2023-11-25 06:38:27
Anarcho-capitalism is a political philosophy rooted in classical liberalism, according to which a free society can be organized according to the operating principles of a privately owned market economy. His two main schools of thought are Murray N. Rothbard’s natural law and David D. Friedman’s utilitarian anarcho-capitalist ideology. The basic idea of both trends of anarcho-capitalism is that the inviolability of an individual’s private property in his or her own person and possessions should be considered the basis of social order, and any attack on self-determination or private property is morally unacceptable and legally impermissible. According to the conviction of the anarcho-capitalists, the mere existence of the state violates the security of life, property and law, which could be guaranteed more effectively by private associations of citizens and profit-oriented economic organizations dealing with security protection and dispute resolution, competing freely in an undisturbed market. Over time, several misconceptions have developed about the philosophy and its followers. One such delusion is that the “anarcho” part of the name has something to do with antifa or chaos. However, the use of the term anarchism here simply means the abolition of the state and its replacement by property relations, voluntary action, private law and the enforcement of contracts. The word does not refer to lawlessness; but for the extension of law, human will and social development, instead of imposition from above. Freedom is “not the daughter of order, but the mother of order,” said Proudhon, and anarcho-capitalists would agree. Several misconceptions about the ideology have spread. Some people are critical of the fact that not all self-proclaimed anarcho-capitalists represent this way of thinking. The name represents a broad ideal that has thousands of iterative applications. As in any other ideological camp, there is a huge diversity of views. There are those who have supported Covid lockdowns and mandatory vaccinations, and there are those who try to justify war and mass redistribution schemes. Milei cannot be held responsible for anything wrong or silly that any self-proclaimed proponent of this philosophy has ever said or written. The term anarcho-capitalism – as already mentioned – comes from the work of the American economist Murray Rothbard, who was greatly influenced by the writer Ayn Rand in the 1950s. The writer mainly strengthened Milei in the principles of libertarianism (one of her dogs is called Murray). But as Rothbard scrutinized Rand’s work, he began to have doubts about the very institution—namely, the state itself—that Rand considered necessary and indispensable. Argentina’s newly elected president Javier Milei during the presidential election in Buenos Aires on November 19, 2023. (Source: Tomas Cuesta/Getty Images) Why can the state violate our property rights? If there is the right of ownership over oneself, self-determination, then why is it allowed for the state to trample people through line-up, segregation, or other means? If we seek peace, why do we want the state to wage war? According to Rothbard, a consistent social rule that prohibits aggression against person and property should also apply to the state itself, especially in the case of a state that has consistently violated human rights both in the present and throughout history. We tolerate state leadership because we trust that it will protect our rights, but in the end it turns out that the state itself is the main threat to our rights. This way of thinking also highlights that no one has ever come up with a technology or system that has successfully pushed back the state once it has been established. (For a better understanding of the thought process, Rothbard’s book “Anatomy of the State” is recommended). What would a society without a state be like? Many anarchists on the socialist left made similar observations, but Rothbard made a kind of analytical prediction about what would replace the state if it ceased to exist. Rothbard said that a stateless society would not be a community governed by perfect sharing of resources and egalitarian equality. Instead, ownership, trade, division of labor, investment, private courts, stock exchanges, privately owned capital would rule. In other words, without the state, the free economy would probably flourish more than ever before, and we would raise orderly freedom to the highest possible level of realization. Keep in mind that the propagation of this idea pitted Rothbard against virtually everyone from Marxists to Trotskyists to Randianists to conservatives and old-school classical liberals who believed that the state was necessary to provide law, security, and courts. Rothbard’s anarchism was thoroughly American: he was more influenced by colonial times than by the Spanish Civil War. He believed that communities could govern themselves without an overlord who had the power to tax, inflate currency, conscription and murder. He believed that markets and the creativity of peaceful human cooperation always produce better results than