Anarchocapitalism
Anarcho-capitalism (also known as free market anarchism, libertarian anarchism, private property anarchism or anarcholiberalism) is a political philosophy that promotes anarchy — understood as an organized society without a State — and the protection of individual sovereignty through private property and the free market. In an anarcho-capitalist society, police, courts, and all other security services would be provided by privately funded competitors rather than through taxes, and the money would be provided privately and competitively in an open market.. Therefore, personal and economic activities, in anarcho-capitalism would be regulated by the private management law, instead of through the political management law.
The principles of political ethics of anarcho-capitalists arise, in general, from the idea of self-ownership and the principle of non-aggression, which respectively mean the right to control over oneself and one's property and the prohibition of coercion or fraud against people and their goods. Anarcho-capitalists consider that the right to property is the only one that can make individual rights materially viable, and that the existence of the State is contradictory to the existence of both rights. In anarcho-capitalist political ethics, what is important is how property is acquired and transferred; indicating that the only fair way to acquire property is through original appropriation based on labor, voluntary exchange (eg trade), and gift. Although the purpose of anarcho-capitalism is to maximize individual freedom and prosperity, this idea recognizes solidarity and communal agreements as part of the same voluntary ethic. From these premises, anarcho-capitalists derive as a logical consequence the rejection of the State — as an institution that exercises the monopoly of legitimized power—and the adoption of free enterprise, where private agencies would offer a market of services—law and security included—for individuals.
This political current appears during the second half of the 20th century within libertarianism and in turn is a form of contemporary anarchism little related to historical anarchism but that takes ideas from the old American individualist anarchism of the century XIX discarding his theory of labor-value that is replaced by the theory of subjective value contributed by the marginalist revolution in economic science, usually from the approach of the Austrian school whose economic theory applies philosophical logic to the social sciences. In some cases, he also bases his economic policy and political economy arguments on theories such as the economic analysis of law or the theory of public choice. On the moral philosophical plane, the foundation can be a natural law or consequentialist defense of individual freedom and negative freedom, or you can resort to other premises such as the ethics of argumentation or contractualism.
Principles
The principle of non-aggression
The term anarcocapitalism was coined in the mid-1950s by political economist and philosopher Murray Rothbard. Other terms used by this philosophy are:
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"I define anarchist society as one where there is no legal possibility for coercive aggression against the person or property of any person. Anarchists oppose the State, since it has its own being in such aggression, that is, the expropriation of private property through taxes, the coercive exclusion of other suppliers of the defense service of its territory, and all other predations and coercions that are based on these two pockets of invasion of individual rights." Murray Rothbard in Society without State
Anarcho-capitalism, as defined by Rothbard and others, rests heavily on the principle of non-aggression:
"The basic axiom of libertarian political theory postulates that every man owns himself, in possession of absolute sovereignty over his own body. In fact, this means that no one can invade or assault just another's body. It follows then that each person possesses justly any recourse, previously without owner, from which he or she is appropriated or “mix with his or her work”. From these twin axioms—property upon itself and the original appropriation—the justification for the entire system of titles of ownership is constructed in a free market society. This system establishes the right of each person to his or her own person, the right to donate, give in inheritance — and consequently the right to inherit — and the right to contractual exchange of titles of ownership”Murray Rothbard, in Law, Property Rights, and Air PollutionCato Journal 2, n. 1 (average 1982): pp. 55-99.
Rothbard, one of the leading theorists of anarcho-capitalism during the xx century, defends the thesis of "self-ownership" by logical elimination of the only two alternatives: that a group of people can be the owner of another group of people, or that no person is the absolute owner of himself. Both alternatives fail to produce a universal ethic (which is equally applicable to all human beings), that is, a just natural law, capable of governing everyone regardless of place and time. The only valid alternative then, according to Rothbard, is the principle of self-ownership, which according to him is both axiomatic and universal.
In general, it can be said that the axiom of non-aggression is a prohibition against the initiation of violence, or the threat of the use of violence, against persons (i.e., direct violence, assault, murder) or against the rightfully acquired property of these (i.e. theft, fraud, taxes). The initiation of violence is usually referred to as assault or coercion. The difference between anarcho-capitalists and other libertarians basically stems from the degree of commitment to this axiom. The minarchists, or the classical liberals, for example, would preserve the state (with its inherent aggression) in a limited way and with minimal spheres of action, whose functions would consist solely of the tasks of national defense, security and internal order, and legislation and justice.. In contrast, anarcho-capitalists reject even these levels of state intervention in social institutions and define the state as a coercive monopoly on legislation and the legitimate use of violence, which is the only entity in society that derives its income through legal aggression, an entity whose existence violates the central axiom of anarcho-capitalism.
