In the cyberpunk genre of science fiction, the future is characterised by extreme levels of privatisation, commercialism and capitalism such as in Films like BladeRunner. This often incorporates ideas from Anarcho-capitalism and libertarianism more generally reflecting the overall dominance of capitalist ideology and how that shapes our perceptions of a plausible future society.
In an anarcho-capitalist society, police, the courts, prisons, armies, intelligence agencies, etc are all provided by competitive private companies working for profit. Money itself becomes a commodity with the introduction of free banking (and the abolition of the federal reserves monopoly on printing currency in the US). All infrastructure is privately owned such as roads, water, electric generation, railways, as well as health care and education. Compulsory taxation would be abolished as a violation of private property rights and the principle self-ownership (I.e. that a person owns themselves as private property).
In fairness, anarcho-capitalists do allow for cooperatives and community ownership as long it is voluntary. Many of anarcho-capitalism's critics would argue this would lead to tyrannical rule by corporations. anarcho-capitalists blame the anti-competitive role of corporations on the government for licensing them in the first place as a legal entity, arguing that such concentrations of economic power would exist in a truly free and competitive market. The concept of self ownership also raises questions as to whether as person, as a form of property, can or should voluntarily sell themselves into slavery as a violation of a persons natural rights.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anarcho-capitalism
One scenario explored in science fiction is that such a society (or rather a dystopian version of it) could be created by the government outsourcing defence to private companies until they turn on the government and establish themselves as a system of government in their own right. In call of duty advanced warfare, Kevin spacey plays Johnathon irons, the ceo of a defence corporation that makes a bid to sieze control.
Anarcho-capitalists have also been opponents of democratic institutions as a threat to individual rights, particularly private property through taxation, social security and welfare as democracies have the power to redistribute income outside of markets as "voluntary" transactions and institutions.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Democracy:_The_God_That_Failed
The way they see it, democracy violates the non-aggression principle Because they coerce people into accepting laws, taxes and restrictions on personal liberty based on monopolising political power through the state legitimised by majority rule. Attempting to privatise defence, courts and police may risk however creating new concentrations and monopolies of power in the hands of corporations and therefore more abuses.
(Clip contains mild bad language)
Personally, whilst I would suspect such a society would produce a corporate tyranny, the ideas are fascinating and relevant by taking neoliberal ideology to its logical and absurd extreme. It could be argued that If markets promote freedom, surely the freest societies are the ones where the government has been replaced by markets? Many aspects of anarcho-capitalism such as private prisons or private military contractors already exist and it is intriguing and troubling to wonder if it could go anywhere.
Do you think an anarchy-capitalist society could ever happen in reality, say in the US? Should democracy be replaced by anarcho-capitalism as a way to ensure individual rights? Would such a society be a good or a bad thing?
In an anarcho-capitalist society, police, the courts, prisons, armies, intelligence agencies, etc are all provided by competitive private companies working for profit. Money itself becomes a commodity with the introduction of free banking (and the abolition of the federal reserves monopoly on printing currency in the US). All infrastructure is privately owned such as roads, water, electric generation, railways, as well as health care and education. Compulsory taxation would be abolished as a violation of private property rights and the principle self-ownership (I.e. that a person owns themselves as private property).
In fairness, anarcho-capitalists do allow for cooperatives and community ownership as long it is voluntary. Many of anarcho-capitalism's critics would argue this would lead to tyrannical rule by corporations. anarcho-capitalists blame the anti-competitive role of corporations on the government for licensing them in the first place as a legal entity, arguing that such concentrations of economic power would exist in a truly free and competitive market. The concept of self ownership also raises questions as to whether as person, as a form of property, can or should voluntarily sell themselves into slavery as a violation of a persons natural rights.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anarcho-capitalism
One scenario explored in science fiction is that such a society (or rather a dystopian version of it) could be created by the government outsourcing defence to private companies until they turn on the government and establish themselves as a system of government in their own right. In call of duty advanced warfare, Kevin spacey plays Johnathon irons, the ceo of a defence corporation that makes a bid to sieze control.
Anarcho-capitalists have also been opponents of democratic institutions as a threat to individual rights, particularly private property through taxation, social security and welfare as democracies have the power to redistribute income outside of markets as "voluntary" transactions and institutions.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Democracy:_The_God_That_Failed
The way they see it, democracy violates the non-aggression principle Because they coerce people into accepting laws, taxes and restrictions on personal liberty based on monopolising political power through the state legitimised by majority rule. Attempting to privatise defence, courts and police may risk however creating new concentrations and monopolies of power in the hands of corporations and therefore more abuses.
(Clip contains mild bad language)
Personally, whilst I would suspect such a society would produce a corporate tyranny, the ideas are fascinating and relevant by taking neoliberal ideology to its logical and absurd extreme. It could be argued that If markets promote freedom, surely the freest societies are the ones where the government has been replaced by markets? Many aspects of anarcho-capitalism such as private prisons or private military contractors already exist and it is intriguing and troubling to wonder if it could go anywhere.
Do you think an anarchy-capitalist society could ever happen in reality, say in the US? Should democracy be replaced by anarcho-capitalism as a way to ensure individual rights? Would such a society be a good or a bad thing?
