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{{Voice of Freedom|238000|Ownership of Self}}
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'''Anarcho-capitalism''' (a form of [[free-market anarchism]]),<ref>{{cite web |author=Robert P. Murphy |title=What Are You Calling 'Anarchy'? |url=http://www.mises.org/story/1778}}</ref> is an [[individualist anarchism|individualist anarchist]]<ref>Adams, Ian. 2002. Political Ideology Today. p. 135. Manchester University Press; Ostergaard, Geoffrey. 2003. Anarchism. In W. Outwaite (Ed.), ''The Blackwell Dictionary of Modern Social Thought''. p. 14. Blackwell Publishing</ref> [[political philosophy]] that advocates the elimination of the [[Sovereign state|state]] and the elevation of the [[sovereign]] individual in a [[free market]]. In an anarcho-capitalist society, [[Police|law enforcement]], [[court]]s, and all other security services are provided by voluntarily-funded competitors such as [[private defense agencies]] rather than through [[Tax|compulsory taxation]], and [[commodity money|money]] is [[free banking|privately produced]] in an [[free market|open market]]. Because personal and [[economic]] activities are regulated by the [[natural law]]s of the [[market]] through [[private law]] rather than through [[politics]], [[victimless crime]]s and [[crime]]s against the state would be rendered [[Mootness|moot]].
  
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'''Anarcho-capitalism''' is a [[social darwinism|social darwinistic]] ideology, which originated in the 1960s in the USA. It is significant influenced by the Austrian school. Anarcho-capitalism is a political philosophy and theory, non-anarchist, which want to privatize States for the benefit of capitalist companies in competing. They defend actual economical and social [[hierarchy]]. Anarcho-capitalists state that anarcho-capitalism is a school in anarchism... They attempts to reconcile capitalism, as defined in classical liberalism, with Anarchism and anarchist themes such as opposition to the State and individual freedom. Anarchist basically oppose anarcho-capitalism, since capitalism is a kind of authority and it requires a social darwinistic practice. In anarcho-capitalism the refusion of authority only includes mechanisms, which get in the way of market liberalism. Anarchists further argue that the word "anarcho-capitalism" is an oxymoron, a false theory, because anarchism and capitalism are not compatible with each other, and that anti-statism and individual freedom aren't sufficient to be enounced like "anarchist".  
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Anarcho-capitalists argue for a society based in voluntary trade of [[private property]] (including money, consumer goods, land, and capital goods) and [[Service (economics)|services]] in order to maximize individual liberty and prosperity, but also recognize [[Charity (practice)|charity]] and communal arrangements as part of the same voluntary ethic.<ref>Hess, Karl. [http://fare.tunes.org/books/Hess/dop.html The Death of Politics]. Interview in Playboy Magazine, March 1969</ref> Though anarcho-capitalists are known for asserting a right to private (individualized or joint non-public) property, some propose that non-state public/community property can also exist in an anarcho-capitalist society.<ref>Holcombe, Randall G., [http://mises.org/journals/jls/19_2/19_2_1.pdf Common Property in Anarcho-Capitalism], Journal of Libertarian Studies, Volume 19, No. 2 (Spring 2005):3–29.</ref> For them, what is important is that it is acquired and transferred without help or hindrance from the compulsory [[Sovereign state|state]]. Anarcho-capitalist [[Libertarianism|libertarians]] believe that the only just, and/or most economically-beneficial, way to acquire property is through voluntary [[trade]], gift, or labor-based [[homestead principle (ethics)|original appropriation]], rather than through aggression or fraud.<ref>[[Paul Avrich|Avrich, Paul]]. ''Anarchist Voices: An Oral History of Anarchism in America, Abridged Paperback Edition (1996), p. 282</ref>
  
