Anarcho-capitalists in the context of "Lysander Spooner"

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⭐ Core Definition: Anarcho-capitalists

Anarcho-capitalism (colloquially: ancap or an-cap) is a political philosophy and economic theory that advocates for the abolition of centralized states in favor of stateless societies in which systems of private property are enforced by private agencies. Anarcho-capitalists argue that a society can function without a state through voluntary exchange and private institutions that provide law and security. This would result in a voluntary society, based on concepts such as the non-aggression principle, free markets, and self-ownership. In the absence of statute, private defense agencies and/or insurance companies would operate competitively in a market, and fulfil the roles of courts and the police, similar to a state apparatus.

According to its proponents, various historical theorists have espoused philosophies similar to anarcho-capitalism. While the earliest existing attestation of anarcho-capitalism is in Karl Hess's essay "The Death of Politics", published by Playboy in March of 1969, American economist Murray Rothbard was credited with coining the terms anarcho-capitalist and anarcho-capitalism in 1971. A leading figure in 20th-century American libertarian movement, Rothbard synthesized elements from the Austrian school, classical liberalism, 19th-century American individualist anarchists, mutualists Lysander Spooner, and Benjamin Tucker, while rejecting the labor theory of value. Rothbard's anarcho-capitalist society would operate under a mutually agreed-upon "legal code which would be generally accepted, and which the courts would pledge themselves to follow". This legal code would recognize contracts between individuals, private property, self-ownership, and tort law, in keeping with the non-aggression principle. Unlike a state, enforcement measures in Rothbard’s version of an anarcho-capitalist society would only apply to those who initiated force or fraud. Rothbard views the power of the state as unjustified, arguing that it violates individual rights, reduces prosperity, and creates social and economic problems.

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Anarcho-capitalists in the context of Right-libertarianism

Right-libertarianism, usually referred to as libertarian capitalism by its proponents and right-wing libertarianism by its opponents, is a libertarian political philosophy that supports capitalist property rights and market distribution of natural resources. The term right-libertarianism is used to distinguish this class of views on the nature of property and capital from left-libertarianism, a variant of libertarianism that combines self-ownership with collectivist or usufructary property norms. In contrast to socialist libertarianism, capitalist libertarianism supports free-market capitalism. Like other forms of libertarianism, it supports civil liberties, especially natural law, negative rights, the non-aggression principle, and a significant transformation or outright elimination of the modern welfare state.

Right-libertarian political thought is characterized by the strict priority given to liberty, with the need to maximize the realm of individual freedom and minimize the scope of government authority. Right-libertarians typically see the state as the principal threat to liberty. This anti-statism differs from anarcho-socialist theory (but not individualist anarchist theory) in that it is based upon private property norms and strong individualism that places less emphasis on human sociability or cooperation. Right-libertarian philosophy is also rooted in the ideas of individual rights and laissez-faire economics. The right-libertarian theory of individual rights generally follows the homestead principle and the labor theory of property, stressing self-ownership and that people have an absolute right to the property that their labor produces. Economically, right-libertarians make no distinction between capitalism and free markets; they view any attempt to dictate the market process as counterproductive, emphasizing the mechanisms and self-regulating nature of the market whilst portraying government intervention and attempts to redistribute wealth as criminally immoral, unnecessary, and counter-productive. Although all right-libertarians oppose government intervention, there is a division between anarcho-capitalists, who view the state as an unnecessary evil and want property rights protected without statutory law through market-generated tort, contract and property law; and minarchists, who support the need for a minimal state, often referred to as a night-watchman state, to provide its citizens with monopoly provision of courts, military, and police services.

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