Does the very concept of “criminals” even make sense in this context? How can you distinguish criminals from ordinary people if no one has formal obligations?
Suppose that someone in a gray pinstripe shows up at your door offering “protection” in exchange for a monthly fee. How are the anarchists supposed to handle this situation? If the answer is “paying someone else for actual protection”, then this system sounds awfully similar to a world ruled by the mafia, if you just substitute “security agencies” with “families”...
I think the assumption is that exactly this would happen, but your total payment for “protection” and all kinds of services you are currently getting from state, would be smaller than the taxes you are paying now.
And yes, there would be mafia families getting rich from offering “protection”, but it would be analogical to other kinds of entrepreneurs getting rich. The assumption is that you would be free to replace the “protection” of a more expensive mafia for a cheaper one with no bad consequences for your health.
This would require a precise degree of coordination between the mafias, strong enough to make sure that no individual mafia would defect against the system by e.g. harassing the customers who want to join a competitor, yet not strong enough for all mafias to form a cartel and increase the costs for all customers. (This is the part that I consider wishful thinking.)
Does the very concept of “criminals” even make sense in this context? How can you distinguish criminals from ordinary people if no one has formal obligations?
Suppose that someone in a gray pinstripe shows up at your door offering “protection” in exchange for a monthly fee. How are the anarchists supposed to handle this situation? If the answer is “paying someone else for actual protection”, then this system sounds awfully similar to a world ruled by the mafia, if you just substitute “security agencies” with “families”...
I think the assumption is that exactly this would happen, but your total payment for “protection” and all kinds of services you are currently getting from state, would be smaller than the taxes you are paying now.
And yes, there would be mafia families getting rich from offering “protection”, but it would be analogical to other kinds of entrepreneurs getting rich. The assumption is that you would be free to replace the “protection” of a more expensive mafia for a cheaper one with no bad consequences for your health.
This would require a precise degree of coordination between the mafias, strong enough to make sure that no individual mafia would defect against the system by e.g. harassing the customers who want to join a competitor, yet not strong enough for all mafias to form a cartel and increase the costs for all customers. (This is the part that I consider wishful thinking.)