Does Government Strengthen a Society Against Foreign Takeovers? No!
January 30, 2017
Without Government, An Anarcho-Capitalist America Would Be Helpless
From: MD
Sent: Tuesday, January 03, 2017 8:23 AM
To: [email protected]
Subject: My question in relation to your current LRC article
RE: question about no government thoeries in relation to defense against attack and/or attempted colonization
Good day Dr. Block, Thank you for your recent article on whether the US should vote yay, nay or abstain on the UN resolution regarding Israel. I am a libertatrian at heart but do come across conflicts in mind that I have a difficult time reconciling with common sense. It could be that I have a point, though it very well also may be I just don’t know enough yet and don’t understand the specifics/underpinnings of far better alternatives. I strongly believe our society “programs us”, if you will, from a young age, whether it be parents, schools, media, government or a combination, and whether intentional, unintentional or qa combo, it doesn’t matter: By the time we are 16,17, 18 etc, our thought processes are so trained that discussing a world without government comes of strange, dangerous, short sighted, and brings about fear and trepidation. I know you get the point there.
My question is regarding comments you (and other libertarians and anarcho-capitalists, Sephen Molyneux comes to mind) make regarding having a society with no government. In my heart I agree! What a wonderful thought. Surely a world, a country, a society with maximum freedom of choise and interaction brings about the most peace. In your UN-Israel article, as with many many many other anarcho-capitalist articles or videos or lectures, you correctly defend this position by citing the facts of death by government. The most immediate response I get when suggesting a “no government” solution is that, imagine we in the U.S. have no government, everything is voluntary, etc, while Russia has a government, China has a government, India, Pakistan etc. Clearly we would be an easy target for takeover and colonization by these sinister powers. I picture them licking their chops at our natural resources (sound familiar?) seeing no real obstacle between them and the oil and coal, etc etc here in our part of the world. After all, is this not what the British Empire did for centuries, prey on other societies that either had no cohesive, modern state government, and therefore colonize them, making them subjects of their empire? How about the case of the Native Americans? No cohesive government vs. The Union. Look what happened – a wholesale systematic destruction of a people.
So, what is your response to this very straight forward concern that, while I agree in spirit that the gov’ts of Russia and China, for example, have no legitimacy on paper (aka, Spooner, No Treason), they have a VERY REAL legitimacy in the way that, in some imaginary world where the might of US Gov’t (however bad it is in many, many ways) does not exist, how long before we become vassals of Russia, China, or back in the day, Japan or Germany. I almost hate writing the question, and kind of feel a bit dirty writing it, but I am at a loss to think how the anarcho capilatist free-enterprising society of people in what used to be the US would defend against a systematic, planned attack to subjugate us, the same way so many other societies were subjugated in the past. My best to you this New Year – MD
First of all, in this op ed of mine about the failure of the Obama government to support Israel in the UN, I did not at all limit myself to anarcho capitalism. I also analyzed this issue from a minarchist limited government point of view. Block, Walter E. 2017. “The US abstains at a UN vote on Israel settlements.” January 3; https://www.lewrockwell.com/2017/01/walter-e-block/us-abstains-un-vote/
Secondly, I think that if we Americans got rid of our government, we would be stronger, not weaker. This is a no brainer. Surely, we would be richer without government taking some 50% of our earnings, and using these monies to further impoverish us via regulations, etc. Wealthier is healthier, and also safer. The criminals in our inner cities mainly prey on the poor, and the lower middle class. The rich have doormen, guards, gated communities. Why it would be any different on a larger scale, even a much larger scale, is beyond me. Yes, the UK for a time took over much of the world, but it was a world composed of governments. All of those conquered peoples (India for example) had governments. I am going to offer you a bibliography on this subject. All of them are excellent defenses of anarcho-capitalism. But, I think, the one closest to your concern is the one by Bob Murphy, about War Lords taking over. Enjoy.
