Freedom, Society, and State - Ludwig von Mises Institute

far fro m g ran ting c rim inalsi mm un i t y for the irerime s ,
anarchism entailed the exact opposite: its complete
suppression.
Their own individualist assumptions, however, precluded
reliance on government institutions as the vehicle
for the protection of individual rights. The community,
they contended, is merely the sum· of its parts
and can have no more rights than that possessed by its
individual members. This assumption .leads logically to
the conclusion that the state is, by its very nature,
an invasive and thus a criminal institution. As
Tucker's close associate, Victor Yarros, summarized:
Individuals, and individuals only, have
rights. This proposition is the corner-stone
of the anarchist doctrine, and those who accept
it are bound to go the full length of
anarchism. For if the community cannot
rightfully compel a man to do or refrain from
doing that which private and individual memb
e r s thereof cannot 1e g i t i rna tel y for c e him to
do or forego, then compulsory taxation and
compulsory cooperation for any purpose whatever
are wrong in principle, and government
is merely another name for aggression. It
will not be pretended that one private individual
has a right to tax another without his
con sen t; how, then, doe s the rna j 0 r i t Y 0 f the
members of a communi ty obtain the right to
tax the minority without its consent?
T h us, the phi los 0 phi c a I a narchis t s den i edthat i t wa s
possible for any government, regardless of size or
type, to protect individual liberty. Since they both
entai led the initiation of the use of force, government
and c rim e' weres e e n a s m0 reo r 1e s s s ynon ym 0 us. I n
fact, Yarros maintains that crime "involves not the
abolition of government, but the widest possible
extension of it."(62)
Even granting that anarchism is consistent with
the non - i n vas i v e use 0 f for c e, wo u I d not any soc i e t y
lacking a central institution with a monopoly on the
"legitimate" use of force, viz., a government, be
characterized by the indiscriminate use of force and
thus result in a state of chaos and insecurity? Tucker
tho ugh t not. T u eke rand his f 0 I lowe r s we r e, 1ike the
nineteenth century classical liberals, great believers
i n f r e e com pet i t ion and the rna r ke t pro c e s s . The rna r -
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