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| title | chunk | source | category | tags | date_saved | instance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Anarcho-capitalism | 12/12 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anarcho-capitalism | reference | science, encyclopedia | 2026-05-05T14:56:15.395858+00:00 | kb-cron |
=== Rights and freedom === Negative and positive rights are rights that oblige either action (positive rights) or inaction (negative rights). Strictly Rothbardian anarcho-capitalists believe that negative rights should be recognized as legitimate, but positive rights should be rejected as an intrusion. Some critics reject the distinction between positive and negative rights. Peter Marshall also states that the anarcho-capitalist definition of freedom is entirely negative and that it cannot guarantee the positive freedom of individual autonomy and independence. Anarcho-syndicalist and anti-capitalist intellectual Noam Chomsky argues that anarcho-capitalism would be highly oppressive rather than guaranteeing freedom:
Anarcho-capitalism, in my opinion, is a doctrinal system that, if ever implemented, would lead to forms of tyranny and oppression that have few counterparts in human history. There isn't the slightest possibility that its (in my view, horrendous) ideas would be implemented because they would quickly destroy any society that made this colossal error. The idea of "free contract" between the potentate and his starving subject is a sick joke, perhaps worth some moments in an academic seminar exploring the consequences of (in my view, absurd) ideas, but nowhere else. American philosopher Jason Brennan, a supporter of anarcho-capitalism, argues that common anarcho-capitalist arguments based solely on citing the non-aggression principle fail, as they beg the question. A statist could argue that a state does not violate the non-aggression principle by collecting taxes, as the money rightfully belongs to the state. Similarly, a socialist could argue that to adhere to the non-aggression principle, capitalist property owners must relinquish their property to the public, as the capitalist property owners violate the principle by withholding property from its rightful owners. As such, a libertarian, statist, and socialist would agree on the non-aggression principle, but disagree on what constitutes aggression or who is the rightful owner of something.
=== Economics and property === Social anarchists argue that anarcho-capitalism allows individuals to accumulate significant power through free markets and private property. Friedman responded by arguing that the Icelandic Commonwealth was able to prevent the wealthy from abusing the poor by requiring individuals who engaged in acts of violence to compensate their victims financially. Anarchists argue that certain capitalist transactions are not voluntary and that maintaining the class structure of a capitalist society requires coercion, which violates anarchist principles. Some critics argue that the anarcho-capitalist concept of voluntary choice ignores constraints due to both human and non-human factors, such as the need for food and shelter, as well as active restriction of both used and unused resources by those enforcing property claims. If a person requires employment to feed and house himself, the employer-employee relationship could be considered involuntary. Another criticism is that employment is involuntary because the economic system that makes it necessary for some individuals to serve others is supported by the enforcement of coercive private property relations. Some philosophies view any ownership claims on land and natural resources as immoral and illegitimate. Objectivist philosopher Harry Binswanger criticizes anarcho-capitalism by arguing that "capitalism requires government", questioning who or what would enforce treaties and contracts. Some right-libertarian critics of anarcho-capitalism, who support the full privatization of capital, such as geolibertarians, argue that land and the raw materials of nature remain a distinct factor of production and cannot be justly unrestricted because they are not products of human labor. Some socialists, including individualist anarchists and freed-market anarcho-mutualists who advocate market anarchism, adamantly oppose absentee ownership. Anarcho-capitalists have strong abandonment criteria, namely that one maintains ownership until one agrees to trade or gift it. Anti-state critics of this view posit comparatively weak abandonment criteria, arguing that one loses ownership when one stops personally occupying and using it, and that the idea of perpetually binding original appropriation is anathema to traditional schools of anarchism.
=== Propertarianism ===
Critics charge that the propertarian perspective prevents freedom from making sense as an independent value in anarcho-capitalist theory:
Looking at Rothbard’s definition of "liberty" quoted above, we can see that freedom is actually no longer considered to be a fundamental, independent concept. Instead, freedom is a derivative of something more fundamental, namely the "legitimate rights" of an individual, which are identified as property rights. In other words, given that "anarcho"-capitalists and right libertarians in general consider the right to property as "absolute," it follows that freedom and property become one and the same. This suggests an alternative name for the right Libertarian, namely "Propertarian." And, needless to say, if we do not accept the right-libertarians’ view of what constitutes "legitimate" "rights," then their claim to be defenders of liberty is weak. Matt Zwolinski has argued that scholars influenced by Rothbard could be called "propertarians" because the concept that really plays a central role in their research is property rather than liberty.
== Theoretical literature ==
== See also ==
== Notes ==
== References ==
== Further reading == Brown, Susan Love (1997). "The Free Market as Salvation from Government: The Anarcho-Capitalist View." In Carrier, James G., ed. Meanings of the Market: The Free Market in Western Culture (illustrated ed.). Oxford: Berg Publishers. p. 99. ISBN 978-1859731499. Doherty, Brian (2009). Radicals for Capitalism: A Freewheeling History of the Modern American Libertarian Movement. London: Hachette UK. ISBN 978-0-7867-3188-6.
== External links ==
Anarchist Theory FAQ – FAQ discussing anarchism by anarcho-capitalist economist Bryan Caplan Anarcho-capitalist FAQ Freeblr – online textbook about Anarcho-Capitalism by Daniel Jarick, also known as JarickWorks LewRockwell.com – website run by Lew Rockwell Mises Institute – research and educational center of classical liberalism, including anarcho-capitalism, Austrian School of economics and American libertarian political theory Property and Freedom Society – international anarcho-capitalist society