Contracts and Courthouses in an Anarchist Society?

[Knightskye]

Would there still be courthouses and judges if there were anarchy?

If so, who would appoint them?

[surf]

two Anarchy definitions from Wikipedia:

"Absence of government; a state of lawlessness due to the absence or inefficiency of the supreme power; political disorder."

"A social state in which there is no governing person or group of persons, but each individual has absolute liberty (without the implication of disorder)."

you bring up a good question: i beleive most of us here see a role for government of protecting our rights and, in essence, ensuring that contracts are fullfilled.

i prefer to see "anarchy" as the second definition in the above quote

[mport1]

Would there still be courthouses and judges if there were anarchy?

If so, who would appoint them?

There is no way to tell exactly how the free market would play out. The beauty of the market system is you have hundreds of millions (and billions throughout the world) in search of a profit by meeting the demands of the market. Some sort of system would arise from all of these profit seekers that is far superior to the current government system.

Some people have put forward how they believe things would operate in a free market but that is so far removed from our situation there is no way of telling. Some good explanations I've run across:

Stefan Molyneux's concept of Dispute Resolution Organizations (DROs) - http://www.lewrockwell.com/orig6/molyneux1.html and http://www.lewrockwell.com/orig6/molyneux2.html
Linda & Morris Tannehill's book The Market for Liberty (starting at chapter 7) - http://www.mises.org/books/marketforliberty.pdf
Murray Rothbard in his book For A New Liberty - http://mises.org/rothbard/newlibertywhole.asp#p215

[thx1149]

Would there still be courthouses and judges if there were anarchy?

If so, who would appoint them?

You should search around for information on anarchy in Somalia. I think it's really fascinating. Here's a link to get you started:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anarchy_in_Somalia

Somalia has been without a government for many years now, and while not all areas are doing well, some parts of the country have improved greatly. The standards of living, quality of education, quality and availability of health care, and availability of products and services has gone up in many areas since the government fell. Lots of companies started doing competitive business and infrastructure building. As would be expected by the free market fans this has caused things such as extremely low rates on phones.

In regards to the courts, in many of the urban areas traditional tribal courts have been formed and they are often supported financially by the local businesses who see it in their interest to have a good court system to keep the urban areas clean.

This is far from perfect, but it is inspiring that for many people things have greatly improved since the government fell and the people haven't yet accepted any attempts to rebuild the government in many parts of the country.

It should be noted this isn't an example of anarchism. There is no philosophy or movement in place. It is a stateless society with similarities, and since it has been like this for so many years now there is a lot we can learn from their situation.

[mport1]

In regards to Somalia, here is a good video (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qtGkTRnocZI&feature=channel_page) and an article (http://mises.org/story/2066) on what is going on there.

[Xenophage]

You should search around for information on anarchy in Somalia. I think it's really fascinating. Here's a link to get you started:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anarchy_in_Somalia

Somalia has been without a government for many years now, and while not all areas are doing well, some parts of the country have improved greatly. The standards of living, quality of education, quality and availability of health care, and availability of products and services has gone up in many areas since the government fell. Lots of companies started doing competitive business and infrastructure building. As would be expected by the free market fans this has caused things such as extremely low rates on phones.

In regards to the courts, in many of the urban areas traditional tribal courts have been formed and they are often supported financially by the local businesses who see it in their interest to have a good court system to keep the urban areas clean.

This is far from perfect, but it is inspiring that for many people things have greatly improved since the government fell and the people haven't yet accepted any attempts to rebuild the government in many parts of the country.

It should be noted this isn't an example of anarchism. There is no philosophy or movement in place. It is a stateless society with similarities, and since it has been like this for so many years now there is a lot we can learn from their situation.

Somalia is hardly a good argument for anarchy...

Most of the country is ruled by warlords, which is exactly what anyone should expect to come out of an anarchy.

[thx1149]

Somalia is hardly a good argument for anarchy...

Most of the country is ruled by warlords, which is exactly what anyone should expect to come out of an anarchy.

I think that is somewhat arguable. A lot of areas, as I said, are in very poor conditions such as what you describe. Have you read the articles and watched the videos? You may see that even though it is far from perfect and there are lots of problems many things found there are good arguments for less government, less regulations, and free markets.

I should probably also add that this is likely to end. As more parts of the country are willing to accept the TFG, eventually they will form a new government, and then a real test will be to see if things change for the better or worse over another couple decades beyond that.

[jmlfod87]

Somalia is hardly a good argument for anarchy...

Most of the country is ruled by warlords, which is exactly what anyone should expect to come out of an anarchy.


Its only been a stateless society for not even two decades. Overtime, if the society remains stateless, the warlords will be overtaken/morphed by entrepreneurs who will provide justice for a voluntary fee.

[ARealConservative]

Would there still be courthouses and judges if there were anarchy?

No, at least not in any relevant sense of the word. a court of law requires a state as courts have been granted a monopoly of power in interpreting law.

[Knightskye]

No, at least not in any relevant sense of the word. a court of law requires a state as courts have been granted a monopoly of power in interpreting law.

So if the other person doesn't uphold their end of the contract...?

[torchbearer]

Somalia is hardly a good argument for anarchy...

Most of the country is ruled by warlords, which is exactly what anyone should expect to come out of an anarchy.

that is what anarchy becomes.
A anarchy is a small transition from one tyranny to the next.
Sometime's lasting seconds before some gang starts terrorizing their neighbors.

How does anarchy protect you from the rampaging mob?

[pcosmar]

that is what anarchy becomes.
A anarchy is a small transition from one tyranny to the next.
Sometime's lasting seconds before some gang starts terrorizing their neighbors.

How does anarchy protect you from the rampaging mob?

It doesn't.
Those who promote Anarchy seem to think that without ANY government all the greedy, power mad, and just plain evil people will just disappear.
I have seen Somalia brought up here more than once.
Perfect example of a bad example.
Choice of warlords, (government by force), tribal counsel ( government by traditions) or rampant lawlessness (law of the jungle)
Doesn't seem too appealing.