Atlas / Comparisons / Anarcho-Capitalism vs Pinochet Regime
Anarcho-Capitalism and Pinochet Regime
Measured distance across six axes
Opposed programmes with little shared ground. They agree within three points on EC, CH. They diverge by eight points or more on AU, SC.
Axis by axis
| Axis | Rothbard | Pinochet Regime | 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 | +08 | 7 | Differs | Real difference, but not the dividing line. |
| AU · Organisation of power | −10 | +10 | 20 | Diverges | Carries the disagreement. Any claim that these two are alike has to explain this. |
| SC · Scale of decision | −10 | +07 | 17 | Diverges | Carries the disagreement. Any claim that these two are alike has to explain this. |
| ID · Rule of membership | −02 | +05 | 7 | Differs | Real difference, but not the dividing line. |
| CH · Method and tempo | +03 | +04 | 1 | Agrees | Effectively the same position. Not what an argument between them is about. |
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 · AU −10
At the floor with anarcho-communism, from the opposite economic pole. The pairing is the strongest single refutation of the one-dimensional model.
- Comparative datasetBoth traditions reject the state as such; they differ by nineteen points on the economic axis.
Pinochet Regime · AU +10
At the ceiling. Congress dissolved, parties banned, opposition disappeared.
- Documented act or statuteCongress was dissolved and parties banned by decree after the September 1973 coup.
- Documented act or statuteThe Rettig and Valech commissions documented over three thousand killed or disappeared and tens of thousands tortured.
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.
Pinochet Regime · SC +07
Municipal government converted into an appointment system, with schooling and health devolved to it.
- Documented act or statuteMayors were appointed by the junta while schools and clinics were transferred to municipal administration in 1981.
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.
Pinochet Regime
1973–1990 · Chile
Free-market restructuring imposed by a military junta after the violent overthrow of an elected 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.
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