> Anarcho-capitalism relies on complex market mechanisms to restrain the
> initiation of the use of force by PPAs and other power groups. If these
> mechanisms fail, or if they turn out not to work in practice, there is
> simply nothing left to back them up.
What methods do states use to restrain the initiation of force by the state, and what backs them up if those methods fail? I can think of only two such means: jury nullification and armed rebellion (I do not include elections or recall, because they are more likely to support the majority's use of violence than to restrain it). Do you think "complex market mechanisms" are less stable or in some other way inferior to those methods?
While it is true that anarcho-capitalism is untried (I am not as enamored of the Icelandic example as is Dr. Friedman), the methods of the market itself are well-understood, well-tested, and wildly successful. The methods of statism are well-understood, welltested, and are universally miserable failures.
-- Lee Daniel Crocker <lee@piclab.com> <http://www.piclab.com/lcrocker.html> "All inventions or works of authorship original to me, herein and past, are placed irrevocably in the public domain, and may be used or modified for any purpose, without permission, attribution, or notification."--LDC