13th
Will Iceland Be Forced to Return to Anarcho-Capitalism?
Medieval Iceland is famous for being the world’s first and only successful anarcho-capitalistic country. From 930 to 1262, Icelanders lived in a pure free market with no taxes, no king, no goverment and no laws. Incentives, markets, spontaneous order and natural human goodness (the invisible heart) were their only rulers. They were just too poor to afford a government with all its inefficiencies and waste (foreign aid to Medieval Greenland, war with Vinland), and they were the better for it.
Meddling from Norway ended this “radical experiment in liberty,” but Icelanders have always been stateless in spirit, as anyone walking down Reykjavik’s Laugavegur St. on a Friday or Saturday night can attest.
Now some wonder if the crisis will force Iceland back to its capitalist anarchistic roots again. In tough times, citizens must prioritize. The question is, what will Icelanders give up first: their concerts and alcohol-fueled parties… or their government?
I’m not so sure that Iceland’s legislators would be overjoyed to hear the answer.