Some anarcho-capitalists like Rothbard accept the axiom of non-aggression because of an intrinsic morality or natural justice. It is in terms of the axiom of non-aggression that Rothbard defines anarchism, as a system "that provides non-legal sanction for such aggressions [against persons or property]" and "what anarchism then proposes is the abolition of the State, that is, the abolition of the regularized institution of aggressive coercion". capitalism. Not only are they compatible, but you can't have one without the other. The true anarchism will be capitalism, and the true capitalism will be anarchism." Alternatively, others like David Friedman use a consequentialist perspective, instead of claiming that aggression is inherently immoral, they hold that a law against of aggression can only arise from a contract between mutually interested parties, who thus agree to refrain from initiating violence against each other.
Free enterprise against the State
For capitalist anarchism the axiom of non-aggression finds application in free enterprise and its denial in the State. They maintain that statist power is a source of corruption, privilege and aggression, and that its axis is the monopoly on security and defense, and that these do not make up a category of goods and services different from the others and that, therefore and at Like these, they can be produced more efficiently by private companies.
Capitalist anarchism holds that companies as the result of individual contracts and therefore a legitimate and efficient way of organizing people, with the freedom to choose a competitor or to enter the competition as a universal way of preserving and promote the quality of services. Anarcho-capitalists view free enterprise as the foundation of a free society. They define free-market capitalism as "peaceful voluntary exchange" in contrast to state capitalism, which they describe as "violent expropriation". "Capitalism", in the sense that anarcho-capitalists use this term, is an interpretation " "neolockean" or "anarcolockean" property, should not be confused with state monopoly capitalism, oligarchic mercantilism (cartelized economies), crony capitalism, or contemporary mixed economies, in which, according to anarcho-capitalists, natural incentives and disincentives of the market are distorted by the intervention of the State.
Therefore they reject the State based on the postulate that States are aggressive entities that steal property (through taxes and expropriations), initiate the use of force, are compulsive monopolies of the use of force defensive or repressive, use their coercive power to benefit businesses and individuals at the expense of others, create monopolies, and restrict trade. The libertarian capitalism proposed by anarcho-capitalists presents itself as an individualist ideology and a market economy contrary to what they call "actually existing capitalism", "authoritarian capitalism" or state capitalism.
It is theorized that without State intervention, large business corporations would be reduced or at least be supplanted at any time due to free competition. In other words, if there is a leading company for a certain good or service, it is supposed to be because consumers have decided so or because the provider has control of the resources under its private property and never because this situation has been achieved coercively, since either through legal impositions or through threats or physical violence.
Private Property
Self-Ownership and Original Appropriation
Anarcocapitalism usually uses the following terms.
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Anarcho-capitalists define self-ownership as the right of each person to own their own body, while through the principle of original appropriation they establish that each person is the legitimate owner of all those resources without a prior owner, on which who have done some form of work. In the words of Hans-Hermann Hoppe:
Each one who is the legitimate owner of his own physical body, as well as of all the places and natural assets he occupy and puts in use through his body, with the only condition that no one else has occupied the same places or used the same goods previously. This property on the places and goods "originally appropriated" by a person implies their right to use and transform these places and goods in whatever form it deems appropriate, with the only condition that as a consequence does not change the physical integrity of places or goods originally appropriate by another person. In particular, once a good has been appropriated for the first time — to use Locke's phrase — "mixing with the good one's work" ownership of such places or property can only be acquired through a voluntary, counter-actial transfer of the title of ownership of a prior to a future ownerHans-Hermann Hoppe, Austrian economist and anarcocapitalist philosopher, Rothbardian Ethics
This is the root of property rights in anarcho-capitalism. Anarcho-capitalists defend the right of each person to the fruits of their labor regardless of their need or that of others. After being created through labor, property can only legitimately change hands when it is voluntarily exchanged (for other property previously produced, through labor) or when it is given as a gift or donated. Forced transfers, for which one of the parties uses or threatens to use some form of violence, are considered illegitimate.
