Publisher's Synopsis
In modern political philosophy there is a very widely accepted assumption that political states are the only condition in which possessive individualist humans could lead secure, worthwhile lives. The author calls that the ?play-pen defence? for states. This book challenges that assumption without drawing on the mainstream of the anarchist tradition. Instead, assuming that the social psychology of possessive individualism is too ubiquitous to be ignored, the book explores the options opened up by libertarian anarchists. It is agreed with minimal statists that libertarian anarchy will degenerate into a self-defeating anarchy. But it does not follow that, if the state did not exist, it would have to be invented (as minimal statists claim). The author shows that there is an alternative way: a practical anarchy which will secure political stability, public order and economic viability ? and be more congenial to possessive individualist (among others) than life in states.
