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

The anarchists do not object to retaliatory force, only to it being wielded by a government. Why? Because, they say, it excludes "competitors." It sure does: it excludes vigilantes, lynch mobs, terrorists, and anyone else wanting to use force subjectively.

Competing arbitration agencies would develop objective (ie, non-arbitrary) laws and rules for coordination. And, just like governments, they would defend their customers against anyone who wants to use force subjectively. That’s their value proposition; their income relies on it.

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Dennis Hackethal’s avatar

But if anyone could make his own laws based on whim, that would be arbitrary, no?

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Dennis Hackethal’s avatar

Anyone who tried to make ‘laws’ based on whim which, say, allow him to rob his neighbor, would be immediately greeted by the machine guns of that neighbor’s private protection service and their objective rules for engagement.

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