institutions that are sheared and coerced by elites. This also applies to courts, security and law, all of which he believed could be better provided by market forces, within the framework of universal norms governing property and human action. Rothbard revived a debate in 19th-century France Frédéric Bastiat (1801-1850) was a great economist and classical liberal, from whom one of the most convincing pro-liberty writings of his generation and even of all time comes. But all the while, he remained convinced that some kind of state was needed to maintain the functioning of the system, so that society would not descend into chaos. Against this was the lesser-known intellectual Gustav de Molinari (1819-1912), who wrote that all the functions necessary for social functioning can be ensured with the help of market forces. In many ways, Molinari was the actual first anarcho-capitalist, although he never used the term. Sure, high-level theories from the salons of Belle Epoque Paris or the intellectual circles of 1950s New York sound good, but they’re just theories. Putting all this into practice is another matter. Now here is the real test for Milei. At this point, his theory might just be enough to inspire him and give him the courage to believe, but it’s nothing more than that, and especially not equal to a real plan. And he needs it, as he now faces a massive, deeply entrenched administrative state, a collapsed currency, a corrupt court system, a hostile legislature, a hostile media, and 100 years of glaring pension obligations. How can one person take on all this? We don’t really know the answer to this question. No leader of a western, democratic, developed country has ever attempted such a comprehensive reorganization of the corrupt institutional system. Although Reagan’s and Thatcher’s reforms were profound, they never cut the entire budget, much less eliminated entire agencies. They were indeed reformers, but only within certain limits. Now Milei is expected to do something no one has ever done before – and she must do her great deeds while the nation is struggling with a serious crisis. You don’t have to fully embrace anarcho-capitalism to appreciate its drive and hope. Who would you expect to be able to push back against the state – a person who strongly believes in certain features of the state, or someone who is fundamentally opposed to the entire structure? This much is certain: this ideological orientation will fill the statesmen with a fiery resistance against all the corruption, coercion, blackmail and fraud that the administrative elite is carrying out. Anarcho-capitalist orientation is a guiding thread that can lead to more freedom for everyone. Unimaginable internal and external forces have conspired against Milei’s success, and she is running a race against time. A year from now, the entire elite media will be shouting that anarcho-capitalism has failed in Argentina. The situation has become so absurd. Let’s say Milei is hijacked by neoliberal globalists and will pursue reforms that follow only the neoliberal rules of the late 20th century and post-2008 game. Can this be attributed to anarcho-capitalism? No way. Anarcho-capitalism does not mean giving the largest corporations under oligarchic control the freedom to plunder and profit at the expense of the people. This is not the “privatization” of functions of the state that should not exist in the first place. Not selling off state resources to cronies and bandits. It does not mean that technology companies can become state partners in the surveillance and control of citizens. These are all corrupters of the purer idea of capitalism, which certainly do not comply with the dictates of the International Monetary Fund (IMF), the World Bank, the World Economic Forum (WEF), much less the American State Department. Mieli’s victory gives cause for optimism We have every reason to be encouraged by Milei’s victory, if only because it shows that there is a need for radical reforms and that elections can really be won. As soon as he took office, he announced that he would close the National Bank of Argentina. So far, no one has taken such an extreme step. JUST IN: ???????? Argentina President Javier Milei confirms he will shut down the Central Bank. pic.twitter.com/MkHANrojKy — Watcher.Guru (@WatcherGuru) November 24, 2023 Milei may be falling, but it can hardly be doubted that all industrialized democracies are due for fundamental and profound reforms and revolution (even closing the central bank). needed to put control back in the hands of the people. And if the president were to actually fail despite his heroic efforts, at least we would have, as Rothbard once said, a brief but “glorious day off” from the political and administrative status quo we have to live with every day. There is every reason to believe that Milei’s election is just the beginning of a new trend that could spread throughout the world. People have had enough, they are ready for a radical new direction. Something must be done to stop the relentless march of the tyrannical forces of the nations.
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