Anarchism And Capitalism
Anarchism is generally defined as the political philosophy which holds the state to be undesirable, unnecessary, and harmful, or alternatively as opposing authority and hierarchical organization in the conduct of human relations. The nature of capitalism is a polarizing issue among anarchists. Capitalism is generally considered by scholars to be an economic system that includes private ownership of the means of production, creation of goods or services for profit or income, the accumulation of capital, competitive markets, voluntary exchange, and wage labor. Capitalism is variously defined by sources and there is no general consensus among scholars on the definition nor on how the term should be used as a historical category. The designation is applied to a variety of historical cases, varying in time, geography, politics, and culture.
Anarchists do not consider anarcho-capitalism as a legitimate form of anarchism due to the coercive characteristics of capitalism. In particular, they argue that certain capitalist transactions are not voluntary, and that maintaining the class structure of a capitalist society requires coercion in violation of anarchist principles. Anarcho-capitalists argue that capitalism is a full expression of anarchism.
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Famous quotes containing the words anarchism and/or capitalism:
“Anarchism is the only philosophy which brings to man the consciousness of himself; which maintains that God, the State, and society are non-existent, that their promises are null and void, since they can be fulfilled only through man’s subordination. Anarchism is therefore the teacher of the unity of life; not merely in nature, but in man.”
—Emma Goldman (1869–1940)
“The man who is admired for the ingenuity of his larceny is almost always rediscovering some earlier form of fraud. The basic forms are all known, have all been practicised. The manners of capitalism improve. The morals may not.”
—John Kenneth Galbraith (b. 1908)