Overthrowingthe Anarchists 303forceon me by beatingme, I am not yoursolevictim.Accordingto the philosophyof
criminallaw,everyonein our communityhas beenvictimizedby this spoliation.There-
fore,whena prosecutorfilescriminalchargesagainstyou,the prosecutoracts not merely
on behalfof me but on behalfof everyonein the community.No, proclaima numberof
libertariansled by MurrayRothbard.ThislibertarianargumentproclaimsthatStuart
Hayashiwasthe solevictimof yourbeating,andthereforethe Stateshouldnot claimto
act at the behestof the entirecommunityin prosecutingyou.In lieu of that,proclaimsuch
libertarians,thereshouldbe no criminalprosecutionof you.Rather,Stuartshouldinitiate
a tortlawsuitagainstyou,probablybringinghis privatedefenseagencyto act on his
behalfand to reachsomesettlementwiththe privatedefenseagencythat you havehired.^9
Inspiredby Rothbard,libertarianengineerandentrepreneurW. AlanBurrisasserts,“A
fundamentalmistakeof the presentsystemis the ridiculousideathata crimeis commit-
ted againstthatimaginarybeing,‘society,’ or ‘the people.’” Shouldsomeonebe blud-
geonedby a criminal,no one but the specificvictimhas had his rights“violated,” and no
one but the specific“victimhas a claimagainstthe criminal.”^10 Allegedly,shouldyou be
a reclusewhohas no friendsor family,you can still rely on tort law to seekjusticeon your
behalfif youare murdered.Youpurchasehomicideinsurance.Yourinsurancepolicy
wouldstipulatethat,in the eventof yourmurder,the insurancecompanywouldhirea
specificlaw firmto seekout the culpritand initiatea wrongfuldeathlawsuitagainstthe
culprit.Shouldthe law firmprevail,the damageswouldbe awardedto the privateparty
specifiedin yourwill.Surely,onceyou are dead,you wouldnot knowhowcompetently
the homicideinsurerhas actedon yourbehalf.Still,as therewouldprobablybe morethan
one reclusein this community,suchfirmscan remaincompetitive.Shouldone firmprove
incompetentin seekingjusticefor one murderedrecluse,otherreclusesin the community
can observethis happeningand thereforeopt for otherhomicide-insurancefirmsinstead.
Hereis wherethe Rothbardianlibertariansare wrong:the violentvictimizationof one
persondoesindeedvictimizeeveryonein the community.Thereasonwhythe police,
military,and courtscannotand shouldnot be completelyprivatizedis that violenceitself
cannotbe completelyprivatized.
In BooksOneandTwo,we exploredthe conceptof the CoaseTheorem.Theideais
thatif one party,suchas a business,initiatesthe use of forceuponotherpeopleinadver-
tently,suchas throughpollutingthe air of landholderson adjoiningrealestate,this
involvesthatbusinesscuttingits owncostsby imposingthosesamecostsuponother
parties.Thatis calledanexternality. A consistentsystemof laissezfairerectifiesthat
situationby recognizingthatindividualsowntheirownprivateproperty.In this situa-
tion,the victimswhoseair waspollutedcan file a lawsuitagainstthe polluter,transfer-
ringthoseexternalizedcostsbackto the polluter.Thatis calledinternalizingthe external-
ities.Thiscan be doneto rectifymanyinitiationsof the use of force.Thatis whatcivilsuits
are for—correctivejustice.As a privateindividualwas harmed,the spoliativepartydoing
the harmcorrectsthe action,as muchas possible,to makethe privateindividualvictim
wholeagain.Thereare somecases,though,wheretortsare not sufficientto rectifyan
initiationof the use of force.Whenit comesto suchacts as rapeand murder,suchan act
necessarilycarriesexternalizedcosts.No matterthe extentto whichthe violentagencies
havesupposedlybeenprivatized,the externalizedcostsof violencecannotbe fullyinter-
nalized.Anytimesomeoneexercisesconsiderableviolence—and this includesviolencein
self-defense—he demonstrateshimselfto be a potentialviolentthreatto everyoneelse.
Thatis wherecriminallawcomesin. Thereare somecaseswherethe spoliatorcan be
subjectto botha criminaltrialand a civilsuit.The notoriousfootballplayerO. J. Simpson,
for instance,underwentbotha criminaltrialanda civilsuitfor the deathof his wife
NicoleBrownSimpson.Criminallaw is justifiedbecausesomespoliationsare so severe