Original appropriation allows an individual to claim any "virgin," property, including land, and own it with the same "absolute right" with which he possesses his own body, by improving it or using it. According to Rothbard, property can only legitimately arise through labor, so the original appropriation of land is not legitimate simply by proclaiming it or by building a fence around it, but only by working it (mixing labor with property). land) is that land ownership can be legitimized.
Anarcho-capitalists of the Rothbardian tradition are proprietors, that is, they consider the right to property as a natural right derived from one's own property (see: labor-property theory). In keeping with Locke's philosophy, Rothbardian free-market anarchists believe that property can only arise by being the product of labor, and can only legitimately change hands by trade or gift. However, Locke had a "condition" which says that the appropriator of resources must leave "enough and just as good in common... to others". Rothbardian market anarchists disagree with this proviso, holding that the individual can originally appropriate as much as he wishes through mixing his labor, and it remains his property until he decides otherwise. They term this as "neo -Lockean". Libertarian anarchists see this as consistent with their opposition to the initiation of coercion, since only unappropriated land can be taken. If something is not appropriated, there is no original appropriator against which the coercion is being initiated. And they don't think that the mere claim creates ownership. Anarcho-capitalists accept voluntary forms of collective property, which means property open to access by all individuals.
Common Property
Although anarcho-capitalists are known for defending the right to private property (whether individual or non-public), non-state collective property can also exist in an anarcho-capitalist society. Just as a person comes to own something without an owner by mixing their work with it or using it regularly, many people can become owners of a thing in common by mixing their work together with it, in the sense that no one person can appropriate it as his own. This can apply to roads, parks, rivers, and parts of the oceans. The anarcho-capitalist theorist Roderick Long gives the following example:
Consider the possibility of a village near a lake. It is common for people to walk to the lake to go fishing. In the first days of the community it is difficult to reach the lake because of all the bushes and branches falling on the road. But over time the road is clear and takes shape, not by coordinated efforts, but simply as a result of all people walking that way day after day. The clear road is the product of work, not the work of any person, but of all of them together. If a villager determined to take advantage of the benefits of the newly created road raises a cargo door and tolls, the right of collective property that the villagers have won together would be violated.Roderick Long
However, since collectively owned property tends to lose the level of accountability found in individual ownership as there are more owners—or by making that accountability proportionally more complex—anarcho-capitalists sometimes tend to mistrust and try to avoid intentional communal arrangements, although these, as shown, do not conflict in any way with their ideology and are rather a matter of particular criteria.
Privatization, decentralization and the individualization of responsibility are anarcho-capitalist objectives. But in some cases, not only do they provide a challenge, but they themselves consider it impossible, establishing ocean routes is a common example of goods considered difficult for private appropriation. What is negative and that does contradict his ideology is state or forced collectivization (supposedly on behalf of the "majority") that strengthens the power and legitimacy of the government, in which the accounts are rendered to third parties and not between the parties and there is no particular responsibility.
Environment
Central governments generally tend to advocate actions or censorship of polluters in order to benefit “the people” or the “majority”. However, the cartelized and polluting economy of the corporations receives government subsidies (corporate capitalism), such is the case of the highly polluting heavy industry that obtains legal and economic subsidies from politicians under the argument of job creation or incentives to private investment.
The pollution of air, water and land, for example, is seen as the result of state collectivization of property, natural assets when they are public are not maintained or renewed by anyone and no one is responsible for them (tragedy of the commons). Anarcho-capitalists tend to agree with market ecologists in linking destructive trends in the environment to the state and its collectivizing provisions.
Weapons
Anarcho-capitalism opposes all coercion, which is why it defends the free possession of weapons. Although private property allows its legitimate owners to decide whether or not others can enter their territory with weapons.
Law and Order
In libertarian anarchist theory the law and order of a voluntary society can be provided by a competitive market of private institutions offering security, justice, and other defense services, "the private allocation of force, without a central control". A marketplace where security and law enforcement providers compete for voluntary paying customers who want to receive services rather than taxed individuals without their consent who are assigned a monopoly provider of force. The belief among free market anarchists is that this competition tends to produce better quality and cheaper legal and police services, including "a high quality of good impartial, efficient arbitration of conflicting rights claims".
