Hello,
Welcome to another post from Serfdom Road.
Today, we are all greatly concerned with the constant erosion of our natural rights by government action (at least I hope you are!).
Yet, this is not a new phenomenon of the modern age.
It is the culmination of decades of relinquishing our individual responsibilities to big government - an institution, that many, do not fully-understand, including it’s modus operandi.
The State
American economist and historian, Murray N. Rothbard (b. 1926, d. 1995), wrote a book called, Anatomy of the State, in which Rothbard articulates the actual role of the state.
To begin, Rothbard explains what the state is not.
Often, sentiments such as, “We are the government”, are used to deflect away from the reality of political life.
This infers that anything the state does is untyrannical and voluntary on the part of the individual concerned.
As an example, see this quote from Anatomy of the State below:
“If the government has incurred a huge public debt which must be paid by taxing one group for the benefit of another, this reality of burden is obscured by saying that “we owe it to ourselves…””
The collective use of we, hides the fact that, in every case, one group is burdened with the “need” of another group.
Think:
“We need to save the NHS”
“We need to fight terrorism”
“We need to fight poverty”
“We need to close the gender pay gap”
“We need to fight climate change”
“We are in this together”
All calls for a collective fight against some supposed injustice, usually results in some harm being done to one group, for the “benefit” of another.
However, there really is only ever one benefactor: the state.
So, the state is not us, or we the people.
The state is actually the “organisation in society that attempts to maintain a monopoly of the use of force and violence in a given territorial area; in particular, it is the only organization in society that obtains its revenue not by voluntary contribution or payment for services rendered but by coercion.”
The state then “goes on to regulate and dictate the other actions of its individual subjects.”
To put it simply, if the state does not add value to an economy, but instead, only subtracts value from the economy, then what is it?
A parasite.
The State and It’s Minions
For the state to preserve itself, it cannot rely on a minority of nobility, bureaucrats and allies (bought through subsidies and tax breaks) - it needs the support of a majority.
For this, the state needs an ideology.
An ideology that “their government is good, wise and, at least, inevitable, and certainly better than other conceivable alternatives.”
This is where the intellectual makes an appearance.
“For the masses of men do not create their own ideas, or indeed think through these ideas independently; they follow passively the ideas adopted and disseminated by the body of intellectuals. The intellectuals are, therefore, the “opinion-molders” in society.”
For the intellectual, instead of competing in a free market for employment, they become part of the state apparatus, and are rewarded with a secure income.
The opinion-molders in society also need to “deprecate the individual and exalt the collectivity of society.”
Because the most dangerous enemy to the state and the ideology of the state is…
…a free-thinking individual.
The Power of the State
The state is able to wield great power against it’s subjects.
Through, force, violence, and coercion, the state is able to dictate and regulate our lives.
This is why we have campaign contributions (or bribes), lobbyists, and the “Bigs”: Big Banking, Big Media, Big Tech, Big Pharma, Big Oil, Big Agro, Big Tobacco, etc. (these groups arguably become part of the state itself).
If the state did not wield such power, nobody would be interested in bribing, cajoling, or even black-mailing the state.
Why spend money trying to bribe a politician, when they have no power to benefit you, or to destroy your competition?
One, could argue, however, that we should just criminalise such behaviour, or limit campaign contributions.
Even if this were a solution, what would stop the state from coercing the private sector?
In truth, big government inevitably leads to a fusing of the public and the private sectors of the economy.
This is what we call fascism.
Or, as former Italian Prime Minister of Italy, Benito Mussolini (b. 1883, d. 1945), would put it: corporatism.
Unless, of course, big government removes the private sector all together!…Thus, we have communism.
State Preservation
Through ideological warfare, the state will always strive to preserve it’s existence.
For example, in past centuries, there was no call for nationalism during a war between states.
Wars were often fought between competing sets of nobles.
Today, wars are fought to “defend the people”, “preserve democracy”, “spread democracy”, “defend our way of life”, etc.
In reality, wars are only ever fought for the preservation of the state.
Observe how conspiracy theories are often treated in the media (or the state).
Yes, most are baseless and offer little evidence, however, if some do not have an element of truth, why attack them?
It is likely because, even the suspicion of a deception, by government, is enough to unsettle the populous, and cause greater questioning of the state’s actions.
Another method used by government is to guilt-trip it’s citizens.
Any increase in wealth of an individual is met with cries of; “materialism”, “exploitation”, “greed” etc.
This is likely why many are adverse to investing, self-improvement, or starting a business.
The state wants you to be reliant on them, and for you to see them as your saviour.
How Big is Big Government?
It is important to observe just how much government has grown over the decades.
To do this, we can look at a simple metric: government expenditure as a % of GDP.
United States
United Kingdom
France
Interestingly, at a larger scale, United States government expenditure as a % of GDP was as low as 20% in 1950!
Hopefully, these charts can help to illustrate the slow creep of government into our private lives.
Take The Power Back
To tackle a complex problem, it needs to be dismantled into smaller, more achievable tasks.
In order to tackle any societal problems, we must start with the smallest piece: the individual.
We must all endeavour to become more responsible of ourselves, our mistakes, our losses, our victories, and our destiny.
This is a difficult path to follow, but it is one that leads to greater freedom and happiness.
As opposed to the current one we are on right now: the road to serfdom.
I hope you have found this article insightful and helpful!
Please feel free to comment below.
Kind regards,
Le Libérateur
Photo by Julian Hochgesang on Unsplash
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