Anderson and Hill, 1979; Benson, 1989, 1990; Block, 2007, 2010, 2011; Casey, 2010; DiLorenzo, 2010; Friedman, 1989; Gregory, 2011; Guillory & Tinsley, 2009; Hasnas, 1995; Heinrich, 2010; Higgs, 2009, 2012; Hoppe, 2008, 2011; Huebert, 2010; King, 2010; Kinsella, 2009; Long, 2004; McConkey, 2013; Molyneux, 2008; Murphy, 2005; Paul, 2008; Rockwell, 2013; Rothbard, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1998; Spooner, 1870; Stringham, 2007; Tannehill, 1984; Tinsley, 1998-1999; Wenzel, 2013; Woods, 2014.
Anderson, Terry and Hill, P.J. 1979. “An American Experiment in Anarcho-Capitalism: The Not So Wild, Wild West,” Journal of Libertarian Studies, 3: 9-29; http://mises.org/journals/jls/3_1/3_1_2.pdf
Benson, Bruce L. 1989. Enforcement of Private Property Rights in Primitive Societies: Law Without Government,” The Journal of Libertarian Studies, Vol. IX, No. 1, Winter, pp. 1-26; http://mises.org/journals/jls/9_1/9_1_1.pdf
Benson, Bruce L. 1990. “Customary Law with Private Means of Resolving Disputes and Dispensing Justice: A Description of a Modern System of Law and Order without State Coercion.” The Journal of Libertarian Studies, Vol. IX, No. 2,” pp. 25-42; http://mises.org/journals/jls/9_2/9_2_2.pdf
Block, Walter. 2007. “Anarchism and Minarchism; No Rapprochement Possible: Reply to Tibor Machan,” Journal of Libertarian Studies, Vol. 21, No. 1, Spring, pp. 91-99; http://www.mises.org/journals/jls/21_1/21_1_5.pdf
Block, Walter E. 2011. “Governmental inevitability: reply to Holcombe.” Journal of Libertarian Studies, Vol. 22; pp. 667-688; http://mises.org/journals/jls/22_1/22_1_34.pdf
Block, Walter E. and Michael Fleischer. 2010. “How Would An Anarchist Society Handle Child Abuse?” October 13; https://www.lewrockwell.com/block/block167.html
Casey, Doug. 2010. “Doug Casey on Anarchy.” March 31; http://www.caseyresearch.com/cwc/doug-casey-anarchy
DiLorenzo, Thomas J. 2010. “The Culture of Violence in the American West: Myth versus Reality.” The Independent Review, v. 15, n. 2, Fall 2010, pp. 227–239; http://www.independent.org/pdf/tir/tir_15_02_4_dilorenzo.pdf
Friedman, David. 1989. The Machinery of Freedom: Guide to a Radical Capitalism, La Salle, IL: Open Court, 2nd ed. http://www.daviddfriedman.com/Libertarian/Machinery_of_Freedom/MofF_Chapter_41.html
Gregory, Anthony. 2011. “Abolish the Police.” May 26; https://www.lewrockwell.com/gregory/gregory213.html
Guillory, Gil & Patrick Tinsley. 2009. “The Role of Subscription-Based Patrol and Restitution in the Future of Liberty,” Libertarian Papers 1, 12; http://libertarianpapers.org/2009/12-the-role-of-subscription-based-patrol-and-restitution-in-the-future-of-liberty/
Hasnas, John. 1995. “The myth of the rule of law.” Wisconsin Law Review 199;
http://faculty.msb.edu/hasnasj/GTWebSite/MythWeb.htm
Heinrich, David J. 2010. “Justice for All Without the State.” The Libertarian Standard. May 6; http://www.libertarianstandard.com/articles/david-j-heinrich/justice-for-all-without-the-state/
Higgs, Robert. 2009. “Why We Couldn’t Abolish Slavery Then and Can’t Abolish Government Now.” August 20; https://www.lewrockwell.com/higgs/higgs128.html
Higgs, Robert. 2012. “What is the point of my libertarian anarchism?” January 16;
http://archive.lewrockwell.com/higgs/higgs180.html
Hoppe, Hans-Hermann. 2008. “Reflections on the Origin and the Stability of the State.” June 23; https://www.lewrockwell.com/hoppe/hoppe18.html
Hoppe, Hans-Hermann. 2011. “State or Private Law Society.” April 10;
https://www.lewrockwell.com/hoppe/hoppe26.1.html