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Anarcho-capitalists see [[free-market]] [[capitalism]] as the basis for a free and prosperous society. [[Murray Rothbard]] said that the difference between free-market capitalism and "[[state capitalism]]" is the difference between "peaceful, voluntary exchange" and a collusive partnership between business and government that uses coercion to subvert the free market.<ref>Rothbard, Murray N., [http://www.mises.org/article.aspx?Id=1559 A Future of Peace and Capitalism]; Murray N. Rothbard, [http://www.mises.org/article.aspx?control=910 Left and Right: The Prospects for Liberty].</ref> "Capitalism," as anarcho-capitalists employ the term, is not to be confused with [[state monopoly capitalism]], [[crony capitalism]], [[corporatism]], or contemporary [[mixed economies]], wherein natural market incentives and disincentives are skewed by state intervention.<ref>Adams, Ian. Political Ideology Today. Manchester University Press 2001. p. 33</ref> So they reject the state, based on the belief that states are aggressive entities which steal property (through [[taxation]] and [[expropriation]]), initiate aggression, are a compulsory monopoly on the use of defensive and/or punitive force, use their coercive powers to benefit some businesses and individuals at the expense of others, create monopolies, restrict [[trade]], and restrict personal freedoms via [[drug laws]], [[compulsory education]], [[conscription]], laws on food and morality, and the like. The embrace of unfettered [[capitalism]] leads to considerable tension between anarcho-capitalists and many [[social anarchists]] who tend to distrust the [[market]], and believe that free-market capitalism is inherently [[authoritarian]].
  
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Anarcho-capitalist views are not in accordance with the basic political consensus of Anarchopedia.  
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== External links ==
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* [http://www.mises.org/ Ludwig von Mises Institute] is a research and educational center of classical liberalism; including anarcho-capitalism, libertarian political theory, and the Austrian School of economics.
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* [http://www.Anti-state.com/ anti-state.com], the "online center for market anarchism," has one of the more active forums and an archive of theoretical and practical articles from notable anarcho-capitalists
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* [http://www.strike-the-root.com/ Strike The Root] is an anarcho-capitalist website featuring essays, news, and a forum.
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* [http://www.ozarkia.net/bill/anarchism/faq.html Anarcho-capitalist FAQ].
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* [[Bryan Caplan]]'s [http://www.gmu.edu/departments/economics/bcaplan/anarfaq.htm  "Anarchism Theory FAQ"] is written from the perspective of an anarcho-capitalist.
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* [http://www.lewrockwell.com/ LewRockwell.com] is a site hosting libertarian, minarchist, as well as anarcho-capitalist articles, run by [[Lew Rockwell]] with the slogan "anti-state, anti-war, pro-market."
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* [http://praxeology.net/anarcres.htm The Molinari Institute] operated by [[Roderick Long]], offers online resources for those interested in exploring the ideas of market anarchism
  
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==Theory==
 
  
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Anarcho-capitalism aims to be a liberal version of capitalism, where the state in its current form would no longer exist, and where regalian doctrine of it would be given to private organisations (private tribunals, private police, private army...).
 
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Anarcho-Capitalism embraces the capitalist [[free market]], which contrasts with traditional anarchism as anarchist philosophy has historically been opposed to capitalism. It should be noted that anarcho-capitalists define the words "[[capitalism]]" and [[free market]] differently from Anarchists, favouring the capitalists Austrian economic definition of the words. This difference in terminology is often the basis for controversy.
 
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It emerged in the [[1950s]] out of the disputed tradition of [[classical liberalism]], and generally sets itself in contrast to individualist anarchists theory. [[Murray Rothbard]], an [[Austrian economist]] influenced by work of individualist anarchists like [[Benjamin Tucker]] and [[Lysander Spooner]], rejecting from them the critics of wage labour, is thought as the founder of [[anarcho-capitalism]].
 
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=== Varying Views on Intellectual Property ===
 
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While some Anarcho-capitalists support [[intellectual property]], many oppose it, saying that intellectual property infringes on physical property. Jeremy Spazmania, founder anti-state.com writes, "Is there nothing more preposterous than equating intellectual property, whatever the hell that is, with real, personal property?"[http://www.lewrockwell.com/sapienza/sapienza36.html]. The debate over intellectual property among Anarcho-capitalists is still on-going.
 
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=== Wage Labor ===
 
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Anarcho-capitalists state that an employer-employee relationship is an elaborate and mutually profitable form of voluntary association. They resent government as a parasite that corrupts, biases, impedes and distorts what would otherwise be peaceful fair and free associations.
 
