David Friedman on Anarcho-Capitalism, Utilitarianism, and Inequality

This week on Upstream, Erik is joined by David Friedman for a deep dive on anarcho-capitalism, utilitarianism, and more. To get Brave: Head to brave.com/brave-ads/ and mention “MoZ” when signing up for a 25% discount on your first campaign.
--
RECOMMENDED PODCAST: Autopilot explores the adoption and rollout of AI in the industries that drive the economy and the dynamic founders bringing rapid change to slow-moving industries. From law, to hardware, to aviation, Will Summerlin interviews founders backed by Benchmark, Greylock, and more to learn how they're automating at the frontiers in entrenched industries.
Listen on Spotify: open.spotify.com/show/6YQZkKH...
Listen on Apple: podcasts.apple.com/ca/podcast...
--
SPONSOR: BRAVE
Get first-party targeting with Brave’s private ad platform: cookieless and future proof ad formats for all your business needs. Performance meets privacy. Head to brave.com/brave-ads/ and mention “MoZ” when signing up for a 25% discount on your first campaign.
--
Timestamps:
(00:00) Intro
(00:46) The Friedman Family's Intellectual Lineage
(03:18) Market Failures and Government Intervention
(06:11) Privatizating Everything
(09:33) The Mechanics of Anarcho-Capitalism
(12:47) Why David Isn't a Utilitarianism
(18:19) David's Moral Framework
(23:36) Is Global Coordination Possible?
(30:46) Privatizing Military and National Defense
(32:54) Addressing Poverty in an Anarcho-Capitalist World
(35:40) Competitive Dictatorship
(40:54) Historical Precedents for Private Law
(42:31) The Inefficiency of Governments
(44:06) Coordination under Decentralization vs Centralization & Surveillance Capitalism
(55:07) Law & Punishment under Anarcho-Capitalism
(58:28) The Problems with Restorative Justice
(01:07:31) Addressing Common Criticisms of Market Systems
(01:14:41) Exploring the Moral Case for Economic Growth
(01:16:26) Existential Risks from Global Warming, AI, Nanotech, and Biotech
(01:18:49) The Market's Short-Term vs. Long-Term Dilemma
(01:20:13) Utilitarian Thought Experiment
(01:22:03) Income Sharing Agreements
(01:26:20) Equality of Opportunity vs. Outcome
(01:30:15) Why Do We Care about Equality?
(01:47:40) Anarcho-Capitalism and Crypto
(01:51:04) David's Legacy
--
LINKS:
David's Website: www.daviddfriedman.com/
--
X / TWITTER:
/ eriktorenberg (Erik)
/ upstream__pod (Upstream)
/ turpentinemedia (Turpentine)
--
Upstream is a production from Turpentine
Producer: Sam Kaufman
Editor: Eul Jose Lacierda
For guest or sponsorship inquiries please contact [e-mail]

[@zpxyz]

The crypto he is describing at the end of the video is monero

[@ethangroat8333]

Market failures, at least often and possibly always, have dispersed costs that end up hurting the rational individuals precisely because the individuals do not have adequate information about their reality, which includes the actions that others will take and their consequences. I think Friedman neglects this point. It's the prisoner's dilemma, but this problem has solutions: the tit for tat plus occasional forgiveness for noncooperation strategy wins this game so much, that in light of that information, the rational action is to cooperate unless and until there is sufficient evidence that the other people will not cooperate, and to have a slight bias in favor of cooperating anyway, just in case you are wrong and it is a viable option. So market failures that he calls rational and with perfect information are actually rational but without an understanding of the optimal prisoner's dilemma strategy. A group of mostly rational actors, most of whom are aware of this logic, would tend to avoid causing the market failures he describes in most cases, this higher quality information about the universe having prevented the market failure.