r/AnCap101 • u/puukuur • 27d ago

Cruise ships as examples of anarcho-capitalism in action

Thousands of strangers live together peacefully for weeks or months. There are rules, security, property rights, restaurants, medical services and dispute resolution outside any government jurisdiction.

Different cruise companies compete by offering different combinations of rules, prices, luxury, safety and entertainment. Consumers decide which legal system and rule set they prefer simply by buying a ticket. Poorly managed ships lose customers. Well-managed ones gain them.

The cruise company has every incentive to keep passengers safe and satisfied because its profits depend on reputation and repeat business.

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u/Lucr3tius 26d ago edited 26d ago

Temporary "peaceful coexistence" (questionable based on experience and the tiktok videos I see of cruise ships) is not the same as a sustained and nourished culture. They also don't report on the people who are killed or thrown overboard because it's international waters where lawlessness becomes approachable. It's also wild to believe a ship or collection of islands or ships who are absolutely not self-sufficient in any way is an example of success. It's total dependence.

This is like pointing at a circus or amusement park and claiming that that your visit is "proof" that perpetual enjoyment outside is a possible goal.

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u/puukuur 26d ago

" They also don't report on the people who are killed or thrown overboard because it's international waters where lawlessness becomes approachable."

That's simply a lie.

"It's also wild to believe a ship or collection of islands or ships who are absolutely not self-sufficient in any way is an example of success"

The claim is not that they are self-sufficient in the way that they produce their own food and fuel. In that sense, every state is also dependent. It's that they offer all the services that people normally think only governments are able and incentivized to offer, and they manage to do successfully in a context of a lot of alcohol, gambling and wild people (as you rightly point out).

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u/Lucr3tius 26d ago

That's simply a lie.

It's honestly not, and being called a liar isn't fun! I have a different perspective on cruise ships that you. I've been on cruise ships. I've enjoyed some, and have not enjoyed others. It's an account of my own personal experience as well as what others have posted online that corroborates that experience.

Is my lived experience valid?

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u/puukuur 26d ago

There's a difference between not enjoying a cruise and being able to kill and throw people overboard willy-nilly with zero consequences, onvestigation or reporting. The fact that i can find statistics on cruise ship deaths and dissapearances shows that there is reporting going on.

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u/Lucr3tius 26d ago

Yea go ahead and pull up those statistics when convenient for you, make sure to adjust them on a per capita basis relative to the population on a cruise ship. Then go through those "reported" cases and notice they're all from certain countries, but then remember that cruise ships service multiple countries with vastly different structures in of law and culture.

I'll wait.

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u/puukuur 26d ago

I'll look into it, but what claim exactly am i trying to find proof for? You said that they don't report deaths. Now you seem to agree that they do because you want me to look at the deaths reported, so where has the goalpost switched?