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Anarcho-capitalists consider that in consenting to a contract, that each party was free to refuse, the contract is voluntary and therefore legitimate and beneficial, claiming any external power that attempts to prevent such relationship is itself an oppression to be fought.
 
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Anarcho-capitalists argue that, no matter what social organization may or may not exist, social organizations will never eliminate the basic human requirement to work in order to support themselves. Therefore an objection based on a constraint that cannot be overcome is useless to argue about and not a rational objection at all. Additionally, they argue that while someone may not be able to refuse to work in general, one has the largest diversity on the free market with regard to their employers or beginning their own business operation.  What matters is that no given employer/employee contract be coercive.  Thus, Anarcho-capitalists believe that an individual may choose to work in any manner they wish, be it for a wage or for some other means of payment, so long as there is no coercion involved.
 
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== Criticism of Anarcho-capitalism ==
 
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{{critique section}}
 
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:&ldquo;[[freedom|Freedom]] without [[socialism|Socialism]] is privilege and injustice and Socialism without freedom is slavery and brutality.&rdquo; ~ [[Mihail Bakunin]]
 
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[[File:The anarchocapitalism.JPG|thumb|350 px|The anarcho-capitalism: "'''''Just for rich'''''"]]
 
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Anarcho-capitalism is a view that departs from anarchist theory in that it regards only the government as unnecessary and harmful to human society.  In its embrace of capitalist economics, Anarcho-capitalism contradicts classical and contemporary [[anarchism]], an [[anti-capitalism|anti-capitalist]] philosophy. Anarcho-capitalists are isolated from the anarchist community. Anarcho-capitalism is considered a paradox by most anarchists.
 
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There is no form of [[capitalism]] that does not rely on the concentration of wealth and the existence of [[private property]], and the need for defense of this property through a public or private state. [[James Donald]] and [[Bryan Caplan]] have attempted (in the [[1990s]]) to frame their arguments in language and documents that appear to be legitimate because they use certain [[power word|key phrases]] and structure and some author's attempts to have some connection to scholarly circles with anarchist legitimacy. None of the big names and figures mentioned in anarcho-capitalist philosophy include actual anarchists (they mention [[Benjamin Tucker]] or [[Fred Woodworth]] only to grab an occasional condemnation of [[socialism]] or seeming advocacy of "[[personal property|anarchist private property]]", yet once this is established these people quickly disappear to be replaced by more "pure" capitalist individuals such as [[Bastiat]] and [[Rothbard]]).
 
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Another major problem with the ideology of anarcho-capitalism is substitution of 'opportunity' for 'freedom', in the philosophical discourse. This allows to ignore the need to maintain the balance of freedoms, balance between positive and negative freedoms, as well as balance between freedoms of different individuals. Concentrating on a select few anarcho-capitalists show how opportunities allowed to those few are lessened by socialism, and thus conclude that socialism is unable to be free. This argument is dominant in the areas where [[state socialism]] has been a major ideology gaining or competing for dominance, this happens as a result of the dominance of individualistic element in the rebellion.
 
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==From the "Anarcho"-capitalist FAQ:==
 
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"What are the myths of socialism?
 
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The just price doctrine and cost-price theories of value.
 
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The medieval notion of just price permeates socialist thought. It holds that there is a God-given or intrinsic price of a good, regardless of people's wants, needs, and desires, or supply and demand. In the industrial-era form of this doctrine, the value of a good is deemed to be equal to the cost of production, usually in terms of labor time expended (see labor theory of value below). This cost-price notion was refuted in the 1800s by the marginalist revolution in economics, but nevertheless many socialists remain mired in this creationism of the left. The marginalist economists, notably the Austrian School, consider value to be subjective. It depends on each person and his or her particular situation and values. In the desert, one may prefer a cup of water to a diamond.
 
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The labor theory of value.
 
