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In anarchism is so great, how did governments ever start up?
Walter E. Block
From: D
Sent: Saturday, June 11, 2016 1:01 PM
To: [email protected]
Subject: Basic questions regarding anarcho-capitalism arguments
Dear Prof. Block,
My name is D, from Brazil. First, allow me to say that I am a huge fan of your work. Your work has, indeed, been instrumental in “converting” me into an anarcho-capitalist and providing me argumentative tools when occasionally debating the principles of a free society. I am not an economics specialist, nor a philosopher, or anything like that. I really do not know how a legal system would work in a stateless society and I think the market process would find the best solution. The one argument that was definitive into my “conversion” was this: Human beings are, indeed, imperfect. One person or group of people cannot have all knowledge. Why, then, is it acceptable to elect a select group of people to run every aspect of our lives? Why is this group of people better at creating law and providing defense? Why would it make sense that a group of people with no “market feedback loop” (not subject to the profit and price system), and no fear of going out of business can do a better job than the market?
Anyway, I am constantly seeking more knowledge on the subject and more arguments. I have one question that I think you will easily answer. Well, one common argument against a stateless society is “how can you be sure that a group of people wouldn’t get together and create a state again?”. I accept that that might not occur, and if it does, people would be free to simply flee from the region under this state’s influence, or even hire private security companies to protect them. I believe there are many other arguments. But my question is more or less regarding history and how the first states came to be. Well, we can assume that “anarchism” was the natural state of things, back in the times of the primitive men. There were tribes, groups of people.
Eventually communities. Well, if this is the case – that there was a time when there was no state – how is it that people got together and created the first states? Was a state a “natural” thing to happen in primitive societies? If that is the case, can we say that if we moved to a stateless society today people would be more intellectually prepared to accept this? Are we more evolved in our ethics and morals to better accept markets? If we are not, do you think we will, some time in a distant future, be? Thank you, professor! Best
regards, D
Dear D:
You ask a very important question. My thought is that there is something in human biology, socio-biology, that leads us toward statism. Perhaps, millions of years ago when we were in caves or trees, there was some survival mechanism in favor of choosing a “leader” or allowing one (perhaps the biggest and strongest member of the community) to arise. This might have conferred benefits on small groups of early **** sapiens, compared to the ones that did not experience this. On the other hand, this tendency toward statism is not overwhelming; there must be other forces, counteracting this, in operation. Otherwise, we would now have a world government. And/or the UN would be much more powerful than it is. In other words, if there are centrifugal forces out there, there are also centripetal ones.
Here is my biblio on this sort of thing. I would first focus you attention on the one by Bob Murphy, where he writes about warlords taking over:
Anderson and Hill, 1979; Benson, 1989, 1990; Block, 2007, 2010, 2011; Casey, 2010; DiLorenzo, 2010; Gregory, 2011; Guillory & Tinsley, 2009; Hasnas, 1995; Heinrich, 2010; Higgs, 2009, 2012; Hoppe, 2008, 2011; Huebert, 2010; King, 2010; Kinsella, 2009; Long, 2004; McConkey, 2013; Molyneux, 2008; Murphy, 2005; Paul, undated; Rockwell, 2013; Rothbard, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1998; Spooner, 1870; Stringham, 2007; Tannehill, 1984; Tinsley, 1998-1999; Wenzel, 2013; Woods, 2014.
Anderson, Terry and Hill, P.J. 1979. “An American Experiment in Anarcho-Capitalism: The Not So Wild, Wild West,” Journal of Libertarian Studies, 3: 9-29; http://mises.org/journals/jls/3_1/3_1_2.pdf
Benson, Bruce L. 1989. Enforcement of Private Property Rights in Primitive Societies: Law Without Government,” The Journal of Libertarian Studies, Vol. IX, No. 1, Winter, pp. 1-26; http://mises.org/journals/jls/9_1/9_1_1.pdf
Benson, Bruce L. 1990. “Customary Law with Private Means of Resolving Disputes and Dispensing Justice: A Description of a Modern System of Law and Order without State Coercion.” The Journal of Libertarian Studies, Vol. IX, No. 2,” pp. 25-42; http://mises.org/journals/jls/9_2/9_2_2.pdf
