Definition and relation to libertarianism
Anarcho-capitalism is described in these sources as the radical libertarian position that the non-aggression principle applies without exception, including to government. In a discussion of what it means to be a libertarian, Walter Block told Bob Zadek that libertarianism is not about personal morality but about what just law should be, and that just law consists of the non-aggression principle—“keep your bloody mitts to yourself” How the Free Market Will Save the Planet (2014). Block characterized the non-aggression principle as one half of libertarianism, meaning that one must keep one’s mitts off other people and their property unless one has their permission, and that anything between consenting adults is legitimate while nothing but things between consenting adults is legitimate.
Zadek pressed the point that the “you” in the principle includes not only individuals acting alone but individuals acting collectively through government, so that no entity, whether acting under color of government or as an individual, has the just or moral right to interfere with another’s enjoyment of their person or property. Block responded that this is what is really meant by anarcho-capitalism or very radical libertarianism. He described libertarianism as a house of many rooms, noting that some libertarians—the minarchists or minimal-government libertarians—would exempt government and allow some exceptions, whereas he and Zadek, as radical libertarians, would say there are no exceptions. The “you,” Block said, includes everyone, whether individuals or robber gangs or governments operating under color of government, and no one should invade anyone else or threaten violence against any innocent person.
The two pillars: non-aggression and property rights
Block identified property rights as the other half of the libertarian position, alongside the non-aggression principle. He illustrated the need for a theory of property rights with the example of grabbing a hat off someone’s head: whether that constitutes initiated violence depends on who owns the hat, since repossessing one’s own stolen property is not aggression while taking another’s hat is theft. The theory Block said he adheres to, following John Locke and Murray Rothbard, holds that one owns oneself; that one owns any part of nature or natural resources that one homesteads or mixes one’s labor with; and that one owns anything else achieved through voluntary means such as buying and selling, gifts, and gambling. He gave the example of clearing land and growing corn while another domesticates cows, after which trade means each owns what the other produced, traceable back to voluntary action and homesteading of initial resources.
Zadek summarized homesteading as the concept that assumes virgin land not owned by anybody, going back in time, whereby adding labor to land that otherwise belongs to no one acquires ownership by virtue of having added value through one’s own labor. He noted that homesteading does not get created so much anymore because land especially is all accounted for, though the oceans have not been, and that property is now acquired or divested through voluntary, uncoerced cooperation among consenting adults. Block replied that Zadek was only 99 percent correct, because there is still some virgin land at the top of mountains in the middle of Wyoming or in Alaska, and certainly the moon and Mars and the oceans, so that homesteading remains a theoretical construct about past justifications but still applies where unowned land exists and someone mixes his labor with it.
Zadek observed that once one signs on to the non-aggression principle and the importance of private property, almost any political question can be comfortably answered, and that the answer reached is one most people would be quite comfortable with—it does not produce bizarre results but quite natural results. He noted that the discussion would get into things like the tragedy of the commons to show the importance of private property.
Across episodes
The topic of anarcho-capitalism appears in the excerpts from two episodes: “How the Free Market Will Save the Planet,” in which Walter Block develops the definition and philosophical foundations of the position, and “How to Stay Sane in a Statist World,” in which the episode description lists anarcho-capitalism among its topics alongside libertarianism, REBT, psychology, self-esteem, coercion, occupational licensing, Albert Ellis, and Murray Rothbard, though the excerpt itself contains no substantive discussion of the concept. The excerpts show no development or change in the treatment of anarcho-capitalism between the earlier and later episode; the later excerpt is a topic listing rather than an argument.
What the sources do not cover
The excerpts do not state the founding date or origin of anarcho-capitalism as a term or school, nor do they name any statute, bill, or court case connected to the concept. They do not describe how an anarcho-capitalist legal order would operate in practice, beyond the general principles of non-aggression and property rights. The second excerpt provides only a topic list and a brief episode summary, with no dialogue from the guest on anarcho-capitalism itself. No speaker in the excerpts addresses criticisms of anarcho-capitalism or compares it at length to other political philosophies beyond the minarchist distinction.