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I enjoyed that parody, but it kind of misses the most parody-able bit of all of the libertarian polycentric law research project; the general assumption that th

I enjoyed that parody, but it kind of misses the most parody-able bit of all of the libertarian polycentric law research project; the general assumption that these systems are superior for not involving a state (not explicit here, but certainly true of David Friedman and Van Notten in general) "Examples throughout history prove the state is not only inherently evil, but also unnecessary to provide satisfactory legal resolutions. For example, in U̵t̵o̵p̵i̵a̵ Somaliland satisfactory resolutions are ensured by independent judges free to make up their own legal principles, murder is deterred by having suspected murderers' family members executed (if they're too poor to pay the fine), clans claim the right to extract larger fines for the same offence if committed by outsiders and judgements may either be accepted or enforced by vendetta"

pessimizer 4y ago
Might be interesting to note that the Somali courts united as a network (officially after 2000 or so) and became a real legal system that could have been the basis for a stable government, until the CIA destroyed the network for excluding its favorite warlords. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Islamic_Courts_Union https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Islamic_Courts_Union
- notahacker 4y ago
  Not really, since the sharia-based Islamic Court Union that briefly established control over the Mogadishu region in 2006 in between the "Transitional Federal Government" periods was separate both conceptually and geographically from somewhat-secular Somali clan law in Somaliland/Puntland that Van Notten wrote about. (And much as there's a certain school of thought that's determined to make literally everything about the USA, I suspect the 30,000 Ethopian troops invading in support of the TFG had more impact on the ICU's collapse - and subsequent assimiliation into the new government - than anything the CIA or Bush government did)
  - eyuelt 4y ago
    For the record, Ethiopia's 2006 invasion of Somalia was US-backed. The US even participated in the conflict with airstrikes.

pessimizer 4y ago

Might be interesting to note that the Somali courts united as a network (officially after 2000 or so) and became a real legal system that could have been the basis for a stable government, until the CIA destroyed the network for excluding its favorite warlords. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Islamic_Courts_Union https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Islamic_Courts_Union

notahacker 4y ago
Not really, since the sharia-based Islamic Court Union that briefly established control over the Mogadishu region in 2006 in between the "Transitional Federal Government" periods was separate both conceptually and geographically from somewhat-secular Somali clan law in Somaliland/Puntland that Van Notten wrote about. (And much as there's a certain school of thought that's determined to make literally everything about the USA, I suspect the 30,000 Ethopian troops invading in support of the TFG had more impact on the ICU's collapse - and subsequent assimiliation into the new government - than anything the CIA or Bush government did)
- eyuelt 4y ago
  For the record, Ethiopia's 2006 invasion of Somalia was US-backed. The US even participated in the conflict with airstrikes.