End the Government Monopoly on Law Enforcement

A common objection to libertarianism and anarcho-capitalism that comes from both the left and right-wing is the issue of law enforcement. They claim government is essential to maintain law and order and protect its citizens through the police. But is that actually true?

The right-wing generally recognizes that government is inept, bureaucratic, and wasteful, yet when it comes to the police they think government is magically efficient and productive. Monopolies result in poor service, and the government currently has a monopoly on police. The private sector is superior at everything else—law enforcement is no exception.

The left-wing gets outraged every time the police kill an unarmed black person—and rightfully so—but they lay the blame on “racism” rather than the true culprit: the government and the extreme power of the police. Not to mention the litany of ridiculous laws on the books, often written by “liberals,” who get outraged when the police actually enforce them. The left also supports unions, who protect officers in the even of wrongful killings and ensure they still get their pensions, paid by taxpayers.

All these problems with the police stem from the fact they are a government monopoly.

Police should exclusively be private and freelance—only work for hire. To have police just going around looking for crime is insane. It’s oppressive and authoritarian, leading to many unnecessary confrontations that result in killings by police. Private security should protect private property to prevent crimes from being committed. In the event a crime is committed, law enforcement (via private detectives) should only be called on by victims of a crime after the crime is committed.

If people commit “technically illegal” crimes without hurting anyone, with no victims or friends and family of the victim to report it, then it’s not really a crime at all. In our current system of government-controlled law enforcement, myriad victimless crimes remain illegal, but in an anarcho-capitalist system they would not be. No victim, no crime.

Ending the government monopoly police state is one issue that both the left and right should agree on, but instead they’re distracted by politics and turn the issue into a race war, fighting each other instead of the true enemy: the State.