Objectivist Criticisms of Anarcho-Capitalism

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Dennis Hackethal’s avatar
Dennis HackethalOP revised 10 months ago·#894· Collapse

Harry Binswanger wrote a piece titled ‘Sorry Libertarian Anarchists, Capitalism Requires Government’ for Forbes, criticizing the libertarian position.

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Dennis Hackethal’s avatar

Ask yourself what it means to have a "competition" in governmental services. It's a "competition" in wielding force, a "competition" in subjugating others, a "competition" in making people obey commands. That's not "competition," it's violent conflict. On a large scale, it's war.

Governments already compete on a global scale. So why isn’t the world in a perpetual state of war?

See #17.

Criticism of #894
Dennis Hackethal’s avatar

Could conflict among "competing governments" be taken care of by treaties? Treaties?--enforced by whom? I once asked Ayn Rand about the feasibility of such treaties between sovereign "competing governments." She looked at me grimly and said, "You mean like at the U.N.?"

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Dennis Hackethal’s avatar

The part “enforced by whom?” is telling. There isn’t just ‘who’ but also ‘what’. For example, David Friedman refers to the discipline of constant dealings as an enforcement mechanism.

Criticism of #903