Anarcho-capitalism/critique of left-anarchism

Anarcho-capitalist criticisms of left-anarchism

Anarcho-capitalists defend the right of people to freely organize in cooperatives; but they resent the claim of most libertarian socialists that people should be forced into such cooperatives and that even willing, they should be prevented for their own sake to enter or defend employment contracts. They also think that cooperatives are usually a bad idea, because people are risk-averse, and it is irrational for them to have all one's stock in one company (your own) and so workers would seek to spread their risk by diversifying their stock portfolio. See [this article about Entreprise in a Free Society].

Like individualist anarchists, anarcho-capitalists they think that individuals exist before any collectivity and no collectivist decision (and they reject a dichotomy between economic and personal matters), may hold without the prior consent of individuals. They loathe the 'democratic' control meant to happen in socialist anarchism.

As for property rights and capital rent, anarcho-capitalists agree with Frederic Bastiat (a friend and precursor to Molinari) in the debate he had with the early [Pierre-Joseph Proudhon]?.

Anarcho-capitalists think that libertarian socialists avoid or miss some essential issues concerning justice and protection: judicial prosecution, law-making and law-enforcement - how it is possible to avoid and resolve conflicts in a free society without resorting to any kind of government. They consider that property rights are exactly the conceptual tool that allows for a justice system to exist without the need for centralized law-making and law-enforcement.

Finally, anarcho-capitalists dispute as left-anarchists' claims for being the one, true, oldest and original anarchist tradition. They claim that their anti-statist tradition is older and more coherent.

See also:

• Bryan Caplan's [Anarchist Theory FAQ]. For fairness, look also for the reply in the (left) Anarchism FAQ.
• Bryan Caplan's article [The Anarcho-Statists of Spain] to see what anarcho-capitalists think of libertarian socialism. For fairness, look also for a reply by Iain McKay? (pointer?)