So we have talked about what the various aspects of life in anarcho-capitalism may look like, including defense, but I was just wondering what an anarcho-capitalist “navy” (if you could call it that) would look like?
Ragnar Danneskjold.
LOL. Anyway, a “navy” as it is currently conceived would probably not exist in a free society. The closest thing that I can imagine is a Coast Guard-like body, although I’m not even sure what purpose it will fulfill (certainly not drug busting [:)])
Airships, like in any of the Final Fantasy games.
-Jon
I always wanted one of those.
Why would anyone need a navy? They’re more for empire-building than they are for national-defensing.
With sophisticated weaponry, the only reason you need a navy in the conventional sense is to stage wars on foreign soil. The navy plays the part of artillery support to the troops on the ground. It’s possible to defend an area without a navy as long as you can send missiles into their floating behemoths, and that shouldn’t be hard.
It would depend on what those who threaten what the an-cap navy is protecting had, I would imagine. If we are talking about pirates in speedboats, I don’t think a supercarrier would be likely. However, if we are talking about a modern statist navy, maybe a supercarrier would indeed be what they have.
I think Ron Paul says you can defend the US from a naval standpoint with 4, 5 or 6 nuclear subs. And he’s probably right.
I think subs are ideal. You don’t have the offensive troop or aircraft carrying capacity, so it’s hard to empire build with subs, and they also have a stealth factor that allows you to keep a potential invading navy guessing as to where your units are deployed and how many there are. Stuff that can be visually reconnoitred like surface ships necessitate having a large armada to cover a wide area, and to present a show of force.
Larry Sechrest has an interesting essay on privateering in Hoppe’s Myth of National Defense.
I was going to bring up privateers and “armed merchantmen”, I’m glad to see someone already did.
This is, after all, an anarcho-capitalist environment. So, individual self defense makes perfect sense.
One of the things I find very interesting in shows and news reports about “pirates”, is how if arming the merchant ships is mentioned it is done quietly and dismissed, or with great revultion.
Certainly, getting the various governments to let your ship into port when it’s armed would be an interesting exercise.
While I was in Japan, the “Naval Self Defense Forces” fired upon what they thought was a North Korean smuggler. The video of that enterprise was night-vision, showing 20mm cannon rounds being fired at the boat. Very, very effective, not many rounds fired at all, boat sunk.
Which tells me that the answer to “pirates in speed boats” is both readily available and economical, just politically unsavory. Much like defense against muggers and rapists.