Yup. Anarchy has a bad name.
I can't remember where I heard this (although I've seen it from a number of different sources) but if you look at the history of the term "libertarian" it was invented by French anarchists who didn't want to get arrested for being anarchists. So, they made up a new name and confused everyone.
So, recently I have been thinking a lot about the assumption that chaos would inevitably ensue in a stateless society. However, this is based almost solely upon the assumption that all humans are inherently evil. Like Manumit said, the criminals will always be criminals (both the black market and government types)... he and I were discussing this in relation to Constitutional Carry--do you think a
felon gives a care whether he or she is allowed to own a firearm or not?? The only thing this type of regulation accomplishes is subjecting law-abiding citizens who actually care about the law to ever-increasing fees, paperwork, background checks... basically, being treated like criminals for choosing not to be a criminal. The same can be said of these CBP checkpoints that I always like talking about--do you think the illegals are going to drive up to one of these booths and be questioned at gunpoint about where they are going and where they were born? Hell, no.
So, the criminals will always be criminals. But what about the rest of us who go through ridiculous lengths to deal with the endless knot of mind-numbing regulations the state foists on us? The assumption that all of us will turn into murderous thieves is based upon a fundamental assumption that the only reason we go through all that trouble is because we're afraid of being punished. I tend to think we go through all this crap (me included) due to a misplaced sense of honor and right vs. wrong. In short, this assumption of inevitable chaos is based upon an assumption of a fallen or sinful human nature--this is a premise that I fully and completely reject.
