Author: Matt Davis / Source: Big Think
- Even though anarchy and capitalism seem like they’re diametrically opposed, there are some out there who call themselves anarcho-capitalists.
- A more extreme version of libertarianism, anarcho-capitalism argues that there ought to be no state whatsoever; the free market can sort everything out, and if left alone, will ensure everybody’s liberty.
- The philosophy attracts considerable criticism, both from anarchists, who argue that capitalism is inherently exploitative, and from people with more traditional politics, who argue that the lack of regulation would send an anarcho-capitalist society right down the toilet.
Though they come in many different forms, anarchists generally agree on a few broad principles. Typically, anarchists reject the idea of hierarchical authority and the state. Though religious anarchism exists, it’s not a typical expression of anarchism. And nearly all anarchists have an unabiding loathing for capitalism. This is so dyed in the anarchist wool that the 20th-century anarchist Emma Goldman once wrote:
“The only demand that property recognizes is its own gluttonous appetite for greater wealth, because wealth means power; the power to subdue, to crush, to exploit, the power to enslave, to outrage, to degrade. America is particularly boastful of her great power, her enormous national wealth. Poor America, of what avail is all her wealth, if the individuals comprising the nation are wretchedly poor? If they live in squalor, in filth, in crime, with hope and joy gone, a homeless, soilless army of human prey.”
As confident and purple as Goldman’s prose may be, however, there are indeed anarchists who do not reject capitalism outright; they call themselves anarcho-capitalists.
Most, especially Americans, are probably more familiar with the term ‘libertarianism‘, if not through politics then at least through Ron Swanson. The main difference between the two philosophies is that libertarians advocate for minimal government interference. Most libertarians believe there should be no government regulation, no state-owned property, no welfare, and so on, but they generally agree that there should be police, laws, and court systems. Anarcho-capitalists, on the other hand, argue that no state is necessary whatsoever (hence the “anarcho-” portion of their name); everything can be handled by the free market, and any issue with capitalism today is because of interference by the state in the free market.
Anarcho-capitalism and the non-aggression principle
The central idea that unites the two theories is known as “the non-aggression principle.” Murray Rothbard, one of anarcho-capitalism’s and libertarianism’s core thinkers, explains what a society that follows the non-aggression principle would look like in his essay, Society without a State:
I define anarchist society 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…
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