Market anarchism developed by Murray N. Rothbard theorizes a society where providers of justice compete for clients (polycentric law, private defense agency) and where law is based on natural law or negative law. David D. Friedman proposes a market anarchism where in addition to the security provided by the market, the law itself is produced by the market.
Varieties of anarcho-capitalism
The adoption of free market anarchism—understanding it as private property, free market in the absence of state law—in this philosophy, was developed by the American economist and historian Murray Rothbard, who was the first to theorize anarcho-capitalism. Rothbardian anarcho-capitalism would first be the implementation of a "[mutually agreed upon libertarian] legal code that would be generally accepted and to which courts would abide". This code would recognize individual sovereignty and non-aggression as inalienable rights, this conception of anarcho-capitalism is based on natural law arguments.
Other thinkers, such as David Friedman, propose anarcho-capitalism through utilitarian arguments, that is, the notion that the adoption of anarcho-capitalism would produce better results than any other social and economic alternative. In the anarcho-capitalism proposed by David D. Friedman, "systems of laws will be created by [seeking] profit in the free market", which would lead to a generalized if not absolute libertarian society. Rothbard bases his philosophy on absolute natural law grounds but also provides economic explanations for why he thinks anarcho-capitalism is pragmatically preferable. Friedman claims that he is not an absolute rights theorist but also "not a utilitarian," although he thinks that "utilitarian arguments are often the best way to make libertarian points". For his part, Hans-Hermann Hoppe uses argumentative ethics to support 'private property anarchism', and is closer to Rothbard's view of natural law. Not all supporters of a capitalist anarchism call themselves anarcho-capitalists, for example Wendy McElroy prefers to use the term anarcho-individualism.
Anarcho-capitalists have varied visions of how to eliminate the state. Rothbard advocated the use of any non-immoral tactic available to gain freedom. Agorists, followers of Samuel Konkin's philosophy, advocate eliminating the state through fiscal resistance and the use of illegal black market strategies called counter-economics until the functions of state security can be replaced by free market competitors.
History and origins
Classical liberalism
The first source that will serve to support the modern theory of market anarchy is the classical liberal John Locke, who argued that because people mix their own labor with unowned resources, they make these resources their property. People can acquire new property by working on unowned resources or by trading in created goods. This idea is used by anarcho-capitalists to explain why for them the sovereignty of private property contradicts the sovereignty of the State.
One of the first individuals to propose the concept of privatizing the protection of individual liberty and property, foreshadowing what would later become anarcho-capitalism, was the Frenchman Jakob Mauvillon in the 19th century XVIII. Later, in the 1840s, Julius Faucher and Gustave de Molinari advocated the same. Molinari, a favorite disciple of Frédéric Bastiat, in his essay The Production of Security, argued: «No government should have the right to prevent another government from competing with it, or to require security consumers that they go exclusively to him for their merchandise.
Molinari argued that a monopoly on safety causes high prices and low quality. He said in Les Soirées: “The government monopoly is no better than any other. A government manages well and, especially not cheaply, when there is no competition to fear, when the governed are deprived of the right to freely choose their rules... Security production inevitably becomes costly and bad when it is organized like a monopoly." The weight of Molinari's argument for free market anarchism rests on economics and not on moral opposition to the state.
The anti-state liberal tradition in Europe and the United States continued after Molinari in the early writings of Herbert Spencer, as well as thinkers such as Paul Émile de Puydt and Auberon Herbert.
19th Century American Anarcho-Individualism
Natural law theorist, lawyer Lysander Spooner, is considered among the foremost predecessors of anarcho-capitalism and the closest to the contemporary idea for his legal doctrine. In 1845, lawyer Lysander Spooner wrote a sweeping essay against slavery, Unconstitutionality of slavery. Firmly rooted in the natural law tradition and at odds with state-protected monopolies from the beginning of his professional and ideological career, in 1870 he wrote No Treason: The Constitution of No Authority, where he explained that all legislation is opposed to natural law, and is therefore criminal. An example of his fight against monopolies was the company he founded in 1844, the American Letter Mail Company, which competed with the legal monopoly of the United States Postal Service in violation of the "Private Mail Statute". », which restricts the transport and delivery of letters in the United States by any organization other than the Postal Service. Spooner considered monopolies to be an immoral restraint, and although he had some success in lowering prices, the United States government challenged Spooner with legal action, forcing him to cease operations in 1851.
