Everywhere I look I see AnCaps debating Socialists. On Youtube, reddit, in the real world, etc. But why? As a formal Socialist (actually Communist) myself, I hope to answer this question.
In terms of the political spectrum, the Socialists are considered far left and Conservatives are far right. Depending on who you ask, Anarcho-Capitalism is either located even farther right than the Conservatives, or is not in the political spectrum at all. I personally believe that Anarcho-Capitalism and true Libertarianism (not Ron Paul (I've made a podcast on this, but maybe I'll write a blog on it too)) are off the political spectrum. This is because in an AnCap society, the political system doesn't exist. If there is no government, then there are no politicians.
That being said, it is fairly obvious that AnCaps have much more in common with Conservatives than Socialists. In my own political history, I went from being super far left, and slowly worked over to the right, eventually as a Constitution Worshiper, and the discovered Anarcho-Capitalism. This is why I believe it is insane to debate a Socialist.
In terms of the political spectrum, the Socialists are considered far left and Conservatives are far right. Depending on who you ask, Anarcho-Capitalism is either located even farther right than the Conservatives, or is not in the political spectrum at all. I personally believe that Anarcho-Capitalism and true Libertarianism (not Ron Paul (I've made a podcast on this, but maybe I'll write a blog on it too)) are off the political spectrum. This is because in an AnCap society, the political system doesn't exist. If there is no government, then there are no politicians.
That being said, it is fairly obvious that AnCaps have much more in common with Conservatives than Socialists. In my own political history, I went from being super far left, and slowly worked over to the right, eventually as a Constitution Worshiper, and the discovered Anarcho-Capitalism. This is why I believe it is insane to debate a Socialist.
You may be scratching your head at this now. "He was a Socialist, now he's an AnCap, but we shouldn't debate Socialists?" Yes. It took me several years to begin to shift my political views. Someone who is a Socialist will never jump right over to Anarcho-Capitalism. If they ever move over at all, it will be a slow process that they have to workout on their own.
So Who Should We Debate?
Conservatives. That’s right, the people who are the closest to us are the ones we need to challenge, specifically because they are so close to us. The amount of effort it would take to convince a Socialist that governments are evil and the free market is good would be incredible. But Conservatives already kind of know this. They know that the free market is good and that (at least big) government is bad. How hard would it be to convince a Conservative that all government is bad? How hard would it be to convince them that a completely free market is better than a sort-of-kind-of-free market?
Certainly these people will not be easy to deal with. They are closer to us than Socialists, but they still believe in their political religion. They believe that the Constitution is holy and the Founders are gods. They worship Ronald Reagan and put ‘Don’t Tread On Me’ bumper stickers on their cars. This is a cult just like Socialism and any religion. They will try to use non-logic like the classic Conservative statement: Government is bad but you can’t get completely rid of it because that’s not good.
It will be difficult convincing Conservatives to take that one more step over from small government to no government, but I truly believe we will be enormously more successful with them than with the Socialists.
Certainly these people will not be easy to deal with. They are closer to us than Socialists, but they still believe in their political religion. They believe that the Constitution is holy and the Founders are gods. They worship Ronald Reagan and put ‘Don’t Tread On Me’ bumper stickers on their cars. This is a cult just like Socialism and any religion. They will try to use non-logic like the classic Conservative statement: Government is bad but you can’t get completely rid of it because that’s not good.
It will be difficult convincing Conservatives to take that one more step over from small government to no government, but I truly believe we will be enormously more successful with them than with the Socialists.