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The Anatomy of the State (LvMI) Kindle Edition
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He explains what a state is and what it is not. He shows how it is an institution that purports to hold the right to violate all that we otherwise hold as honest and moral, and how it operates under a false cover now and always. He shows how the state wrecks freedom, destroys civilization, and threatens all lives and property and social well-being.
The essay is seminal in another respect. Here Rothbard binds together the cause of private-property capitalism with anarchist politics — truly the first thinker in the history of the world to fully forge the perspective that later came to be known as anarchocapitalism.
He took all that he had learned from the Misesian tradition and the liberal tradition and the anarchist tradition to put together what is really a new and highly systematic way of thinking about the entire subject of political economy and social thought.
Understanding his point of view has the effect on the reader of putting things together in a way that profoundly changes the way one sees the world.
And Rothbard explains all of this in a very short space — short enough to be read again and again as an inoculation against the creeping disease of statism.
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- LanguageEnglish
- Publication dateJuly 13, 2011
- File size2786 KB
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Product details
- ASIN : B005CRVFSM
- Publisher : Ludwig von Mises Institute (July 13, 2011)
- Publication date : July 13, 2011
- Language : English
- File size : 2786 KB
- Simultaneous device usage : Unlimited
- Text-to-Speech : Enabled
- Screen Reader : Supported
- Enhanced typesetting : Enabled
- X-Ray : Enabled
- Word Wise : Enabled
- Sticky notes : On Kindle Scribe
- Print length : 63 pages
- Page numbers source ISBN : 151467498X
- Best Sellers Rank: #291,924 in Kindle Store (See Top 100 in Kindle Store)
- #30 in 90-Minute Politics & Social Sciences Short Reads
- #49 in Free Enterprise
- #62 in Anarchism
- Customer Reviews:
About the author
Murray Newton Rothbard (/ˈmʌri ˈrɑːθbɑːrd/; March 2, 1926 – January 7, 1995) was an American heterodox economist of the Austrian School, a revisionist historian, and a political theorist(pp11, 286, 380) whose writings and personal influence played a seminal role in the development of modern libertarianism. Rothbard was the founder and leading theoretician of anarcho-capitalism, a staunch advocate of historical revisionism, and a central figure in the twentieth-century American libertarian movement. He wrote over twenty books on political theory, revisionist history, economics, and other subjects. Rothbard asserted that all services provided by the "monopoly system of the corporate state" could be provided more efficiently by the private sector and wrote that the state is "the organization of robbery systematized and writ large." He called fractional reserve banking a form of fraud and opposed central banking. He categorically opposed all military, political, and economic interventionism in the affairs of other nations.(pp4–5, 129) According to his protégé Hans-Hermann Hoppe, "There would be no anarcho-capitalist movement to speak of without Rothbard."
Rothbard was a heterodox economist. Economist Jeff Herbener, who calls Rothbard his friend and "intellectual mentor", wrote that Rothbard received "only ostracism" from mainstream academia. Rothbard rejected mainstream economic methodologies and instead embraced the praxeology of his most important intellectual precursor, Ludwig von Mises. To promote his economic and political ideas, Rothbard joined Llewellyn H. "Lew" Rockwell, Jr. and Burton Blumert in 1982 to establish the Ludwig von Mises Institute in Alabama.
Bio from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. Photo by Ludwig von Mises Institute [CC BY 3.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0)], via Wikimedia Commons.
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Rothbard writing in 1974. He just . . . nailed it!
“ But while “reason” is invoked more than in previous centuries, this is not the true reason of the individual and his exercise of free will; it is still collectivist and determinist, still implying holistic aggregates and coercive manipulation of passive subjects by their rulers.’’
I find this insightful. The use of ‘reason’ has changed into ‘trust us’.
“The increasing use of scientific jargon has permitted the State’s intellectuals to weave obscurantist apologia for State rule that would have only met with derision by the populace of a simpler age. A robber who justified his theft by saying that he really helped his victims, by his spending giving a boost to retail trade, would find few converts; but when this theory is clothed in Keynesian equations and impressive references to the “multiplier effect,” it unfortunately carries more conviction. And so the assault on common sense proceeds, each age performing the task in its own ways.’’
Rothbard is just so much fun!
I’m reminded of the story in book of Acts . . .
