Freedom, Society, and State - Ludwig von Mises Institute

The anarchists contend that this particular criticism
is actually far more app,licable to gove nments
than anarch i es. An anarchy would be character zed by
multiple centers of power. But the state, w th its
monopoly on the use of force, is characterized by a
single center. Since it would be much easier for a
tyrant to take over a single center of power than
multiple centers, "the objection that a tyrant might
take over is actually a devastating, argument against
government."(73), Further the anarchist argues that
those who argue for a state on the ground that the
pol ice companies might ban together to obtain a
monopoly on the use of force are inconsistent, for what
they are rea lly saying is that we should have a state
bee a use a n archis m mig h t res u I tin the emerge nee a f a
state.(74)
In short, anarchists argue that the prospect of
society being victimized bye Ma f i a Police Agency or
even a Mafia Cartel is quite remote. Moreover, given
the expected negative returns on aggression, the free
market anarchist believes that both the crime rate and
the use of force would be well below what it is in our
statist society.
The foregoing argument is difficult to evaluate.
Anarchism is not a panacea. Problems would exist and
the poss i bi I i ty of a Maf ia Agency cannot be entirely
dismissed. But this possibility must be placed in pers
pee t i v e • Jus t a s the r e c 0 u 1 d beerim inalor Ma f i a
.agencies in an anarchy, so there could be, and as the
widespread pol ice and government corruption clearly
shows, there are, state and city police departments
that can only be termed criminal.(75) It is significant
that since citizens have no alternative to these
pol ice agencies, there are no, or only weak, checks on
police corruption and victimization. If so, one would
expect to find less police corruption in a system in
which police services were offered on a private basis
and in which individuals could take their business
elsewhere than in a system where competition is absent.
The empirical evidence on this issue is, of course,
min i ma I. However, the c losest examp leof a compietel y
private, autonomous police agency is the Protection
Section of the American Railway Association. This
"Section" was studied by Jeremiah Shallou for the
Amer ican Academy of Political and Social Science in the
1930' s, when it constituted a force of over 10,000 men.
The record compiled by the railway police, or "private
arm i e s" asS h a I lou c a lIs them, wa s not h i ng I essthan
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