Atlas / Comparisons / Anarcho-Capitalism vs Thatcherism
Anarcho-Capitalism and Thatcherism
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 | Thatcherism | 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 | +06 | 5 | Differs | Real difference, but not the dividing line. |
| AU · Organisation of power | −10 | +02 | 12 | Diverges | Carries the disagreement. Any claim that these two are alike has to explain this. |
| SC · Scale of decision | −10 | +05 | 15 | Diverges | Carries the disagreement. Any claim that these two are alike has to explain this. |
| ID · Rule of membership | −02 | +03 | 5 | Differs | Real difference, but not the dividing line. |
| CH · Method and tempo | +03 | +03 | 0 | 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.
Thatcherism · AU +02
Coded +2: parliamentary throughout, with a sharply strengthened central executive.
- Documented act or statuteTrade union legislation between 1980 and 1990 progressively restricted secondary action and required ballots.
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.
Thatcherism · SC +05
Coded positive on centralisation despite the economic decentralisation, which is the instructive part of the entry.
- Documented act or statuteThe Greater London Council and the six metropolitan county councils were abolished in 1986.
- Documented act or statuteLocal authority rate-setting was capped from 1984.
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.
Thatcherism
1979–1990 · Britain
Roll back the state, break union power, sell public assets, restore the authority of law, order and family.
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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