His abolitionism led him to criticize the reasons for the Civil War (1861-1865): he understood that they were fighting for the false issue of the union, when they should have been fighting for the issue of slavery. Spooner thought that slaveholders would not have dared to revolt against a government that freed everyone, while by defending their own freedom, Southerners gained a moral and psychological advantage that sustained them through the war. Thus, in 1864 he published a Letter to Charles Sumner in which he accused Northern politicians of having "on your heads, even more, if possible, than on that of the slaveholders themselves, (who have acted in accordance with their associations, interests, and avowed principles as slaveholders) rests the blood of this horrible, unnecessary, and therefore culpable, war." In contrast to the legal coincidences, Spooner's pro-property ideas intellectual are confronted with anarcho-capitalist ideas which reject that ideas are private property.
Benjamin Tucker (1854-1939) developed individualist anarchism in a series of articles later collected in Instead of a Book (1893). Its basic principle was that each individual should enjoy the maximum amount of freedom compatible with an equal liberty for others, implying in particular unlimited rights to acquire and dispose of goods on the market. In the old anarchism of the American tradition, especially among those known as "Bostonian anarchists", there is an assertion of the value of private property; committed to the idea of a free market, which for them had not been possible to fully develop due to the distortion produced by the monopolies, for which they blamed primarily to the government. Tucker, influenced by Josiah Warren and the labor theory of value, long believed that ownership of land was justifiable only when the owner was using it. The latter unlike his predecessor Lysander Spooner who He was traditionally Lockean with respect to private ownership of land (original appropriation). Tucker later abandoned his idea of ownership of land and would say that it is legitimately transferred through force unless specified by means of a contract. Tucker's theories of market value and land ownership have always been rejected by anarcho-capitalist economic and legal doctrine.
Like Spooner, Tucker attacked state-created monopolies; without a State, each person could exercise their right to protect their own freedom, using the services of a private protection association if necessary. Benjamin Tucker anticipated the idea that would later deepen anarcho-capitalism: that defense is a service like any other, work and merchandise subject to the law of supply and demand, that if competition prevails, sponsorship will go to whoever offers the best product at the most reasonable price, and that the production and sale of this merchandise is now monopolized by the State that as a monopolist he charges exorbitant prices for poor service. He noted that the anarchism he advocated included prisons and the military. Tucker also floated the idea of the possibility of government agencies financed by "voluntary taxation".
Austrian School
The Austrian School of Economics was founded with the publication in 1871 of Carl Menger's book Principles of Economics. Members of this school approach economics as an a priori system, like logic or mathematics, rather than than as an empirical science like geology. It is about discovering the axioms of human action (called "praxeology" in the Austrian tradition) and making deductions from them. Some of these praxeological axioms are:
- human beings act intentionally;
- humans prefer more than one good at least;
- humans prefer to receive a good sooner than later, and
- every part of a commercial act benefits ex ante.
Even in the early days, Austrian economics was used as a theoretical weapon against socialism and statist politics. Eugen Böhm von Bawerk, a colleague of Menger's, wrote one of the first critiques of socialism in his treatise The Exploitation Theory of Socialism-Communism. The most influential Austrian economist was, perhaps, Ludwig von Mises, author of the praxeological work Human Action. Later, Friedrich Hayek, a disciple of Mises, wrote Road of Serfdom, asserting that a command economy destroys the information function of prices, and that authority over the economy leads to totalitarianism.
Murray Rothbard, also a disciple of Mises, is the man who tried to fuse Austrian economics with classical liberalism and individualist anarchism. He wrote his first article advocating "private property anarchism" in 1949, later coming up with the alternative name "anarcho-capitalism." He was an economist by training, but also knowledgeable in history and political philosophy. As a young man, he considered himself part of the Old Right, an anti-statist, anti-interventionist branch of the Republican Party. In the 1950s, he was briefly involved with Ayn Rand, but later had a falling out with her. When National Review interventionist cold warriors such as William F. Buckley, Jr. gained influence in the Republican Party in the 1950s, Rothbard left that group and formed an alliance with left-wing antiwar groups, keeping in mind the anti-war tradition among a number of self-proclaimed leftists and to a degree closer to the Old Right than conservatives. He believed that the Cold War was most indebted in theory to the left and progressive imperialists, especially with regard to Trotskyist theory. Rothbard later initially opposed the founding of the Libertarian Party, but joined it in 1973 and became one of its main activists. Rothbard's books, such as Man, Economy, and State, Power and the Market, The Ethics of Liberty, and Towards a New Liberty, are considered classics of natural law libertarian thought.
