TGIF: "Due Process" under Anarcho-Capitalism

Libertarian advocates of minimal government, such as the late Robert Nozick (Anarchy, State, and Utopia, 1974), have feared that individuals in a stateless libertarian society would face corrupt or careless protection firms that used "risky" rights-enforcement procedures to determine guilt or liability. Innocent people might be held responsible for offenses they did not commit, while guilty individuals avoid paying restitution to their victims. Obviously, that would be undesirable. 

Without a minimal monopoly state to prohibit such abuse and protect "procedural rights," how could innocent people pursue their happiness securely? Nozick speculated that in an anarcho-capitalist society, a protection agency using reliable procedures would emerge as dominant, properly preempt risky competitors (while compensating them for putting them out of business), and eventually become a monopoly minimal government. All this would happen through a nonaggressive invisible-hand process. Nozick's innovative theory drew critiques from the biggest names in the libertarian anarchist world, especially Murray Rothbard, Roy A. Childs Jr., and Randy Barnett. (See the Journal of Libertarian Studies 1, No. 1, Winter 1977).

The late George H. Smith, one of the premier libertarian philosophers of modern times, also provided an answer to the minarchist's concern about risky procedures in "Justice Entrepreneurship In a Free Market" (Journal of Libertarian Studies 3, No. 4, 1979). This neglected article is well worth examining. (Also see Smith's reply to critics.)

George H. Smith

The sad news has belatedly come to my attention that the philosopher and historian George H. Smith, 73, died on April 8. He had been in poor health. I was fortunate to have known George since the 1970s and to have had many conversations with him. He was self-educated, multidisciplinary, and nothing short of brilliant.

Smith wrote several books and hundreds of articles on the philosophy, history, and intellectual history of individualism, classical liberalism, anarchism, and freethought. His output was remarkable and can be found in literary and video form at Libertarianism.org. His work is also available at Amazon.com.

TGIF: The Choice Is between Government and Liberty

An article by George H. Smith from a few years ago makes a distinction about freedom that seems worth pursuing. In “Jack and Jill and Two Kinds of Freedom” (also a podcast), Smith distinguishes between (as the title indicates) two kinds of freedom, or between freedom and liberty. He tells the story of Jack, who wants to climb a hill to fetch a pail of water and needs Jill’s help to bring the heavy pail back down. Being a “moral nihilist,” Jack is just as willing to force Jill to help him as he is to persuade her. It all depends on his cost-benefit calculation at the time. In Smith’s story, Jack chooses persuasion and succeeds, so he does not need to resort to Plan B, compulsion. Jill, by the way, does not know that Jack would have forced her.

Jill, on the other hand, is a libertarian who believes in rights and justice. Had the tables been turned and she needed Jack’s help, her only acceptable course would have been persuasion.

Roy Childs's Anarchism and Justice Released

Exciting news from the Cato Institute: It has just issued its first ebook: Anarchism and Justice by Roy A. Childs Jr., a collection of writings by the great libertarian author and editor. Childs (1949-1992) was the long-time editor of Libertarian Review and the Lassez Faire Books catalog. He persuaded many young libertarians of market anarchism in the 1970s (me included) with his open letter to Ayn Rand, included in the volume. Also included is Roy’s refutation of Robert Nozick’s “invisible hand” theory of the emergence of the minimal state. George H. Smith contributed an introduction.

“We must start out as anarchists,” Roy writes, “and have the advocates of the state make out their case.”

Here is the table of contents:

• Anarchism and Justice 
• Objectivism and the State: An Open Letter to Ayn Rand 
• The Epistemological Basis of Anarchism: An Open Letter to Objectivists and Libertarians 
• The Invisible Hand Strikes Back 
• Anarchist Illusions