Huebert, Jacob. 2010. Libertarianism Today. Santa Barbara, CA: Praeger
King, Seth. 2010. “Daily Anarchist Interviews Walter E. Block,” September 9;
https://www.lewrockwell.com/block/block165.html
Kinsella, Stephan. 2009. “The Irrelevance of the Impossibility of Anarcho-Libertarianism.” August 20; http://www.stephankinsella.com/2009/08/20/the-irrelevance-of-the-impossibility-of-anarcho-libertarianism/
Long, Roderick. 2004. “Libertarian Anarchism: Responses to Ten Objections” https://www.lewrockwell.com/long/long11.html
McConkey, Michael. 2013. “Anarchy, Sovereignty, and the State of Exception: Schmitt’s Challenge.” The Independent Review, v. 17, n. 3, Winter, pp. 415–428. http://www.independent.org/pdf/tir/tir_17_03_05_mcconkey.pdf
Molyneux, Stefan. 2008. “The Stateless Society: An Examination of Alternatives.”
http://www.mail-archive.com/[email protected]/msg02056.html
Murphy, Robert P. 2005. “But Wouldn’t Warlords Take Over?” July 7; http://mises.org/story/1855; http://mises.org/library/wouldnt-warlords-take-over
“Paul, Ron.” 2008. “On the Inner Contradictions of Limited Government.” http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7o4kiWpqoeg&feature=PlayList&p=9645F6A68683F679&playnext=1&playnext_from=PL&index=4; http://libertyupward.com/ron-paul-religious-icon/
Rockwell, Lew. 2013. “What Would We Do Without the State?” March 31;
https://www.lewrockwell.com/blog/lewrw/archives/134782.html
Rothbard, Murray N. 1973. For a New Liberty, Macmillan, New York; http://mises.org/rothbard/newlibertywhole.asp
In the view of Rothbard (1973, emphasis added by present author) “For centuries, the State (or more strictly, individuals acting in their roles as ‘members of the government’) has cloaked its criminal activity in high-sounding rhetoric. For centuries the State has committed mass murder and called it ‘war’; then ennobled the mass slaughter that ‘war’ involves. For centuries the State has enslaved people into its armed battalions and called it ‘conscription’ in the ‘national service.’ For centuries the State has robbed people at bayonet point and called it ‘taxation.’ In fact, if you wish to know how libertarians regard the State and any of its acts, simply think of the State as a criminal band, and all of the libertarian attitudes will logically fall into place.”
Rothbard, Murray N. 1975. “Society Without a State.” The Libertarian Forum, volume 7.1, January; https://www.lewrockwell.com/rothbard/rothbard133.html
Rothbard, Murray N. 1977. “Do you hate the state?” The Libertarian Forum, Vol. 10, No. 7, July; https://www.lewrockwell.com/rothbard/rothbard75.html
“…there is no sign that David Friedman in any sense hates the existing American State or the State per se, hates it deep in his belly as a predatory gang of robbers, enslavers, and murderers. No, there is simply the cool conviction that anarchism would be the best of all possible worlds, but that our current set-up is pretty far up with it in desirability. For there is no sense in Friedman that the State – any State – is a predatory gang of criminals.”
“The radical cannot think in such terms, because the radical regards the State as our mortal enemy, which must be hacked away at wherever and whenever we can. To the radical libertarian, we must take any and every opportunity to chop away at the State, whether it’s to reduce or abolish a tax, a budget appropriation, or a regulatory power. And the radical libertarian is insatiable in this appetite until the State has been abolished, or – for minarchists – dwindled down to a tiny, laissez-faire role.”
