Common Misconceptions FROM and ABOUT Anarchro-Capitalists

Economics Political Theory
1

What are the common misconceptions you hear from Anarchro-Capitalists and about Anarchro-Capitalists?

One example of a misconception of FROM an AnCaps is signing an Scholars Agreement when attending a University, restricting certain actions such as having editorials in local papers, or dress code. The AnCaps alleges that he/she has the right to do whatever he/she wants, however, the AnCap is the one who voluntary attends the institution.

One example of a misconception ABOUT an AnCap is that they do not believe in hierarchy, however the crux is, they do not believe in mandated/coercive hierarchy, but voluntary hierarchy is sufficient.

2

Rothbard has a good Q&A seesion in Myth and Truth About Libertarianism. My favouries include:

Myth #2: Libertarians are libertines: they
are hedonists who hanker after “alternative
lfe-styles.”

Myth #3: Libertarians do not believe in
moral principles; they limit themselves to costbenejit
analysis on the assumption that man is
always rational.

3

All universities are either directly, or indirectly, extensions of the State. (Either a University receives direct state subsidies, or it does not, in which case its fees and costs are probably substantially higher than a free-market would otherwise tolerate.) Accordingly, the only choice is which one you’d like to attend, and they all offer predominately the same “terms of service.” When the only choices available to you are constricted, hampered, or distorted by government interference, you don’t have real freedom of association - only the lesser among an array of evils.

4

Absolutely, and many things are. One of the reasons that prompted the question was that the Mises Institute required us to sign a similar agreement for Mises U this year.

5

Interesting. I was at Mises U in 2006 but don’t recall anything of the sort (not to say they didn’t have us sign something to that effect…)