On Wed, May 14, 1997 at 01:22:40PM -0800, Tim May wrote:
At 11:07 AM -0800 5/14/97, Tom Allard wrote:
How pedantic. Webster's New World Dictionary (also reputable, I might add), has THIS to say about "Anarchy":
anarchy n. [Gr. an- without + archos, leader] 1. the absence of government 2. political disorder and violence 3. disorder; confusion
Note the etymology. Taken to its roots, the word simply means "no leader".
Tom is exactly right. Citing dictionary definitions without proper context--and the context of "anarchy" and "anarcho-capitalism" on this of _all_ lists is quite important--is just plain pedantry.
And in the context of Rwanda the meaning is clear, as well. I didn't start this pointless pedantic thread about the meaning of the word "anarchy", Tim -- you did. I used the word in a perfectly meaningful, standard way in a context in which that meaning was completely appropriate. Period. [...]
The meaning of anarchy, and how it differs from chaos and random killings, has been discussed many times. David Friedman's "The Machinery of Freedom" is a good book to start with. Bruce Benson's "The Enterprise of Law" also discusses how lawlessness is not at all a necessary part of "no rulers" (Hint: international trade generally involves "no ruler," given that neither the United Nations nor the World Court have much power over such things, and yet international trade has worked for several centuries, and arguably for millenia, with good success.)
I read the chapters of MoF from Friedman's web site. I'm sure the rest of the book would be interesting, but it is really something for the faithful. I'll keep an eye out for Benson's book, but I suspect it too will be something for the faithful. Saying that anarchy is a pervasive part of real life is disingenuous, at best -- government is a pervasive part of real life as well. You choose the books you read, the restaurants, etc, but these things all exist in a pervasive net of contracts enforced, ultimately, by the government. You rail about the actions of Feinstein, Goodlatte, etc, attacking your freedoms, but conveniently forget the web laws that protect your benefactor. As they say, integrity is everything -- once you can fake that you've got it made.
As for Kent Crispin's remark that he chooses not to use the "esoteric" definition of anarchy that the anarchist community, and economists (actually), and others use, and prefers his "Toastmaster's Club" hoary recitation of a simple dictionary definition, well, this is why I'm becoming convinced that "Kent Crispin" is just a new identity David Sternlight has adopted.
How remarkably clever of you. A fine example of the insight for which you are so renown. -- Kent Crispin "No reason to get excited", kent@songbird.com the thief he kindly spoke... PGP fingerprint: B1 8B 72 ED 55 21 5E 44 61 F4 58 0F 72 10 65 55 http://songbird.com/kent/pgp_key.html