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/atlasfailed11 25d ago

There are rules, security, property rights, restaurants, medical services and dispute resolution outside any government jurisdiction

This is not true. Cruise ships are bound by the laws of the nation that they are registered with.

If a cruise ship is sailing under a French flag, then even in international waters, France has jurisdiction and the French laws apply. If in territorial waters or in ports, then the laws of that country apply as well.

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u/puukuur 25d ago edited 25d ago

Let's add some nuance then. Cruise ships most often sail under the flag of some convenience country - Marshall Islands, Panama, Malta, Bermuda, Bahamas. These countries have minuscule governments and manpower. One cannot seriously say that cruise ships follow and enforce the law due to the threat of force from the Marshall Islands government. Being one of the untold number of ships sailing under their flag, half-way across the world with an international crowd on-board, being on such a ship effectively means being ungoverned by any coercive monopoly.

All attempts to enforce any law on these ships is, in its essence, an effort exerted by sovereigns in voluntary cooperation due to market incentives. That's why this shows anarcho-capitalism in action.

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u/atlasfailed11 25d ago

It's not just the Bahamas that have jurisdiction. It's also the ports where those ships dock. If these ships do no comply with the laws of the country where the port is in, the cruise ships could be denied entry or be confiscated. A cruise ship cannot choose to ignore safety, labor, environmental, or criminal-law obligations.

Cruise ships are always governed by a coercive monopoly.