Politics and Government: The Weakness of the State

When discussing strategies to achieve an anarcho-capitalist society, discussion usually focuses on direct action: the progressive dismantling of reformism, political separation through secession, or the development of parallel markets via counter-economics. Yet all these approaches share a blind spot: they target the effects of the state rather than its causes. They serve as tools for practical engagement, yet they merely scratch the surface.

The Futility of Utility

Murray Rothbard had a different view of ethics from the prevailing view among mainstream economists. He advocated rights, while the mainstream favors utilitarianism. The mainstream economists will usually claim to be “value free,” but their appeal to the “social welfare function” belies this.

Hoover was an Economic Interventionist—That was the Problem!

Herbert Hoover was a progressive activist president when it came to intervention into the economy. During this period, while free market capitalism was already increasingly hampered in the US (i.e., central banking, business regulations to the benefit of politically-connected big business, the income tax, etc.), many countries were experimenting with bold new theories of central planning (e.g., socialism, communism, fascism). Herbert Hoover—before and during his presidency—was at the forefront of this progressive-interventionist paradigm.