Rothbard, Murray N. 1998 [1982]. The Ethics of Liberty, New York: New York University Press. http://www.mises.org/rothbard/ethics/ethics.asp
“Paul, Ron.” 2008. “On the Inner Contradictions of Limited Government.” http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7o4kiWpqoeg&feature=PlayList&p=9645F6A68683F679&playnext=1&playnext_from=PL&index=4
Spooner, Lysander. 1966[1870]. No Treason: The Constitution of No Authority and A Letter to Thomas F. Bayard, Larkspur, Colorado: Rampart College; http://jim.com/treason.htm
vv
Stringham, Edward, ed. 2007. Anarchy and the Law: The Political Economy of Choice, Somerset, NJ: Transaction Publishers.
Tannehill, Morris and Linda Tannehill. [1970] 1984. The Market for Liberty, New York: Laissez Faire Books; https://www.lewrockwell.com/orig11/tannehill1.html
Tinsley, Patrick. 1998-1999. “With Liberty and Justice for All: A Case for Private Police,” Journal of Libertarian Studies, Vol. 14, No. 1, Winter, pp. 95-100; http://www.mises.org/journals/jls/14_1/14_1_5.pdf
Wenzel, Robert. 2013. “Robert Ringer’s Strawman Anarchist.” February 2;
http://archive.lewrockwell.com/wenzel/wenzel211.html
Woods, Tom. 2014. “Four things the state is not.” July 29;
private police: private army:
Gregory, 2011; Guillory, & Tinsley. 2009; Hoppe, 2011; Huebert, 2010; Murphy, 2005; Rothbard, 1973, 1975, 1998 [1982]; Stringham, 2007; Tannehills[1970] 1984; Tinsley, 1998-1999; Wiśniewski, 2014; Wollstein, 1969; Woolridge, 1970.
Gregory, Anthony. 2011. “Abolish the Police.” May 26; https://www.lewrockwell.com/gregory/gregory213.html
Guillory, Gil & Patrick Tinsley. 2009. “The Role of Subscription-Based Patrol and Restitution in the Future of Liberty,” Libertarian Papers 1, 12; http://libertarianpapers.org/2009/12-the-role-of-subscription-based-patrol-and-restitution-in-the-future-of-liberty/
Hoppe, Hans-Hermann. 2011. “State or Private Law Society.” April 10;
https://www.lewrockwell.com/hoppe/hoppe26.1.html
Huebert, Jacob. 2010. Libertarianism Today. Santa Barbara, CA: Praeger
Murphy, Robert P. 2005. “But Wouldn’t Warlords Take Over?” July 7; http://mises.org/story/1855; http://mises.org/library/wouldnt-warlords-take-over
Rothbard, Murray N. 1973. For a New Liberty, Macmillan, New York; http://mises.org/rothbard/newlibertywhole.asp
Rothbard, Murray N. 1975. “Society Without a State.” The Libertarian Forum, volume 7.1, January; https://www.lewrockwell.com/rothbard/rothbard133.html
Rothbard, Murray N. 1998 [1982]. The Ethics of Liberty, New York: New York University Press. http://www.mises.org/rothbard/ethics/ethics.asp
Stringham, Edward, ed. 2007. Anarchy and the Law: The Political Economy of Choice, Somerset, NJ: Transaction Publishers.
Tannehill, Morris and Linda Tannehill. [1970] 1984. The Market for Liberty, New York: Laissez Faire Books; https://www.lewrockwell.com/orig11/tannehill1.html
Tinsley, Patrick. 1998-1999. “With Liberty and Justice for All: A Case for Private Police,” Journal of Libertarian Studies, Vol. 14, No. 1, Winter, pp. 95-100; http://www.mises.org/journals/jls/14_1/14_1_5.pdf
Wiśniewski, Jakub Bożydar. 2014. “Defense as a private good in a competitive order” Review of Social and Economic Issues, Vol. 1, No. 1, Summer, pp. 2-35;
http://rsei.rau.ro/images/V1N1/Jakub%20Bozydar%20Wisniewski.pdf
Wollstein, Jarret B. 1969. Society Without Coercion. In Society Without Government. New York: Arno Press
Woolridge, William C. 1970. Uncle Sam the Monopoly Man, New Rochelle, N.Y.: Arlington House
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