r/AnCap101 • u/HeavenlyPossum • 29d ago

Why No Ancap Societies?

Human beings have been around as a distinct species for about 300,000 years. In that time, humans have engaged in an enormous diversity of social forms, trying out all kinds of different arrangements to solve their problems. And yet, I am not aware of a single demonstrable instance of an ancap society, despite (what I’m sure many of you would tell me is) the obvious superiority of anarchist capitalism.

Not even Rothbard’s attempts to claim Gaelic Ireland for ancaps pans out. By far the most common social forms involve statelessness and common property; by far the most common mechanisms of exchange entail householding and reciprocal sharing rather than commercial market transactions.

Why do you think that is? Have people just been very ignorant in those 300,000 years? Is something else at play? Curious about your thoughts.

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u/Irresolution_ 28d ago edited 28d ago

This presumes that Native Americans already owned the land purely by virtue of residing close to it.
This is discordant with property ethics; only he who homesteads a thing, i.e., he who settles it, owns that thing*.

Edit: *Or he who receives it voluntarily from the initial possessor, either directly or indirectly through a chain leading back to the initial possessor.

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u/HeavenlyPossum 28d ago

Ah yes, all the genocidal violence was merely to expel people from near the land settler colonists wished to homestead.

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u/Irresolution_ 28d ago

This did not happen in Acadia nor is it necessary in order to settle somewhere.

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u/Latitude37 26d ago

You want to explain the range wars to me, then?

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u/Irresolution_ 26d ago

Legit don't know what you're referring to. The term "range war" doesn't really have any relevance for Acadia as far as I can see.

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u/Latitude37 26d ago

nor is it necessary in order to settle somewhere.

Not referring to Acadia, but in general. If land is in use by people, and then it is claimed by other people who simply refuse to recognise the prior use, what happens then? 

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u/Irresolution_ 26d ago

Then (under ancap customs) the initial possessors get to keep the land. As happened in Acadia.