Block, Walter. 2007. “Anarchism and Minarchism; No Rapprochement Possible: Reply to Tibor Machan,” Journal of Libertarian Studies, Vol. 21, No. 1, Spring, pp. 91-99; http://www.mises.org/journals/jls/21_1/21_1_5.pdf
Block, Walter E. 2011. “Governmental inevitability: reply to Holcombe.” Journal of Libertarian Studies, Vol. 22; pp. 667-688; http://mises.org/journals/jls/22_1/22_1_34.pdf
Block, Walter E. and Michael Fleischer. 2010. “How Would An Anarchist Society Handle Child Abuse?” October 13; http://www.lewrockwell.com/block/block167.html
Casey, Doug. 2010. “Doug Casey on Anarchy.” March 31; http://www.caseyresearch.com/cwc/doug-casey-anarchy
DiLorenzo, Thomas J. 2010. “The Culture of Violence in the American West: Myth versus Reality.” The Independent Review, v. 15, n. 2, Fall 2010, pp. 227–239; http://www.independent.org/pdf/tir/tir_15_02_4_dilorenzo.pdf
Gregory, Anthony. 2011. “Abolish the Police.” May 26; http://www.lewrockwell.com/gregory/gregory213.html
Guillory, Gil & Patrick Tinsley. 2009. “The Role of Subscription-Based Patrol and Restitution in the Future of Liberty,” Libertarian Papers 1, 12; http://libertarianpapers.org/2009/1...rol-and-restitution-in-the-future-of-liberty/
Hasnas, John. 1995. “The myth of the rule of law.” Wisconsin Law Review 199;
http://faculty.msb.edu/hasnasj/GTWebSite/MythWeb.htm
Heinrich, David J. 2010. “Justice for All Without the State.” The Libertarian Standard. May 6; http://www.libertarianstandard.com/articles/david-j-heinrich/justice-for-all-without-the-state/
Higgs, Robert. 2009. “Why We Couldn’t Abolish Slavery Then and Can’t Abolish Government Now.” August 20; http://www.lewrockwell.com/higgs/higgs128.html
Higgs, Robert. 2012. “What is the point of my libertarian anarchism?” January 16;
http://archive.lewrockwell.com/higgs/higgs180.html
Hoppe, Hans-Hermann. 2008. “Reflections on the Origin and the Stability of the State.” June 23; http://www.lewrockwell.com/hoppe/hoppe18.html
Hoppe, Hans-Hermann. 2011. “State or Private Law Society.” April 10;
http://www.lewrockwell.com/hoppe/hoppe26.1.html
Huebert, Jacob. 2010. Libertarianism Today. Santa Barbara, CA: Praeger
King, Seth. 2010. “Daily Anarchist Interviews Walter E. Block ,” September 9;
http://www.lewrockwell.com/block/block165.html
Kinsella, Stephan. 2009. “The Irrelevance of the Impossibility of Anarcho-Libertarianism.” August 20; http://www.stephankinsella.com/2009...-the-impossibility-of-anarcho-libertarianism/
Long, Roderick. 2004. “Libertarian Anarchism: Responses to Ten Objections” http://www.lewrockwell.com/long/long11.html
McConkey, Michael. 2013. “Anarchy, Sovereignty, and the State of Exception: Schmitt’s Challenge.” The Independent Review, v. 17, n. 3, Winter, pp. 415–428. http://www.independent.org/pdf/tir/tir_17_03_05_mcconkey.pdf
Molyneux, Stefan. 2008. “The Stateless Society: An Examination of Alternatives.”
http://www.mail-archive.com/[email protected]/msg02056.html
Murphy, Robert P. 2005. “But Wouldn’t Warlords Take Over?” July 7; http://mises.org/story/1855; http://mises.org/library/wouldnt-warlords-take-over
Paul, Ron. Undated. “Anarchism.” http://libertyupward.com/ron-paul-religious-icon/
Rockwell, Lew. 2013. “What Would We Do Without the State?” March 31;
http://www.lewrockwell.com/blog/lewrw/archives/134782.html
Rothbard, Murray N. 1973. For a New Liberty, Macmillan, New York; http://mises.org/rothbard/newlibertywhole.asp
In the view of Rothbard (1973, emphasis added by present author) “For centuries, the State (or more strictly, individuals acting in their roles as ‘members of the government’) has cloaked its criminal activity in high-sounding rhetoric. For centuries the State has committed mass murder and called it ‘war’; then ennobled the mass slaughter that ‘war’ involves. For centuries the State has enslaved people into its armed battalions and called it ‘conscription’ in the ‘national service.’ For centuries the State has robbed people at bayonet point and called it ‘taxation.’ In fact, if you wish to know how libertarians regard the State and any of its acts, simply think of the State as a criminal band, and all of the libertarian attitudes will logically fall into place.”
Rothbard, Murray N. 1975. “Society Without a State.” The Libertarian Forum, volume 7.1, January; http://www.lewrockwell.com/rothbard/rothbard133.html
Rothbard, Murray N. 1977. “Do you hate the state?” The Libertarian Forum, Vol. 10, No. 7, July; http://www.lewrockwell.com/rothbard/rothbard75.html
“…there is no sign that David Friedman in any sense hates the existing American State or the State per se, hates it deep in his belly as a predatory gang of robbers, enslavers, and murderers. No, there is simply the cool conviction that anarchism would be the best of all possible worlds, but that our current set-up is pretty far up with it in desirability. For there is no sense in Friedman that the State – any State – is a predatory gang of criminals.”
