What is Anarcho-Capitalism?
Anarcho-capitalism is a political philosophy that combines anarchism, the rejection of the state, with strong support for private property and free markets. Anarcho-capitalists argue that every function of government, including police, courts and defense, could be supplied by competing private firms, insurance companies or voluntary associations. People would pay for these services by choice rather than through taxes. It differs from most other forms of anarchism, which are socialist and oppose private ownership of the means of production. Anarcho-capitalism is usually seen as the most radical branch of libertarianism.
Core beliefs
- The state is an illegitimate monopoly on force because it taxes and rules without individual consent.
- No person or group may initiate force against peaceful people, a rule often called the non-aggression principle.
- Private property rights, including in land and capital, are fully legitimate.
- Security, law and dispute resolution can be provided by competing private agencies.
- All exchange should be voluntary, with no taxes, licensing or central bank.
- People should be free to form any community or contract they choose.
History
An early precursor was the Belgian economist Gustave de Molinari, whose 1849 essay The Production of Security argued that protection could be supplied by competing firms like any other service. American individualist anarchists such as Lysander Spooner, who argued that the Constitution had no authority over those who never consented to it, influenced later thinkers. Modern anarcho-capitalism was developed mainly by the American economist Murray Rothbard in the 1960s and 1970s. Rothbard combined the Austrian school economics of Ludwig von Mises with a theory of natural rights, and he set out his program in For a New Liberty (1973) and The Ethics of Liberty (1982). Since then the idea has spread through libertarian think tanks, online communities and academic debate.
Variants
Natural rights anarcho-capitalists, following Rothbard, argue that the state is morally wrong because it violates individual rights. Consequentialist anarcho-capitalists argue that private law and private security would simply work better than state institutions. Some favor a decentralized system of private law based on custom. Others stress voluntary communities built around shared values. Agorism is a related strategy that seeks to replace the state through untaxed and unregulated trade.
Criticisms
Critics on the left, including socialist anarchists, argue that anarcho-capitalism is not truly anarchist because large property owners and employers would hold power over others, much as a state does. Many economists and political philosophers argue that private security agencies could turn into rival armies or new states, and that public goods such as defense are hard to fund voluntarily. Critics from the conservative and classical liberal traditions argue that a society needs a common legal framework and shared institutions that only a state can reliably maintain. Minarchists argue that a minimal state is necessary to protect rights.
In practice
No modern society has adopted an anarcho-capitalist system. Supporters sometimes point to historical cases with limited state power, such as medieval Iceland or private arbitration in merchant law, while historians debate how well these examples fit. Anarcho-capitalist ideas appear in debates on private arbitration, private security, cryptocurrency and competing currencies. The concept also influences parts of the libertarian movement and some political parties that call themselves libertarian.