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The labor theory of value (LTV) is the cost-price doctrine which holds that all value springs from labor. In other words, it purports that land, capital, and entrepreneurship are all non-productive, and can impute no value to a good (except insofar as they represent past labor.) The general invalidity of all just price doctrines has already noted. The modern (marginalist) thought is that value is not determined by cost at all, but by the subjective preferences of the buyers interacting with the available quantity of the good in question. This is known as the subjective theory of value. Even on it's own intrinsic price terms, the LTV fails to account for factors of production other than labor. Standard counter-examples abound, e.g. No matter how much time you spend producing mud-pies, they are still worthless; A fresh bottle of wine gains value simply by aging; and so on. It is possible to formulate a purely descriptive LTV, which uses labor time as the measure of the productivity of land and capital, as Kevin Carson does in part 1 of his book Studies in Mutualist Political Economy, however the usefulness of this is dubious, and the temptation to slide into the prescriptive interpretation is enormous, as Carson does without justification in part 2 of the same book.
 
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The exploitation theory.
 
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An ''exploitation theory'' is any theory which purports to justify the claim that one "class" exploits another. In socialist theory, the claim is that a capitalist class exploits a proletarian class. Most exploitation theories are based on the antiquated LTV notion described above. Other socialists realize the weakness of this argument, and base their exploitation theory on unequal negotiating positions. While this latter approach may explain outcomes of bargaining, it evades the relevant issue - whether the trade was voluntary. Thus this approach also fails to support the claim that (so-called) "exploitation" is undesirable or unethical.
 
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Note that even stipulating the "creationist" LTV, the socialist argument is insufficient for proving exploitation. It lacks an explanation of why workers voluntarily exchanging labor time for wages is exploitative. Bohm-Bawerk of the Austrian school of economics showed long ago (1884 in "Exploitation Theories") that profit from wages could be explained by interest on advanced pay, i.e. workers getting paid prior to their produce being sold.
 
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Denial of scarcity (property, money).
 
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This is a favorite of utopian socialists. The purpose of property is to solve the scarcity problem - that man's desires exceed available goods. This myth simply assumes away scarcity, as if this human condition was merely an effect of a particular property system rather than a fact of reality and human nature. The socialist denial of the validity of property involves an internal contradiction and much resulting "double-think." E.g. Proudhon writes that he's against contract property, but for possession property; yet he refuses to acknowledge that his "possession" is a type of property.
 
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Another naive denial of scarcity is the claim of some socialists that a modern society can get along without money. Hayek made a living by refuting that view: in short, an economy needs the informational function of money to balance supply and demand. Without the amalgamation of the desires and preferences of the producers and consumers into price, chaos results. Shortages and surpluses abound when the communication of preferences is prevented or co-opted by rulers. Money is simply and ultimately the most liquid commodity in a market. There will always be a most liquid commodity in any market; ergo, there will be something used as money."
 
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== Quotations ==
 
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"capitalism is the fullest expression of anarchism, and anarchism is the fullest expression of capitalism." - Murray Rothbard
 
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"Without property there is no free personal life. Without property there is no power to act. The man who treads on strange ground, touches strange property at every movement he makes is not a free man. And the word 'property' must be taken literally as ownership, or, as we say to-day, private property. Without private property there is no freedom." - Emil Brunner
 
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== External links ==
 
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*[http://www.anti-state.com Anti-state.com]
 
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*[http://www.blackcrayon.com Black Crayon]
 
 
=== Criticism of Anarcho-capitalism ===
 
=== Criticism of Anarcho-capitalism ===
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*[http://www.geocities.com/CapitolHill/5065/between.html Between Anarchism and Libertarianism: Defining a New Movement by Jeff Draughn]
 
*[http://www.geocities.com/CapitolHill/5065/between.html Between Anarchism and Libertarianism: Defining a New Movement by Jeff Draughn]
 
*[http://tigerden.com/~berios/lba.html Libertarianism: Bogus Anarchy - by Peter Sabatini]
 
*[http://tigerden.com/~berios/lba.html Libertarianism: Bogus Anarchy - by Peter Sabatini]

Revision as of 04:34, 9 June 2009

Anarcho-capitalism (a form of free-market anarchism),[1] is an individualist anarchist[2] political philosophy that advocates the elimination of the state and the elevation of the sovereign individual in a free market. In an anarcho-capitalist society, law enforcement, courts, and all other security services are provided by voluntarily-funded competitors such as private defense agencies rather than through compulsory taxation, and money is privately produced in an open market. Because personal and economic activities are regulated by the natural laws of the market through private law rather than through politics, victimless crimes and crimes against the state would be rendered moot.

