I recently came across this meme in a group on Facebook that I feel encapsulates some of the key failings in anarcho-capitalist ideology. I have made several posts previously about the contradictions and denials in the idea of anarcho capitalism, let's recap...
First of all, if you are an anarcho-capitalist fan and are triggered here, just be aware that I have already (as usual) had to reply to several people in FB who use the mindless, standard replies of either:
- You don't understand economics.
- You are a communist.
- Capitalism isn't the problem, the state creates all the problems.
Briefly, here's why these points are an invalid rebuttal to the point made by this meme:
- Disagreeing with capitalist logic and process does not automatically mean you are a communist, support 'socialism' or promote the overpowering of people. The idea that there is only capitalism or communism is short sighted, limited thinking that denies alternatives.
- Part of the point of the meme is to highlight that capitalism itself facilitates overpowering of others through the accumulation of resources in the hands of the few. This is a basic feature of capitalism that exists with or without the 'state'.
- If you are going to claim that anyone who highlights the imbalance and flaws in capitalism simply "doesn't understand economics", then you are going to have to precisely and thoroughly address points 1 and 2 before being able to be taken seriously here.
What Do I Think This Meme Is Saying?
For me, this meme highlights the way in which capitalism is fundamentally an opposite to anarchy and how anarcho-capitalism is basically an oxymoron that contradicts itself.
Anarchy means 'no rulers', which means no power hierarchy that goes against anyone's will. There must be total agreement between all parties if there is any kind of control of one by another - otherwise there is a kind of 'ruling' taking place. Capitalism requires the ability for ownership of land and resources, plus therefore also the enforcement of the rules of the land owner over that land - in other words the landowner becomes a ruler in his/her own jurisdiction (the land he/she owns/controls).
The claim I see made by anarcho capitalist thinkers is most commonly that owning land is not an act of ruling others because it is a situation that has arisen purely through 'free trade' - however, they conveniently 'overlook' the points made in the meme - namely, that if we inherit wealth (possibly vast wealth) - especially from a history that was built up without anarchy and which did involve murder and theft as part of the process of wealth accumulation - then, no, the wealth and land ownership was NOT built up through free trade. Additionally, even if there was some form of a total reset on wealth and we all started again with nothing - building things up by free trade - there would still be a situation where whoever manages to accumulate the most wealth and land can actually control so much that children are born on that land... If the children are born into a world whereby they see hierarchy all around them and that their parents are basically at the mercy of the 'land owner' then they will be imprinted with a sense of power loss and of subservience from birth - this will then go on to weaken them and make it all the more challenging for them to break free from the control from above.
Money goes to money, so this wealth gap will always be hard to correct, just as it is today for the majority of people.
The claim that monarchs are not representative of the free market is irrelevant here, since it makes little difference whether we call someone a 'king' or a 'great trader' - the result is the same in that they get to limit and control the destiny of many people simply because they can control the resources. Failure to acknowledge this is a form of serious denial.
What do you think and feel here?
Wishing you well,
Ura Soul
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