Anarchy! Anarchy on the High Seas!

They're arguing about anarchy this month at Cato Unbound, with Peter Leeson sticking up for statelessness in an essay that ranges from pre-colonial Angola to modern Somalia to the golden age of piracy. In the responses posted so far, Bruce Benson ponders why anarchism isn't as common as he and Leeson would like, while Dani Rodrik bites the bullet and defends the state. Still to weigh in: Randall Holcombe.

Bonus link: William Burroughs' vision of an alternate history fueled by libertarian pirate utopias in his foreword to Cities of the Red Night.