Libertarian Alliance
by Isaac M. Morehouse and Christopher J. Nelson
"Libertarians want less government. Yet many libertarians think it is
fruitless to dwell for any length of time on just how limited the state
should be. Even more libertarians dismiss the idea of anarchism - the
ultimate limit on government - out of hand. Not only does anarchism
deserve a fair hearing on theoretical, practical, and moral grounds, but
it deserves to be a serious part of strategic discussions if liberty is
to be advanced at all." (2011)
www2.libertarian.co.uk/?q=node/328
For years, our favorite three minute shrink has nudged us about precision in the words we use.
Perhaps we have been poor students. The word anarchist is the problem.
The word conjures up images of chaos in the minds of most listeners followed by images of Mad Max gangs of warlord shooting randomly from pick up tucks.. If that isn't bad enoug, the word anarchcapitalisto seems to have been invented by leftist focus groups to scare the bejeezes out of the sheep at large with visions of gat cat uber capitalists mowing down the downtrodden with their Porches on the way to a three artini lunch.
In fact we imagine it to be a state of affairs where people voluntarily agree to authority. For example we agree to the authority of social convention when we walk on the left, when we refrain from passing gas on an elevator, etc. In the anarchist world we imagine, we may agree to the conventions of the security firm we have hired , or or the kibbutz we joined.
A word that might be preferred would be poly archaism.
or perhaps voluntary polyarchism.
The ideal state of polyarchism would be every person being an authority over their own behavior, exactly the ideal we espouse.
Thus I think this little group, being the intellectual victim of the good doctor nudge, may be just the right place to start the adoption of a more precise word for anarchism of the libertarian variety than anarchocapitalism.
how about polyarcho capitalism.
"Capitalism" is hardly a less freighted, offensive a word than
"anarchism." I think "anarchism" is easier to salvage, with appeal to
left as well as right. Think also of what has been done in recent
history with other scare words, like "queer," embracing them as labels
of pride, rather than fleeing from them.
On Behalf Of ricochetboy