Freedom, Society, and State - Ludwig von Mises Institute

Mu r ray Rot h bar d a g r e e wit h the 0 vera I 1str uc t ur e of the
Tucker i tes: th.e state is to be abolished and everything
is to be handled by, or at least open to the possibility
of, competition on the free market. There is one signifie
ant d iff erenee t howe ve r • Wh i leTueker, adher i ng t 0
the labor theory of value, felt that competition would
reduce price to cost, thereby eliminating profits, rents
and interest, the individualist anarchists reject the
labor theory of value and adopt, in its place, the subj
e c t i ve val u e-ma r gina I ut iIi t Y approach. Fr ee compe t ition
would indeed tend to reduce prices and raise wages,
the y say, but the Tuck e r i t e s are i n err 0 r in believ ing
t hat t his mea n s t hat profit sandin t eres t wo u 1d a Iso
disappear. Instead, their maintenance is seen as a
requisite for economic rationality, and even society
itself.(58)
2. THE POLITICAL SPECTRUM OF CAPITALISM: ANARCHISM TO
HYPERARCHISM
A b r i e f 0 v e r view 0 f the e con om i c s pee t r urn 0 fana r ­
chism revealed a wide array of economic arrangements.
Similarly, the proponents of capitalism traverse the ent
ire pol i tic a I s p e c t rum from a narchism towhat rna y be
c a I led tl h Yper arc his m . " 0 n I y by view i n g t his a r ray 0 f
groups and then comparing the political spectrum of capita
lis m wit h the e con om i c s pee t r urn 0 fanarchism can the
relative positions of the individualist, or free market,
anarchists be ascertained.
a. Individualist Anarchism.
The previous discussion of individualist anarchism
focused on its place in the anarchist school. Its posit
ion wit h i nth e cap ita 1 i s t s pe c t r urn s til I need s t 0 be
discerned. The sanctity of private property and the
market lie at the heart of laissez faire capitalism.
From a logical point of view, the more things are handled
by the market, the more capitalistic the society.
Co n sis ten t I yap p 1 ied, a r g u e the i n d i v i d ua lis t ana r.-
.chists, capitalism leads to anarchism. Hence, they
argue, the minarchists, or limited-government libertarians,
place themselves in a contradiction for, while believing
that property rights must be protected and the
market maintained, they also believe that these services
--the police and court functions--are by their nature
col I e c t i v e and can not be prov ided by the rna r ke t . Thus
the y are f or c edt 0 reI y on an agencyou t s i de t he rna r ­
kett i.e., the government. The minarchist, it is ar-
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