Anarcho-Capitalism & the Future
One criticism of anarcho-capitalism, or a stateless society regulated by the free market, is that it won’t work because it has never successfully worked in the past. The logic being, that if anarcho-capitalism really was such a good system, someone would have attempted it before throughout history and it would have succeeded. That logic is flawed, however. There’s a reason anarcho-capitalism hasn’t been attempted in history, which is the same reason why it can succeed in the future.
An anarcho-capitalist society has never been successfully implemented before in history because it was never before possible, both technologically and societally, to be implemented. Society and government is evolving over time-evolving towards more individual freedom and liberty. That is evident from feudal times of monarchical rule to the revolutions resulting in democratic republics such as the United States of America. Many view the USA’s system as the pinnacle of the evolution of societal organization. It was at the time (1776), but the USA, and democratic republics like it, are actually only a step in the continued evolution of society. Meaning it can get even better in the future with more liberty, freedom, and flourishing for all.
The USA was a step in history’s trend towards more liberty and freedom and less state control that was always meant to be supplanted. Democratic republics such as the USA were a necessary step before reaching anarcho-capitalism.
A fully libertarian society was not possible before, both technologically and societally. It’s jarring and chaotic to go from no freedom to complete freedom overnight. That’s why the evolution of society has gradually shifted toward freedom. Although, not all aspects of society are moving toward more freedom and less state control. Evolution is not inevitable.
The original conception of the USA was actually a lot more libertarian than it is now, much less decentralized with more state control and less centralized federal power, allowing more individual freedom. So the US government has actually evolved in the wrong direction, away from freedom and liberty. But that doesn’t mean it must continue in that direction.
Technology allows for more centralized control, both via the government and corporations; however, it also allows more freedom and decentralization, as you see through the internet and more recently through blockchain technology.
The internet especially was a necessary step to create an eventual anarcho-capitalist society. The internet allows for a stateless society where trust can be built through internet review sites like Yelp, keeping businesses in check with customer reviews online. Even social networks like Twitter allow people to voice public complaints against businesses that helps keeps them honest.
Blockchain technology allows for smart contracts between people without a central bank or government authority. It also allows the creation of cryptocurrencies as a replacement of government fiat money, free from manipulation by the Federal Reserve.
It would have been much more difficult, if not impossible, to successfully implement an anarcho-capitalist society before the internet and blockchain were invented, which is probably why we have not seen such a society yet. But with these technologies now here and continuing to advance with more technologies being invented, society is finally ready-or soon will be-for anarcho-capitalism.
How exactly society will look after that is impossible to say because in a society with true liberty and complete individual freedom and autonomy life will be drastically different for each individual depending on their personal preferences-as it should be. The reason libertarianism is superior to socialism and conservatism or any other political philosophy is that it allows individuals to form their own socialist or conservative communities within the larger libertarian society. Whereas state-controlled centralized governments-be they socialist, democracies, republics, conservative, or liberal-do not allow that freedom. Life in a State-run society will be organized as the State sees fit, and each individual will only have so much freedom to deviate from that.
While the prospects for an anarcho-capitalist future are promising, those same technologies can be used by the dark side-to create the least libertarian society possible. Technology can allow for a centralized authoritarian regime to have complete control over its populace, through a surveillance state such as China is already implementing. The State can use the same technology used to create the most free society in history to create the most oppressive. The same technology can create a utopia or a dystopia, depending on how it’s used.
You can use the internet to regulate businesses in an anarcho-capitalist society with complete individual freedom, or the government can use the internet to regulate its citizens in an authoritarian society with no individual freedom. You can use the blockchain to create a free market with no government or central banks, or you can use the blockchain to have one Government and one Central Bank that all of society is a slave to. The choice is ours to create the society we want to live in. Decentralized or centralized? Libertarian or authoritarian? Controlled or free? With these technologies currently emerging, now is the time to choose the future society we want to live in.
Originally published at https://steemit.com on November 8, 2019.
