Anarcho-capitalism

Anarcho-capitalism is a philosophy based on the idea of individual sovereignty (or "self-ownership"), and a prohibition against initiatory coercion and fraud. It sees the only just basis for law as arising from private property norms and an unlimited right of contract between sovereign individuals. From this basis, anarcho-capitalism rejects the state as an unjustified monopolist and aggressor against sovereign individuals, and embraces anti-statist laissez-faire capitalism. Anarcho-capitalists would aim to protect individual liberty and property by replacing a government monopoly, which is involuntarily funded through taxation, with private, competing businesses.

Related Topics:
Philosophy - Self-ownership - Coercion - Fraud - Law - Private property - Contract - State - Anti-statist - Laissez-faire - Capitalism - Individual liberty - Property - Taxation

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The philosophy embraces stateless capitalism as one of its foundational principles. The first well-known version of anarcho-capitalism to identify itself thus was developed by economists of the Austrian School and libertarians Murray Rothbard and Walter Block in the mid-20th century, as an attempted synthesis of Austrian School economics, classical liberalism and 19th-century American individualist anarchism. While Rothbard bases his philosophy on natural law, others, such as David Friedman, take a pragmatic consequentialist approach by arguing that anarcho-capitalism should be implemented because such a system would have consequences superior to alternatives.

Related Topics:
Stateless - Austrian School - Libertarians - Murray Rothbard - Walter Block - 20th century - Economics - Classical liberalism - 19th-century - American individualist anarchism - Natural law - David Friedman - Consequentialist

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Because of this embrace of capitalism, there is considerable tension between anarcho-capitalists and other anarchists who see the rejection of capitalism as being just as essential to anarchist philosophy as rejection of the state. Many anarcho-capitalists believe that much of the source of dispute is a definitional problem, with the classical anarchists using the term "capitalism" in reference to state capitalism, where government grants businesses monopoly rights and special privileges over individuals ? something anarcho-capitalists oppose. In contrast, most anarchists believe that profit is exploitative, based upon their interpretation of the labor theory of value, as opposed to the Austrian School's subjective theory of value, to which anarcho-capitalists subscribe. Despite this tension, some anarcho-capitalists see their philosophy as evolving from the American individualist anarchism tradition that includes classical liberal thinkers such as Lysander Spooner.

Related Topics:
Anarchist - Rejection of capitalism - State capitalism - Profit - Labor theory of value - Lysander Spooner

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Anarcho-capitalism can be considered a radical development of classical liberalism. Its grounding in liberalism is demonstrated by the assertion of many anarcho-capitalists that the first anarcho-capitalist was Gustave de Molinari, who argued for a free market and against a state monopoly on force, as early as 1849. His thoughts were influential on Rothbard and his contemporaries.

Related Topics:
Classical liberalism - Gustave de Molinari - 1849

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