“The radical cannot think in such terms, because the radical regards the State as our mortal enemy, which must be hacked away at wherever and whenever we can. To the radical libertarian, we must take any and every opportunity to chop away at the State, whether it’s to reduce or abolish a tax, a budget appropriation, or a regulatory power. And the radical libertarian is insatiable in this appetite until the State has been abolished, or – for minarchists – dwindled down to a tiny, laissez-faire role.”
Rothbard, Murray N. 1998 [1982]. The Ethics of Liberty, New York: New York University Press. http://www.mises.org/rothbard/ethics/ethics.asp
Paul, Ron. Undated. “Anarchism.” http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7o4k...68683F679&playnext=1&playnext_from=PL&index=4
Spooner, Lysander. 1966[1870]. No Treason: The Constitution of No Authority and A Letter to Thomas F. Bayard, Larkspur, Colorado: Rampart College; http://jim.com/treason.htm
vv
Stringham, Edward, ed. 2007. Anarchy and the Law: The Political Economy of Choice, Somerset, NJ: Transaction Publishers.
Tannehill, Morris and Linda Tannehill. [1970] 1984. The Market for Liberty, New York: Laissez Faire Books; http://www.lewrockwell.com/orig11/tannehill1.html
Tinsley, Patrick. 1998-1999. “With Liberty and Justice for All: A Case for Private Police,” Journal of Libertarian Studies, Vol. 14, No. 1, Winter, pp. 95-100; http://www.mises.org/journals/jls/14_1/14_1_5.pdf
Wenzel, Robert. 2013. “Robert Ringer’s Strawman Anarchist.” February 2;
http://archive.lewrockwell.com/wenzel/wenzel211.html
Woods, Tom. 2014. “Four things the state is not.” July 29;
http://www.lewrockwell.com/2014/07/no_author/4-things-the-state-is-not/
private police: private army:
Gregory, 2011; Guillory, & Tinsley. 2009; Hoppe, 2011; Huebert, 2010; Murphy, 2005; Rothbard, 1973, 1975, 1998 [1982]; Stringham, 2007; Tannehills[1970] 1984; Tinsley, 1998-1999; Wiśniewski, 2014; Wollstein, 1969; Woolridge, 1970.
Gregory, Anthony. 2011. “Abolish the Police.” May 26; http://www.lewrockwell.com/gregory/gregory213.html
Guillory, Gil & Patrick Tinsley. 2009. “The Role of Subscription-Based Patrol and Restitution in the Future of Liberty,” Libertarian Papers 1, 12; http://libertarianpapers.org/2009/1...rol-and-restitution-in-the-future-of-liberty/
Hoppe, Hans-Hermann. 2011. “State or Private Law Society.” April 10;
http://www.lewrockwell.com/hoppe/hoppe26.1.html
Huebert, Jacob. 2010. Libertarianism Today. Santa Barbara, CA: Praeger
Murphy, Robert P. 2005. “But Wouldn’t Warlords Take Over?” July 7; http://mises.org/story/1855; http://mises.org/library/wouldnt-warlords-take-over
Rothbard, Murray N. 1973. For a New Liberty, Macmillan, New York; http://mises.org/rothbard/newlibertywhole.asp
Rothbard, Murray N. 1975. “Society Without a State.” The Libertarian Forum, volume 7.1, January; http://www.lewrockwell.com/rothbard/rothbard133.html
Rothbard, Murray N. 1998 [1982]. The Ethics of Liberty, New York: New York University Press. http://www.mises.org/rothbard/ethics/ethics.asp
Stringham, Edward, ed. 2007. Anarchy and the Law: The Political Economy of Choice, Somerset, NJ: Transaction Publishers.
Tannehill, Morris and Linda Tannehill. [1970] 1984. The Market for Liberty, New York: Laissez Faire Books; http://www.lewrockwell.com/orig11/tannehill1.html
Tinsley, Patrick. 1998-1999. “With Liberty and Justice for All: A Case for Private Police,” Journal of Libertarian Studies, Vol. 14, No. 1, Winter, pp. 95-100; http://www.mises.org/journals/jls/14_1/14_1_5.pdf
Wiśniewski, Jakub Bożydar. 2014. “Defense as a private good in a competitive order” Review of Social and Economic Issues, Vol. 1, No. 1, Summer, pp. 2-35;
http://rsei.rau.ro/images/V1N1/Jakub%20Bozydar%20Wisniewski.pdf
Wollstein, Jarret B. 1969. Society Without Coercion. In Society Without Government. New York: Arno Press
Woolridge, William C. 1970. Uncle Sam the Monopoly Man, New Rochelle, N.Y.: Arlington House
1:08 pm on June 16, 2016
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