I am familiar with instances in history/modern times where there have been private fire fighting “services” provided for a nominal fee as opposed to a public good. I am involved in a debate in which I am looking for instances in history where there was a private police force in the same structure as say the aforementioned fire fighting service. Can anyone provide me with a good example?
Thanks!!
The first thing that pops up into my mind is “The Not So Wild West” by TL Anderson. It’s not about a specific PDA but it goes into some of the organizations that sprung up when there wasn’t a state monopoly on law. I believe there’s a shorter essay and also a longer book with similar titles. The essay can be had as a free PDF online.
why look at the past? there are private police today… security in business for example… Disney world is a good example of this. but if you are in a debate on this topic, you wont prove your point by saying, “See, this society had private police!” you will make a much bigger statement if you list the wrong doings of public police and show how the market can reduce these wrongdoing if society enforced a private police system and not a public one.
I know this isn’t exactly what you wanted, but private security is pretty common at malls, banks, large office buildings, etc. Also, I think the county sheriffs of the frontiers are a decent example. Modern police forces are really an outgrowth of prohibition and the drug war, so any private police of the past or future probably won’t look anything like todays cops.
EDIT: beaten to it
All I know is that I don’t feel safe around the current police force while their purpose is to protect me.
You make a good point Isaac. I suppose I was not enough offensive minded in my debate. I can point out the flaws in public policing in my sleep. Although I will point out that all of the examples of private policing I can think of ( in the US ) were the ones I most abused as a teenager lol
Try this out:
You don’t need past experiences with AnCap to demonstrate the viability, a priori, of AnCap as an alternative to the present system because anyone who argues the contrary, is arguing from ignorance. It is a possibility that AnCap is a viable alternative to the present system, a priori. To argue otherwise is just plain ign’ant.
Thanks to Autolykos for pointing out the argument from ignornace and steering me in the right direction!
Might I offer the private police force of the Chicago World’s Fair as an example? In general most modern amusement parks serve as a good example of anarchocapitalist society in terms of defense and other ‘public’ services.
In the Middle Ages, communes served as private police forces.
Every company and large enough shopping mall has a security guard force. The difference between security guards and a police force is that the police force has special exemption from the laws of common mortals, which they use to abuse you.
Disney World
I sure hope this isn’t sarcasm. Maybe you can let me know whether it is.
Actually, the purpose of current police forces is to enforce the law. Whether doing so protects you or anyone else is tangential.
Awesome link. I had no idea about this. Thanks!
Autolykos:
Not sarcasm. However, what does my signature by Ludwig von Mises mean to you?
Obviously, Mises was summarizing Marx’s view on the necessarily ideological nature of reasoning done by those living in a society with different social classes. He was not affirming that particular proposition; he was explaining it before providing a refutation.
Solid_Choke:
So what you are saying is it’s possible to make a proposition without actually supporting it?
Are you being purposefully dense, Lyle?
Mr Schnapps:
If one does not refute a proposition made, as Solid_Choke suggested Mises did, does this mean, implicitly, one supports the proposition by silence?
A mere inquiry. If I were to make the proposition that “Government will always exist,” must I necessarily be a supporter of such a proposition merely for having made it? And if not, does making a proposition, therefore, necessarily consitute an argument (or one from ignorance for that matter)?