Free-Market Anarchism Links: Definitions and Starting Places
Until I get my act together and produce a more in-depth, systematic explanation of free-market anarchism (and I have no idea when that will be), here are a number of excellent online resources.
Note: On the sites linked below, you'll find an awful lot of words, on an awful lot of topics, written by an awful lot of people. The fact that I've provided these links does not mean that I endorse anything and everything you're liable to read there. I hope this disclaimer is unnecessary, but it's probably better to be safe than sorry. With that in mind, please surf on...
- I highly encourage you to check out this great Flash-animated presentation "Introduction to Liberty," produced by the International Society for Individual Liberty. It's about 10 minutes long.
- Two decent introductions to this specific brand of thought can be found at "What is Market Anarchism?" by Joshua Holmes, and the beautifully-named "What the %#^@ is an Anarcho-Capitalist?" by Ray Lehmann.
- A typical criticism of libertarians is that we are so focused on the individual, we (allegedly) don't value community or the individual's place in it. Murray Rothbard, one of my intellectual heroes, explodes this and other fallacies in his classic "Six Myths about Libertarianism."
- Why do (most, if not all) individualist-anarchists reject politics entirely? A lot has been written about this, but a good place to start is an article titled "Libertarian Politics: An Oxymoron." And also be sure to check out Strike The Root's Non-Voting Archive.
- How does being a free-market anarchist square with being a Christian? Perfectly well, in fact. This is another topic I hope to write about in the future. In the meantime, though, I'd point you to two articles: "Jesus Is an Anarchist," and its semi-sequel by another writer, "Even St. Paul was a Free Market Anarchist." These deal with important topics like Jesus' oft-quoted (and misunderstood) command to "Render unto Caesar..." and Paul's "[Rulers are] God's minister". You can also find a whole archive of articles on this topic at LewRockwell.com.
- If I've inspired you to join me in reading all we can about this exciting topic, please look at Professor Hans-Hermann Hoppe's Anarcho-Capitalism: An Annotated Bibliography.