Intellectual referents present
In English
The studies of members of the Mises Institute, the Cato Institute and the Independent Institute are important academic references in the English language. Other sources that include anarchist content are the Journal of Libertarian Studies, the sites LewRockwell.com, Antiwar.com, Anarchism.net, the Seasteading Institute, in the United States
In Spanish
The US pro-market institutes Instituto Mises, Instituto Cato, Fundación para la Educación Económica and Instituto Independiente have active pages in Spanish, some of the authors who write on their pages being sympathizers of anarcho-capitalism. In Spain, the outstanding academic references of anarcho-capitalism are Professor Jesús Huerta de Soto and some members and analysts of the Juan de Mariana Institute. Also in Argentina, the national deputy and economist Javier Milei philosophically adheres to anarcho-capitalist ideas.
Other languages
In Portuguese you can find the Ludwig von Mises Institute Brazil, in Swedish the Ludwig von Mises Institute Sweden and in Italian the Bruno Leoni Institute, with several of its members adhering to and promoting anarcho-capitalism from their publications.
Historical examples
Some of the theorists of anarcho-capitalism point to historical examples that present similarities with their ideology. Although these are societies that were untimely to the formulation of this doctrine or social processes not derived from this philosophy, these theorists highlight real situations where the protection of individual liberty and property were voluntarily financed rather than provided by the State through taxes.
Celtic Ireland
According to Murray Rothbard, a frequent example of a society with anarcho-capitalist characteristics is Celtic Ireland in the Middle Ages, due to its legal system and courts based on clans from which one could freely join and disaffiliate.
Medieval Iceland
According to David Friedman, “Medieval Icelandic institutions had several peculiar and interesting features; they could have been created by a nutty economist to test the extents to which market systems could supplant government in most of its fundamental functions." Although not directly branded as anarcho-capitalist, Friedman argues that the Commonwealth of Iceland between the years 930 and 1262 presented "some characteristics" of anarcho-capitalist society—due to the existence of a simple legal system, security was entirely private and capitalist—providing some evidence of how such a society would function. "Even though the Icelandic legal system recognized an essentially 'public' offence, it handled it by giving some individuals (sometimes chosen from among those affected) the right to bring the case and collect the fines, thus fitting in an essentially private system".
Free Cities of Medieval Europe
Economist and libertarian scholar Bryan Caplan regards the free cities of medieval Europe as examples of "anarchist" or "almost anarchists", further arguing:
A case that has inspired both types of anarchists is that of the free cities of medieval Europe. The first weak link in the chain of feudalism, these free cities became the centers of economic development, trade, art and culture of Europe. They provided a shelter for fugitive servants, who could often legally obtain their freedom if they avoided retaking them for a year and a day. And they offer many examples of how people can form associations of mutual help for protection, insurance and community. Of course, left-wing anarchists and anarch-capitalists adopt a somewhat different perspective from free cities: the first emphasize the community and egalitarian concerns of free cities, while the latter point out the relatively unregulated nature of their markets and the wide range of services (which often include defense, security, etc.).
Early Pennsylvania
Murray Rothbard's study of Colonial American history, Conceived in Liberty, discusses the period when Pennsylvania (from the time of the Holy Experiment) fell into anarchism and how William Penn fought near than a decade to reinstate his rule over a people he did not want.
The American Old West
According to research by Terry L. Anderson and P. J. Hill, the American Old West, during the period from 1830 to 1900, had similarities to anarcho-capitalism in that "private agencies provided the necessary foundation for a society orderly where property was protected and conflicts resolved", and that the common popular perception that the Old West was chaotic and with little respect for property rights is incorrect.
