If you think about it, #China is actually #AnarchoCapitalist. They just happen to be dominated by one giant corporation called the Communist Party of China.

"But that's a government," past me would object.

"What's a government?" current me would ask.

"It's a monopoly on the legitimate use of force," past me would answer.

"What's legitimacy, and what makes the CPC legitimate?"

"The people think it is. They don't try to overthrow it, right?"

"What would be different if the same situation arose under anarcho-capitalism?"

"It wouldn't."

"Why not?"

"I... maybe it could, but I don't think it's likely."

Even when I considered myself an #AnarchoCapitalist, I was never fully comfortable with the anarcho-capitalist conception of property. Enclosing, marking, improving, "mixing your labor with the land", I never found any of these satisfactory, though I never really understood why. Now I think I know the answer: such claims can only be protected with institutionalized violence.

Ultimately this is true of protecting one's person as well, since a stronger person could come along and injure or kill you, but bodily autonomy is far more obvious and universally recognized (at least to the extent that I'm comfortable putting bullets in the brains of anyone who believes otherwise) than claims on land. Plus, the owner is present and can ask for help, and it's generally obvious to anyone in the vicinity who's in the wrong.

For a long time, I thought #CommonLaw was fairly close to perfect. But common law is not really there to protect regular people; it's there to protect landowners while minimizing conflict with commoners and thus the cost of protecting property claims. #Even so, common law has hints of anarchism in it. For example, if you've been cutting across someone's land for some period of time to get somewhere, they can't suddenly block you from doing that. Of course, that encourages them to fully protect their land to begin with.

I just read, over the course of several days, #SlateStarCodex’s “Non-Libertarian FAQ” (years ago I had only skimmed it).

It is a brilliant text, as usual, and it reminded me why although I read and flirt at times with different ideologies I remain mostly a #moderate — why I don’t call myself a #libertarian or an #anarchocapitalist; but rather someone with libertarian sympathies, or perhaps a (classic) #liberal.

It reminded me why absolute #libertarianism or #anarchism as ideologies and moral systems, in particular, may feel rational, coherent, complete and desirable… without being any of those things.

Which does not imply, of course, that some specific governments nowadays would not do better by moving closer to the libertarian pole!

@anornymorse @realcaseyrollins @xj9@merveilles.town
So tell me, "#AnarchoCapitalist" how do you enforce your IP without the state?