Atlas / Comparisons / Anarcho-Capitalism vs American Fusionist Conservatism
Anarcho-Capitalism and American Fusionist Conservatism
Measured distance across six axes
Different families with real common ground. They agree within three points on EC. They diverge by eight points or more on CH.
Axis by axis
| Axis | Rothbard | Buckley, Meyer | Gap | Reading | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| EC · Economic organisation | +10 | +08 | 2 | Agrees | Effectively the same position. Not what an argument between them is about. |
| CU · Social and cultural order | +01 | +06 | 5 | Differs | Real difference, but not the dividing line. |
| AU · Organisation of power | −10 | −04 | 6 | Differs | Real difference, but not the dividing line. |
| SC · Scale of decision | −10 | −04 | 6 | Differs | Real difference, but not the dividing line. |
| ID · Rule of membership | −02 | +03 | 5 | Differs | Real difference, but not the dividing line. |
| CH · Method and tempo | +03 | −06 | 9 | Diverges | Carries the disagreement. Any claim that these two are alike has to explain this. |
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 · CH +03
Coded mildly positive: education and secession rather than force, but with an explicit right of resistance.
- Programme textStrategy is framed as withdrawal, secession and non-compliance rather than seizure of the state.
Buckley, Meyer · CH −06
Coded −6: change through elections, courts and institutions.
- Documented act or statuteBuilt think tanks, journals and a judicial pipeline over four decades.
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.
American Fusionist Conservatism
1955–2000 · United States
Free markets, traditional morality and anti-communism fused into one movement; liberty as the political means to a virtuous end.
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