“On a set day, Herod clothed himself with royal raiment and sat down on the judgment seat and began giving them a public address. Then the people who were assembled began shouting: “A god’s voice, and not a man’s!” Instantly the angel of Jehovah struck him, because he did not give the glory to God, and he was eaten up with worms and died.’’
Now, this only occasion where angel acts against ruler directly. Maybe, at this beginning of Christianity, the lesson that political rulers are not gods, not to be worshipped, prepared Christians for the conflict with the Roman Empire.
Rothbard explains something I’ve wondered . . .
“The majority must be persuaded by ideology that their government is good, wise and, at least, inevitable, and certainly better than other conceivable alternatives. Promoting this ideology among the people is the vital social task of the “intellectuals.” 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. And since it is precisely a molding of opinion that the State most desperately needs, the basis for age-old alliance between the State and the intellectuals becomes clear.’’
This alliance of intellectuals and politics makes sense for this reason. Obvious. Now.
However . . .
“It is evident that the State needs the intellectuals; it is not so evident why intellectuals need the State.’’
Right.
“Put simply, we may state that the intellectual’s livelihood in the free market is never too secure; for the intellectual must depend on the values and choices of the masses of his fellow men, and it is precisely characteristic of the masses that they are generally uninterested in intellectual matters.’’
More and more this happening. Well . . .
“The State, on the other hand, is willing to offer the intellectuals a secure and permanent berth in the State apparatus; and thus a secure income and the panoply of prestige. For the intellectuals will be handsomely rewarded for the important function they perform for the State rulers, of which group they now become a part.’’
Intellectuals become rulers!
He provides famous historical example . . .
“The alliance between the State and the intellectuals was symbolized in the eager desire of professors at the University of Berlin in the nineteenth century to form the ‘intellectual bodyguard of the House of Hohenzollern.’”
Worth remembering how this ‘alliance’ resulted in the German disasters of the twentieth century.
Contents
What the State Is Not
What the State Is
How the State Preserves Itself
How the State Transcends Its Limits
What the State Fears
How States Relate to One Another
History as a Race Between State Power and Social Power
On dissent . . .
“The greatest danger to the State is independent intellectual criticism; there is no better way to stifle that criticism than to attack any isolated voice, any raiser of new doubts, as a profane violator of the wisdom of his ancestors. Another potent ideological force is to deprecate the individual and exalt the collectivity of society. For since any given rule implies majority acceptance, any ideological danger to that rule can only start from one or a few independently-thinking individuals.’’
Think of the Christian persecution by the Romans.
“The new idea, much less the new critical idea, must needs begin as a small minority opinion; therefore, the State must nip the view in the bud by ridiculing any view that defies the opinions of the mass. “Listen only to your brothers” or “adjust to society” thus become ideological weapons for crushing individual dissent. By such measures, the masses will never learn of the nonexistence of their Emperor’s clothes.It is also important for the State to make its rule seem inevitable.’’
These slices provide example of Rothbard’s style. Clear, trenchant, incisive and persuasive.
For some. Others . . .
This short work of 54 pages explains much.
Undoubtedly can produce various reactions - joy/anger, relief/frustration, insight/rejection.
Forty-four notes (linked)
Excellent references!
Index (not linked)
Rothbard begins quickly and builds on his premise that the State gains at the expense of the individual. He finds excellent examples to make a fine point. Here are two of my favorites:
1. "Since most men tend to love their homeland, the identification of that land and its people with the State was a means of making natural patriotism work to the State's advantage."
Consider how you might think about citizens of a country based on it's head of state. When the government identifies a "regime" that is opposed to it's well-being, we - the collective people - typically show our patriotism by supporting our government and policies that must be implemented to protect us.
2. "We may test the hypothesis that the State is largely interested in protecting itself rather than its subjects by asking: which category of crimes does the State pursue and punish most intensely - those against private citizens or those against itself?"
This got right to the point: the government looks out for itself, just like you look out for you and your family and property. The difference between the two is that the government has the ability to punish and expand its resources as it feels necessary. You, as an individual, do not.
To sum up: if you are reading this, chances are you are looking to know more about political history and power, economics, or libertarian viewpoints in general. For any of these purposes, I think you would be wise to consider this 60 page book. It is a fast, intelligent read that will likely help you critically analyze other policies and political ideologies from the standpoint of the State vs. the people. This book is an overview and highlights the big picture; no background in economics or political science is necessary.