My understanding of philosophy, shallow as it is, leads me to think that the sort of minimal or non- state advocated by right-libertarians is likely to lead rather quickly to an oligarchy or tyranny, and that the reason for that is buried deep within the philosophical assumptions made by them.

I really do not have much interest in political theory, per se, but I do find it curious that anarchists advocate a much broader, more encompassing form of government than right-libertarians.

I suppose the argument goes something like this:

Anarchist) The social contract is the basis of all government, and amending and strengthening it can free us from the looming tyranny of a capitalist oligarchy by relying on face-to-face democracy.

Libertarian) Capital and market are the basis of all free exchange and unfettering them can free us from the tyranny of a social contract and a tyranny of the majority in the form of face-to-face democracy.

While each of these critiques of the current state of the State has its kook wing, as far as I can see, the question is thus; do you think that democracy is the best (known) way to maintain a society or not.

If you read the literature of each, you will find that anarchists are in support of democracy and that right-libertarians are against it. The basis of all of their arguments relies on a denial of democracy, of any vote or contract that is not mediated and defined by “the market”.

Thanks for tackling this, Jon. Too many people are fooled by Libertarian “logic” into thinking you can get something for nothing.

At their core, Libertarians (note the capital ‘L’) are anti-civilization. They want the benefits of society, but they don’t want to give anything back. It’s really a selfish, childish mentality. They like to dress up and play grown-up, but there is no foundational academic rigor to their beliefs. Hence their house of cards flutters to the ground, and they whine and cry and stamp their feet.

There is no libertarian intellectual tradition to counter the panoply of Marxist-socialist works. Just a motley collection of selfish bastards thumping their copies of Friedman’s Free to Choose and whining about taxes.