Anarcho-capitalists argue for a society based in voluntary trade of private property (including money, consumer goods, land, and capital goods) and services in order to maximize individual liberty and prosperity, but also recognize charity and communal arrangements as part of the same voluntary ethic.[3] Though anarcho-capitalists are known for asserting a right to private (individualized or joint non-public) property, some propose that non-state public/community property can also exist in an anarcho-capitalist society.[4] For them, what is important is that it is acquired and transferred without help or hindrance from the compulsory state. Anarcho-capitalist libertarians believe that the only just, and/or most economically-beneficial, way to acquire property is through voluntary trade, gift, or labor-based original appropriation, rather than through aggression or fraud.[5]

Anarcho-capitalists see free-market capitalism as the basis for a free and prosperous society. Murray Rothbard said that the difference between free-market capitalism and "state capitalism" is the difference between "peaceful, voluntary exchange" and a collusive partnership between business and government that uses coercion to subvert the free market.[6] "Capitalism," as anarcho-capitalists employ the term, is not to be confused with state monopoly capitalism, crony capitalism, corporatism, or contemporary mixed economies, wherein natural market incentives and disincentives are skewed by state intervention.[7] So they reject the state, based on the belief that states are aggressive entities which steal property (through taxation and expropriation), initiate aggression, are a compulsory monopoly on the use of defensive and/or punitive force, use their coercive powers to benefit some businesses and individuals at the expense of others, create monopolies, restrict trade, and restrict personal freedoms via drug laws, compulsory education, conscription, laws on food and morality, and the like. The embrace of unfettered capitalism leads to considerable tension between anarcho-capitalists and many social anarchists who tend to distrust the market, and believe that free-market capitalism is inherently authoritarian.

External links

  • Ludwig von Mises Institute is a research and educational center of classical liberalism; including anarcho-capitalism, libertarian political theory, and the Austrian School of economics.
  • anti-state.com, the "online center for market anarchism," has one of the more active forums and an archive of theoretical and practical articles from notable anarcho-capitalists
  • Strike The Root is an anarcho-capitalist website featuring essays, news, and a forum.
  • Anarcho-capitalist FAQ.
  • Bryan Caplan's "Anarchism Theory FAQ" is written from the perspective of an anarcho-capitalist.
  • LewRockwell.com is a site hosting libertarian, minarchist, as well as anarcho-capitalist articles, run by Lew Rockwell with the slogan "anti-state, anti-war, pro-market."
  • The Molinari Institute operated by Roderick Long, offers online resources for those interested in exploring the ideas of market anarchism


Criticism of Anarcho-capitalism

  • ↑ Robert P. Murphy. What Are You Calling 'Anarchy'?.
  • ↑ Adams, Ian. 2002. Political Ideology Today. p. 135. Manchester University Press; Ostergaard, Geoffrey. 2003. Anarchism. In W. Outwaite (Ed.), The Blackwell Dictionary of Modern Social Thought. p. 14. Blackwell Publishing
  • ↑ Hess, Karl. The Death of Politics. Interview in Playboy Magazine, March 1969
  • ↑ Holcombe, Randall G., Common Property in Anarcho-Capitalism, Journal of Libertarian Studies, Volume 19, No. 2 (Spring 2005):3–29.
  • ↑ Avrich, Paul. Anarchist Voices: An Oral History of Anarchism in America, Abridged Paperback Edition (1996), p. 282
  • ↑ Rothbard, Murray N., A Future of Peace and Capitalism; Murray N. Rothbard, Left and Right: The Prospects for Liberty.
  • ↑ Adams, Ian. Political Ideology Today. Manchester University Press 2001. p. 33
    • Retrieved from "http://eng.anarchopedia.org/index.php?title=Anarcho-Capitalism&oldid=40443"