Atlas / Comparisons / Anarcho-Capitalism vs Classical Liberalism
Anarcho-Capitalism and Classical Liberalism
Measured distance across six axes
The same broad family. They agree within three points on EC, CU, AU, ID. No axis separates them by eight points or more.
Axis by axis
| Axis | Rothbard | Manchester School | Gap | Reading | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| EC · Economic organisation | +10 | +09 | 1 | Agrees | Effectively the same position. Not what an argument between them is about. |
| CU · Social and cultural order | +01 | −02 | 3 | Agrees | Effectively the same position. Not what an argument between them is about. |
| AU · Organisation of power | −10 | −07 | 3 | Agrees | Effectively the same position. Not what an argument between them is about. |
| SC · Scale of decision | −10 | −03 | 7 | Differs | Real difference, but not the dividing line. |
| ID · Rule of membership | −02 | −03 | 1 | Agrees | Effectively the same position. Not what an argument between them is about. |
| CH · Method and tempo | +03 | −04 | 7 | Differs | Real difference, but not the dividing line. |
Each axis runs from −10 to +10; the distance is the straight-line separation across all six at once, out of a maximum of 49.0. How the scoring works →
The evidence behind the widest gaps
A distance figure is worth nothing unless the scores behind it can be checked. These are the artefacts supporting the axes that separate these two most.
Rothbard · SC −10
At the floor with anarcho-communism: no unit above voluntary association.
- Programme textDefence, adjudication and law are supplied by competing firms serving individual clients.
Manchester School · SC −03
Coded −3: minimal central administration, free trade against imperial preference.
- ScholarshipThe school opposed colonial monopoly and chartered company privilege on economic grounds.
What this comparison does not establish
Proximity means similarity of stated position. It carries no claim about competence, circumstance, scale of operation, or what either organisation actually did to the people under it. Two organisations can sit close together and produce entirely different histories, because those things are not on any axis and could not be.
Anarcho-Capitalism
1970– · United States
All state functions including courts, police and defence should be supplied competitively on the market; taxation is theft.
Classical Liberalism
1776–1900 · Britain, Europe
Individual liberty, free trade, freedom of contract, religious toleration, constitutional and limited government.
Distance is not the whole answer. Two organisations can sit the same distance apart for entirely different reasons, and the reason is the content of any claim about them. Open the comparison in the atlas to weight the axes yourself.
Open in the atlas