claim to be defenders of liberty is weak.

— Iain Mckay.(2008/2012)

Literature

The following is a partial list of notable nonfiction works discussing anarcho-capitalism.

• Bruce L. Benson,The Enterprise of Law: Justice Without The State
  • To Serve and Protect: Privatization and Community in Criminal Justice
• David D. Friedman,The Machinery of Freedom
• Edward P. Stringham,Anarchy and the Law: The Political Economy of Choice
• George H. Smith,"Justice Entrepreneurship in a Free Market"
• Gerard Casey,Libertarian Anarchy: Against the State
• Hans-Hermann Hoppe,Anarcho-Capitalism: An Annotated Bibliography
  • A Theory of Socialism and Capitalism
  • Democracy: The God That Failed
  • The Economics and Ethics of Private Property
• Linda and Morris Tannehill,The Market for Liberty
• Michael Huemer,The Problem of Political Authority
• Murray Rothbard,founder of anarcho-capitalism:
  • For a New Liberty
  • Man, Economy, and State
  • Power and Market
  • The Ethics of Liberty

See also

• Agorism
• Consequentialist libertarianism
• Counter-economics
• Creative disruption
• Crypto-anarchism
• Definition of anarchism and libertarianism
• Left-wing market anarchism
• Neo-feudalism
• Natural-rights libertarianism
• Privatization in criminal justice
• Voluntaryism

Further reading

• Brown, Susan Love(1997)."The Free Market as Salvation from Government: The Anarcho-Capitalist View".In Carrier, James G., ed.Meanings of the Market: The Free Market in Western Culture(illustrated ed.). Oxford: Berg Publishers. p. 99.ISBN978-1859731499.
• Doherty, Brian(2009).Radicals for Capitalism: A Freewheeling History of the Modern American Libertarian Movement.London: Hachette UK.ISBN978-0-7867-3188-6.

External links

• Anarcho-capitalist FAQ
• LewRockwell– website run byLew Rockwell
• Mises Institute– research and educational center of classical liberalism, including anarcho-capitalism, Austrian School of economics and American libertarian political theory
• Property and Freedom Society– international anarcho-capitalist society