I don't know if this has been thought of before, but what if we turned the people in the tiny country of San Marino (a country that should be on your radar) into anarcho-capitalists? All we need is an intellectual change to come about in enough people within a country. What if we mailed everyone in San Marino a book that will do that like For a New Liberty? It's already translated into Italian. San Marino is only 24 square miles and has a grand total of 32,000 people. An article on the census they took in 2011 says that "the census will affect 15,000 families." We just need one book for every family. At $10 a book (I'm sure I could get a deal) that's just $150,000 (plus shipping) to blanket an entire nation! I could make a Kickstarter for it. Heck, I'll make it my lifetime goal and do it myself if I have to.
All we need is one area in the world to try full blown anarcho-capitalism and after that it might spread like wildfire. Or at least we could move there ourselves.
What do you think? Is there a better country to try, book to send, or twist on the whole idea?
This is a very interesting idea. Here's the book in Italian: http://www.unilibro.it/libro/rothbard-murray-n-/per-una-nuova-liberta-il-manifesto-libertario/9788885140271
Aside from the implicit threat of violence from Italy under which defenseless San Marino always lives under, I am afraid that getting people who are very content with their society and government to radically change it would be very, very difficult. Indeed impossible for an outsider.
^If they aren't ripe for change now, there is the possibility that their society could get swept up in some global depression or whatever down the road, at which point they wont be so content and will want change. But even if they are always content, I don't think one can say it's impossible because (1) this has never been tried before. (2) They all have a sense of justice and they are content because no one has told them how having a State is unjust. They have never even heard of a real alternative. (3) If I can find an example of one single person who was content with his society and government before becoming an anarcho-capitalist, and I'm pretty sure I can, then there is no reason why that example can't be multiplied.
What do you think Italy might do if San Marino becomes AnCap?
I am willing to bet money that Italy would find a pretext to station some ‘anti-money laundering task force” of Carabinieri even if San Marino lowered its VAT tax rate below that of Italy (attracting many Italian businesses), let alone if it provided a fully free society with decent money. Monaco is in the same situation vis-à-vis France, Guernsey with the UK and so on. Of the existing city-states, only Singapore is capable of defending itself against most comers, and that is the place I could expect to move the fastest in the right direction.
I do not mean to strike down you proposal, just to clarify what I imagine would be the issues.
Even if Italy tries to control San Marino, if they actually become an AnCap country even for a day it would mean incredible progress and worldwide attention to the AnCap movement. If businesses start coming in and the economy flourishes, leading to an Italian retaliation, you would still have living proof that anarcho-capitalism worked.
How would we impliment it? And would it be Friedmanite or Rothbardian?
SkepticalMetal: How would we impliment it? And would it be Friedmanite or Rothbardian? The people of San Marino would implement it. I don't know what they would choose. Check out my video, Ron Paul vs Lincoln! And share my PowerPoint with your favorite neo-con | Post Points: 20
Yes but how would they go about implementing it? Revolution?
SkepticalMetal: Yes but how would they go about implementing it? Revolution?
They are a democratic republic. So they could either ignore it as Larken Rose explains, or vote it in as Hoppe explains, or a mixture of both:
Larken Rose: "States are more vulnerable than people think. They can collapse in an instant—when consent is withdrawn. The extortion racket could NOT be continued by brute force alone. Yes, they have armed thugs to squash the occasional rebel--and practicing self-preservation is perfectly reasonable. But MOST people pay up because they imagine themselves to have a moral obligation to do so. If the majority stopped imagining that, no amount of thuggery would keep the extortion racket alive."
To see an illustration of this, watch Rose's video The Tiny Dot:
I see. So how would we go about convincing the people there?
You mean how would we convince them that they just need to follow Rose's and/or Hoppe's advice? I would probably print out a one page, double-sided intro to include with each book. In the intro I would tell them why we are sending this book and put in things like the above quotes.
Oh, I see. It actually sounds like a really worthwhile fundraising project. At the very least we would convert some open-minded people.
Why should they care?
What do you mean?
Why should they care, what drive do they have to do what someone in another country suggests to them? We may see these goals as goals, but what purpose is it to them, why would they care what we think they ought to do?
Well they certainly shouldn't do it just because we think they ought to. They should do it because it is convincing to them, and if they truly understand it, then they will understand that it is the right way to go.