libertarian != anarchist (4.11 / 9) (#53) (Scrolled down about a dozen to find this) by doviende on Tue Feb 5th, 2002 at 03:34:17 PM EST (pete AT linux HYPHEN geek DOT net) http://linux-geek.net/
just to clear things up, the historical definition of anarchism (it being a philosophy dating back hundreds of years), is the belief that power and domination are harmful and unnecessary in society. one consequence of this belief in the abolition of hierarchical authority is the abolition of government, but wanting to get rid of government is not a sufficient condition for being an anarchist. It is a necessary condition (but not sufficient). Because of the hierarchical nature of capitalism, anarchists oppose that too, as well as racism, sexism, and homophobia. since the libertarians don't have an analysis of authority in general, but merely oppose the State, they are not anarchists, but merely anti-government. Libertarians will freely admit that in many cases it's ok for one person to hold power over other people, as long as it's not "government" over them. In effect, with their private mercenary militia ideas (if you're rich enough, you hire your own army to hold your vast tracts of land), and their total control over whatever land area they claim to "own", they recreate a dictatorship on their own "property". In the libertarian view, you don't seem to have any rights at all if you don't own some property. and if you "own" the property that a town is on, then you have the right to dictate what happens in that town. So, i would say that it's quite clear that libertarians are not anarchists, because anarchism has always been about opposing ALL power and domination, not just "government", and libertarians only oppose government, not other kinds of power and authority (ie economic, social). for more info about this view of "property", see here For more info on why libertarians are not anarchists, see here , and for more general anarchist stuff, see here.