Republic of Cospaia
The Republic of Cospaia was for centuries a small independent nation nestled between the Papal States and the Republic of Florence. Cospaia obtained its independence in 1441 unexpectedly, when Pope Eugene IV ceded its territory Sansepolcro, part of the Papal States, to the Republic of Florence, however, by mistake during the designation of the borders there was a strip of land that was not included in the treaty that delimited the limits, something more than 330 hectares. The inhabitants declared the independence of the place, in a space of terra nullius, that is, a no man's land that does not belong to any State. In 1484 it was recognized by its neighbors as an official nation. Cospaia's motto was "Perpetua et firmas libertas" (Firm and eternal freedom). It is theorized that the people of Cospaia had no tax obligations, therefore goods passing through the territory were not subject to any tax; However, another theory is that there were municipal taxes and that, not paying them, led to excommunication and expulsion from the territory. Cospaia attracted merchants from Genoa, Venice, Naples and other cities to carry out trade and business, and Jewish merchants who were discriminated against in many places but not in the small republic; although this also attracted exiled criminals from other countries and smugglers. This country ended in 1826, being absorbed by the Papal States. Cospaia could be classified as an anarcho-capitalist country or as a kritarchy due to its informal courts of residents and elders, although ultimately the decisions were made by the priests and by influential families, that is, the clergy and the nobility.
Internet
For many anarcho-capitalists, for example those linked to crypto-anarchism, the Internet should be the example of a network of jurisdictions (with some resemblance to polycentric law) and conflicts would be resolved based on common law (see the new lex mercatoria). that no centralized institution can ever handle (see: dispersed knowledge).
Criticism
Criticism of anarcho-capitalism falls into several categories: those who claim that anarcho-capitalism cannot work in practice; others that affirm that capitalism needs a coercive State to exist (according to minarchism) and that a society can be anarchist or capitalist but not both (according to anarcho-communism); general critiques of morality in capitalism and liberalism that can be applied to anarcho-capitalism; and the utilitarian critics who claim that anarcho-capitalism does not maximize happiness.
From minarchism
Some liberals consider that a capitalist system could not survive or would not be efficient without a public and impartial State, and that the entire legal system that protects capitalism would be threatened by the existence of several private States competing with each other. Thus, they affirm that capitalism needs a rule of law to be stable.
Anarcho-capitalism was criticized, among others, by Milton Friedman, who wrote:
"Although necessary for freedom, capitalism is not enough to guarantee it. It has to be accompanied by a set of values and political institutions favourable to freedom."
Objectivists claim that, due to the absence of the state, an anarcho-capitalist society would degenerate into a "war of all against all". Other critics argue that the problem of externalities makes the provision of protection services impractical in an anarcho-capitalist society.
A well-known critic of free market anarchism is that of Robert Nozick, who argued that a competitive legal system would evolve into monopoly government, even without violating individual rights in the process. Various market anarchists such as Roy A. Childs or Murray Rothbard rejected Nozick's conclusion (although Childs subsequently rejected anarchism).
From classical anarchism
Despite its name, anarcho-capitalism stands outside the tradition of anarchism and is more closely related to capitalism, libertarianism, and liberalism according to multiple authors and scholars. Anarcho-capitalists often consider themselves as a fraud and an oxymoron by the overwhelming majority of anarchists. Especially anarchists belonging specifically to anarcho-communism vehemently reject the anarchist nature of anarcho-capitalism, holding that " capitalism" it is a form of coercion, something incompatible with an anarchist society.
In defense of his position, there is general recognition of anarcho-capitalism as a form of individualist anarchism by its proponents or various academics such as Paul Avrich. The adoption of unrestricted capitalism creates considerable tension between capitalist anarchists and socialist anarchists. The most important difference is the skepticism of socialist anarchists, the best-known historical branch of classical anarchism, to anarcho-capitalist proposals regarding the issue of private property. Murray Rothbard argues that on the other hand the similarities with classical individualist anarchism are stronger and it is normal to consider anarcho-capitalism as the revival of anarcho-individualism (both anti-statist and anti-authoritarian voluntarist). Many anarcho-capitalists, on the other hand, maintain that anarcho-capitalism is the only true form of anarchism. Some of them claim that socialist forms of anarchism are unrealistic because they require the consent and benevolence of all members of an anarchist society, whereas anarcho-capitalism arises naturally wherever there is no state and individual freedom exists., there are anarcho-capitalists who maintain that, if they are voluntary and respect private property, all systems can coexist in anarchy.
