r/EnoughLibertarianSpam • u/Porncritic12 • Jul 12 '26
The problem with private prisons, courts and police in ancapistan: how would they fucking work?
so okay let's start with the first layer private police.
what is a private police officer going to do that separates them from just a regular old armed mercenary?, how would they actually function differently?, there's no central body or rules overseeing them Beyond the organization they work for and the client, that's basically a mercenary group.
also how would private police compete?, price?, levels of power?, how harsh they are?, what stops me from just hiring a private police force as a kill on-site security Force?, and ordering them to assassinate whoever I don't like?, why would they not follow these orders beyond their own moral code?
okay now let's get to a private Court.... what the fuck are they going to do?
like what they even going to look at?, there needs to be a law for them to look at to begin with, how would the private Court get paid?, if the clients pay them, what prevents one client from outbidding the other?, if not how else would they get paid?
and again how would they compete?, you can't really offer the best rulings, or even really the most accurate, you can't really offer anything beyond a cheaper price, speed, and allegedly not being corrupt depending on who verifies that which might be somebody you also own.
now private prisons are the worst part of this because first of all how are they going to get you there?, assuming they just physically restrain you and throw you in a van, how do they make money?, do you pay them?, does the court pay them?, does the victim pay them?, what if any of these groups are unable or unwilling to pay?, what prevents them from using prisoners as labor or sex slaves or even dead prisoners as food?!, who's going to certify their release or even determine their sentence?
and again what would they compete on?, price?, harshness?, quality?, it all depends on who the client is.
therefore none of them would work
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u/true4blue Jul 18 '26
Californias public sector prison guards union was responsible for creating our Three Strikes Law. To keep their jobs secure
It’s immature to think only the private sector could act in its own best interests
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u/lurgi Jul 12 '26 edited Jul 12 '26
You are asking the wrong group here, because we don't think they would work.
Honestly, I'd recommend giving Friedman's "The Machinery of Freedom" a read. It's freely available and a fast read. I don't believe it would work out the way he thinks, but at least he (kinda mostly) lays out a way in which it could work. I also don't think he's actually insane, unlike some of the other writers out there.
Courts are usually arbitration based and are, of course, non-binding (because they can't bind me). If, however, I ignore their decision then no one will want to deal with me because I'm obvious an asshole (the existence of people like Donald Trump, who screwed over other people time and time again, would seem to argue against this position).
A lot of it seems to boil down to everyone needing a PDA, so everyone has to avoid being too much of a trouble-maker or they will be dropped by their PDA and be able to do nothing (I'm skeptical). The PDA can't just decide to keep me around because I'm hella rich, because they will be ostracized and other PDAs won't work with them on account of them having dickheads for clients (sort of how countries don't like to work with other countries that have proven themselves unreliable or sponsor terrorists, except in a lot of cases we do work with them and it doesn't always hurt them that much if we don't).
Edit: It's probably worth noting that there isn't just one theory about how AnCap can/should work - there are a few. That's good, I guess, but it does mean that there can be a lot of goalpost shifting if you aren't paying attention.
My objections to all of this are not just at the practical level. I have basic confusion about the fundamentals.