Anarcho-capitalists : Question

[Dejavu]

As many of you know , I used to be an ancap until I diversified my views more and could not get over some of my serious contentions with ancap, not least of which , private law. ( I tend to favor more collective law)

I'd like to pose this question regarding private law ( mind you I know all the conventional arguments but I'm looking for creativity):

Why would I , as a business man, want to deal with all the competing laws?
I mean this , if I want to invest into a huge project , why would I not be demotivated to take the risk of jeopardizing my property because I have to have a knowledge of what every potential law agency has as regards property and security?

It seems that the desire for micro-private law hampers the smoothness of the free market and actually works against ancaps. People generally feel more comfortable in the market dealing with a large customer base that all contractually adheres to the same standard of ethics (i.e. property rights).

It seems to me that micro-private law competition would tend to encourage people to do business with only those belonging to their law firm.

I believe a voluntary body of collective decision making ( such as a town council or some sort) which 'monopolizes' ethical law across , at least a locality, is not inherently statist so long as agreements are explicit ( contractual). I think multi-scattered private law would tend to evolve into more common law anyway because it seems that in these conditions a free market would function the best.

Thoughts? Opinions?

[Skooma Addict]

Why would I , as a business man, want to deal with all the competing laws?
I mean this , if I want to invest into a huge project , why would I not be demotivated to take the risk of jeopardizing my property because I have to have a knowledge of what every potential law agency has as regards property and security?

You need to know the general laws of the community that you want to invest in. Companies today make investments in many different countries with many different legal codes. In an AnCap society, this wouldn't be a problem at all. For starters, businesses already account for this along with many other factors when they are trying to determine where to begin a new project. The law agencies in a community will generally only enforce laws which are supported by the community. So you do not need to know what every single law agency believes, just what the general laws of the community are.


It seems that the desire for micro-private law hampers the smoothness of the free market and actually works against ancaps. People generally feel more comfortable in the market dealing with a large customer base that all contractually adheres to the same standard of ethics (i.e. property rights).

It wouldn't be difficult at all to determine whether or not a community supports private property.


It seems to me that micro-private law competition would tend to encourage people to do business with only those belonging to their law firm.

Companies would do business with those who would want to be a supplier or a consumer of the companies products. Each law firm is not going to have its own set of laws that it enforces. Most of the time, the slight differences in the legal system between communities would have no effect on business decisions. Obviously, this is not always the case. If there is a community of devout Christians or ideological Mutualists, then research needs to be done in order to make the right decision.


I believe a voluntary body of collective decision making ( such as a town council or some sort) which 'monopolizes' ethical law across , at least a locality, is not inherently statist so long as agreements are explicit ( contractual). I think multi-scattered private law would tend to evolve into more common law anyway because it seems that in these conditions a free market would function the best.

I somewhat agree with the second part of your statement. Only that I do not think these scattered private law firms are going to be as unique as your implying. There will be some exceptions, but I do not think that this will pose a problem.

Town councils will probably play a major role in some communities, but I think they can exist side by side with private arbitration firms.

[Rosa Provokateur]

Bottom line, anarcho-capitalism sucks. It's tantamount to social-Darwinism and any philosophy that promotes that kind of "survival of the fittest" outlook has to much naziesque flavor for me.

[Skooma Addict]

Dejavu, are you a Mutualist, or do you prefer not to label yourself?

[Dejavu]

Those were good answers Olaf.

I don't really label myself. I am a sort of 'left-market anarchist' if you can call it that. I guess it would be a mixture of classical individualist anarchist, left-Rothbardian, agorist, and mutualist. I am heavily influenced by Austrian economics though in the realm of social and political philosophy I'm far more 'left.'