Stability of its legal institutions
Two of the most prominent scholars who have given serious thought to quintessentially anarcho-capitalist legal institutions are Richard Posner, who is a Federal Appeals Judge and prolific legal scholar, and economist William Landes. In their 1975 essay "The Private Enforcement of Law", they discuss a previous gedankenexperiment undertaken by Becker and Stigler in which they proposed that law enforcement would be privatized and explain why do they consider that such a system would not be economically efficient. According to a later response by David Friedman, "Efficient Institutions for the Private Enforcement of Law",
[Landes and Posner argued] that the private system had basic flaws that made it less than an ideal public system except for offenses that can be detected and punished at an almost zero cost. They admit that the private system could be preferable at least than ideal public system we have. However, they argue that the predominance of private (law) application against the offenses that are easily detected (mainly civil offenses) and their rarity against the offenses that are difficult to detect (mainly criminal offenses) suggest that our legal system is, at least to great features, efficient, using in each case the most efficient system.
Friedman, however, goes on to argue that "the inefficiency that Landes and Posner demonstrated in the private law enforcement institutions they describe can be eliminated with minor changes to the institutions".
Literature
Nonfiction
The following is a partial list of essential works dealing with anarcho-capitalism.
- Anarcocapitalism of the Austrian School
- Murray N. Rothbard: founder of anarcocapitalism.
- Man, Economy, and State Micro and Austrian macroeconomics.
- Power and Market Classification of state economic interventions.
- The Ethics of Liberty Moral justification of a free society.
- For a New Liberty: scheme of how anarcocapitalist society would work.
- Hans-Hermann Hoppe: principal representative of the libertarian right.
- The Economics and Ethics of Private Property.
- A Theory of Socialism and Capitalism.
- Democracy: the God who failed: critical of democracy.
- Jesus Soto Garden:
- Socialism, economic calculation and business function: criticism of socialism from the point of view of economic calculation.
- Walter Block:
- Defending the helpless.
- The Privatization of Roads and Highways: Human and Economic Factors.
- Toward a Libertarian Society.
- Robert P. Murphy:
- The theory of chaos.
- Anarcocapitalism with other bases, lines or schools of thought
- David D. Friedman, The machinery of freedom. Classical Consequential Defense of Anarcocapitalism
- Bruce L. Benson:
- The Enterprise of Law
- To Serve and Protect
- Randy E. Barnett, The Structure of Liberty Market forces create legal order
- Anthony de Jasay, The State The State acts for its own interests against individual interests
- Jan Narveson, You and The State Contractual defence of anarcocapitalism
- Morris and Linda Tannahill, The Market for Liberty A classic about private defense agencies
- Michael Huemer, the problem of political authority.
- Overview
- Edward P. Stringham, Anarchy and the Law Compilation of major historical arguments and studies on anarcocapitalism
Fiction
Some defenders of anarcho-capitalism think that this has been dealt with in some literary works, especially science fiction. One of the first examples they exhibit is Robert A. Heinlein's novel The Moon Is a Harsh Mistress (1966), where the author describes what he calls "rational anarchism", although he does not talk about anarcho-capitalism.
Cyberpunk and post-cyberpunk authors were fascinated by the idea of the fall of the state. Many Vernor Vinge stories, such as Marooned in Realtime, describe anarcho-capitalist societies often in a favorable light. In Neal Stephenson's Snow Crash and The Diamond Age, Max Barry's Jennifer Government, Down and Out in the Magic Kingdom by Cory Doctorow and The Probability Broach by L. Neil Smith, Neuromancer by William Gibson (features Freeside, a cylindrical space habitat in L5 where anarcho-capitalism reigns) anarcho-capitalist ideas are also explored. The cyberpunk depiction of these societies can range from the gloomy to the more joyful optimism and does not necessarily imply anything specific about the author's political views. In particular, Neal Stephenson avoids overt political statements when he is confronted.
Some anarcho-capitalists find inspiration in the fictional work of Ayn Rand, although this author was not an adherent of anarcho-capitalist political philosophy. For them, works such as Anthem and Atlas Shrugged would show the ideal of a society that has total individual freedom, voluntary cooperation, and zero State interference within private property.
Symbols
Anarcho-capitalists or libertarian anarchists have adopted symbols that represent the convergence of the anarchist (non-state) and libertarian (free market) traditions. The aurinegra combination that identifies anarcho-capitalism stands out.
Aurinegra flag
Black flag and A in C
Ama-gi
Libertatis Æbalitas
Star aurinegra
V volunteer
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