1) How will children (and minors) be protected from their parents without the help of government? (I.e. private property, incest, etc). Would children/minors have the same private property rights as adults?
I would first say that any child that can demonstrate that they have “legal capacity” (from the common law… understanding the consequences of their actions) can be treated as an adult. As for minor children, consider this.
In an AC society the law would be formed through contracts presumably with private law enforcement agencies. I would expect it to be a violation of this contract to abuse or neglect minor children. People who violate this contract could be held accountable and concerned citizens could sue for custody of the child as long as they can prove the transgressions beyond a reasonable doubt. Again I would suspect this all to be done contractually.
2) Would there a standing military force that protect our borders?
This is tough to say. There are alot of people who make the claim, “if there is a demand for a military, the market will provide one”, but I’ve done alot of reading and have yet to find a coherent example of how this might happen on a for profit basis. My theory is that a demand for collective defense is not germane to the free market. It only arises because of some government taxing its citizens and using the money to create a military and threaten free individuals. Would firms people/firms pay for military services despite the free rider problem? Maybe. But less so in times of peace.
I definitely think voluntary militias would play a major role in defending an anarchy. Also, you might see someone start a “National Guard” as a non-profit funded by voluntary contributions. If we didn’t have to pay taxes, I could certainly see people voluntarily giving 1 or 2% or more of their income to such an agency. Remember the U.S. government spends just under 4% of income on the military despite the massive tax bill.
3) What would you do with criminals in the absence of police/jail?
There’s no reason to expect that there wouldn’t be police and jails. Consider this. My house gets burglarized, I call up my law enforcement agency, they start and investigation and find the criminal then make an arrest. The contract I signed with my agency will define the adjudication process (which court, burden of proof, etc.) and if the person is found guilty he would be punished according to the terms of my contract, presumably including jail time. My agency would pay the jail to house the criminal for the specified period of time. Of course the punishment could also be restitution but ultimately this would be determined by the preferences of market participants.
4) How will radio frequencies be handle?
By using lockean homesteading. The first person to broadcast on a frequency in a particular area will become the owner of that frequency.
5) What about roads and bridges?
- Read Walter Blocks paper on private roads. 2. They would be provided by entrepreneurs just like every other service. Toll roads and bridges are the easiest to imagine being privately owned, but there are also other examples, such as the roads that run through private housing developments which are privately created and managed by home owner associations. And lastly, given technology, why couldn’t we have an easy-pass type system which scans your pass each time you pass under a traffic light or something similar? This would allow for congestion pricing as well.
6) How can you handle pollution in the absence of judicial courts?
As I said before, there would be courts. The way I envision it, when you sign a contract with your law enforcement agency, the agency would promise to enforce rulings issued by certain courts. If you sue someone for pollution and the court rules in your favor, your law enforcement agency would enforce the court ruling. Another possibility is the court might enforce its own ruling, or outsource the enforcement. But there would be courts.