Oxymoron

[herr_Nosferatu]

It seems very apparent to me that the theory and very name of it, anarcho-capitalism, is a complete contradiction.

Are there really people who advocate something like that ?

It just seems wierd.

[Andy Bowden]

Capitalist Libertarians are the closest to "anarcho - capitalism", as they believe that govt is a fundamentally oppressive institution which has too much power over peoples lives and should be restricted, so the free market can prosper.

The fact that big business also has too much power over peoples lives, is of course neither here nor there :rolleyes:

So yes, "Anarcho capitalism" is contradictary. It is based on a desire for an absolutely unregulated market, with no limitation or restriction on the power of business. LSD put it best when he said that "Anarchism is based on abolishing hierarchy, whereas Capitalism is dependent on it".

[bombeverything]

Originally posted by [email protected] 5 2005, 04:50 PM
It seems very apparent to me that the theory and very name of it, anarcho-capitalism, is a complete contradiction.

Are there really people who advocate something like that ?

It just seems wierd.

Yes, they seem to forget that economic dictatorship is also a form of oppression.

[restin256]

Any time you come in contact with one of these so-called Anarcho-Capitalists, tell them to listen to start from the begining of Tales from the Afternow. (http://theafternow.com)

[JazzRemington]

I wrote this a while ago in my blog about so-called "anarcho-capitalists."

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There seems to be a large surge in Anti-Statist Capitalists recently, at least from what I can see. There were 2-3 on the forums and there are two on Bolt.com, but I suspect they may (but may not at the same time) be the same people.

The argument is the same: "anarchy was made by the Greeks!" There are two BIG faults with this: 1) Capitalism (in the modern sense) did not exist at the time of the ancient Greeks and 2) the Greeks understood, and promoted, the word to mean absolute chaos.

Let's take a look at the first fault: the fact that modern capitalism did not exist at the time of the Ancient Greeks. It COULD be argued that the City-States were an example of "Anarcho-"Capitalism at work, which, like Medieval Iceland, is an example of the system NOT working: the city-states were ruled by the wealthy elite and there was MUCH fighting between them (even during the Olympics, contrary to popular belief). Since the king could be considered the capitalist of the city-state, and these "anarchists" are against any sort of political authority ONLY, it follows that if one follows the idea that the Ancient Greeks made up the word "anarchy," an anarchist would STILL be against capitalism.

Now, the second fault: the Greek understanding of the word as chaos. Plato equated the word with "democracy," which he had a strong distrust of. In fact, he wrote that if democracy were introduced into the natural hierarchies of human relationships, "ANARCHY finds a way into the private houses, and ends by getting among the animals and infecting them" (Republic, book 6; my emphasis). Aristotle also equated the word "anarchy" with disorder in book 6 of his "The Politics." So, if "Anarcho-"Capitalists are argueing that they are using the ORIGINAL meaning of the word, then they are argueing for disorder and chaos.

Either way, anti-statist Capitalists have no legitimate claim to "anarchist," let alone "anarchy."