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I think I had almost identical views about anarchy or anarcho-capitalism that Dr. Holcombe had. Like him, my biggest concerns are the lack of protection and law enforcement. I am very weary of leaving people to do what they want without being held accountable and also agree that a government forming itself is inevitable. I felt like Dr. Holcombe was reading my mind during the entire presentation. Having the exact same concerns about anarchy made me feel more justified in my thinking.
Power Grabs
I don’t understand why Dr. Bylund is set in the mindset that humans are peaceful people and we aren’t going to attack or act badly if we aren’t monitored by police. He must be more of an optimist than I am. I think being in an environment without consequences will bring out the worst in people. If people have the option to take power, they will take it. It’s part of human nature. Many different people would attempt to rise up in their search for power. I like that Dr. Holcombe used quotes from many different people from different time periods. This showed that human nature has not changed. There has been and there always will be people who crave power and control over others. An anarchist society would permit these people to thrive.
Monopoly of Protection Firms
I also appreciated Dr. Holcombe’s opinion that anarchy would begin with many smaller private protection firms, but a few would grow bigger, and one would grow to be the biggest. This large protection firm would become a monopoly over protection and evolve into a government. This just seems inevitable to me. If someone has power or force over others, they become power-hungry and will try to grow that power until they are in charge. It does not seem possible for no one to attempt to grow their power and take over. He also brings up that the people who have the comparative advantage of the use of force will use it to their own advantage. This is exactly what a government is, and in my opinion, this is exactly what would happen in an anarchist society.
Bad Government is Better than Anarchy
A point that stood out to me was when Dr. Holcombe said that even bad government is better than anarchy. I think that I agree with this, but I think it is broad and could be controversial. I want to hear what the class thinks about this phrase. I believe that heavy reform should be tried before a community falls into anarchy, but how do you know or decide when there should be government reform or when anarchy would be a better plan?
Anarchy in the United States?
I think another problem I have with anarchy is that I continue to try to picture it in the United States. This makes it seem completely impossible to me as I can’t imagine it in my own life. I need to work on trying to picture it in different circumstances, such as a smaller community or country. I think there are just too many people here to make it work. I can’t remember if Bylund has addressed what his opinion would be on anarchy in the United States, but I would be interested in hearing whether he finds it possible. Would anarchy be possible in a large population, or would there be too much chaos? I would also be interested in hearing from the class how big of a population they think would be possible in an anarchist society. Would it have to be a smaller community/country, or would anarchism be possible in a large or well-established place?
I still think that I have a lot of questions about anarchy that I will look into further. Overall, I agreed with Dr. Holcombe on almost all of his points. I think that anarchy could be possible, but it is hard for me to picture. I think it is a good idea in theory, but there are just too many things that could go wrong. I appreciate that Dr. Holcombe agreed with Dr. Bylund that it would be great if anarchism could work, but it’s not in our human nature to allow it to happen.
These past two weeks of learning about anarchism have been very interesting for me, especially since I really didn’t have an idea or opinion about anarchism or even an idea of what it entails. I think that it is a compelling idea, but it is too drastic for me. I just don’t see how it could be possible to have a true anarchist or anarcho-capitalist society because of human nature and our craving for power. For me, there are simply too many people that would try to take advantage of a system that didn’t have a leader. I wish I had as much optimism or belief in humans as Dr. Bylund, but I think that my view of the world and humanity is just too negative to get on board with his views.
