Is the State an illegitimate band of robbers? Murray Rothbard has the answer

Survey 1,000 normies in your local area and I guarantee you that many will hold a double standard when it comes to what the State can and can’t do vs. if, say, the Individual committed the same atrocities. To them, the State has a ‘right’ to commit some of the following, but the individual cannot:

Tax

Print money

Kill

Harass

Spy

Of course, these are just a few instances in which quite a large number of people out there would claim that, because the State is above the individual (often without providing a shred of basis to justify such a worldview), it, therefore, has the right to commit what that same State would consider to be a crime if the Average Joe committed the same.

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But in Anatomy of the State, Murray Rothbard drives a stake through that mindset. And he does so all over the book. But the first instance does a fine enough job of setting the stage.

Murray Rothbard proves the State is NOT above the Individual

While conducting research for this piece, I quickly consulted Anatomy of the State, going “old school” and reading the actual text while also going “new school” and listening to the audio version on Spotify.

Oh, and by the way, you wouldn’t believe how many libertarian-leaning books are available on the app. So if you haven’t done so yet, make sure you add this book and many others to your TBR and get cracking.

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Anyway, let me share the stake Murray Rothbard drove through the argument that the State does have the power to do what it wants with its “subjects.” And yeah, I got quotes around that term for a good reason. Anyway, without further ado, Rothbard states:

“It should be clear that the peaceful use of reason and energy in production is the “natural” path for man: the means for his survival and prosperity on this earth. It should be equally clear that the coercive, exploitive means is contrary to natural law; it is parasitic, for instead of adding to production, it subtracts from it. The “political means” siphons production off to a parasitic and destructive individual or group; and this siphoning not only subtracts from the number of producing, but also lowers the producer’s incentive to produce beyond his own subsistence.”

Theft, in Other Words

When one states something along the lines of, “The State taxes to provide for society,” or, the official Conformist Party line that, “Taxes are what we pay for a civilized society,” the quote above indicates that the opposite is, objectively, the case.

As Rothbard states in the above section, that, not only is taking something that was rightfully produced, or in some cases, earned, “contrary to natural law; it is parasitic,” but it robs more than just the producer or the earner and produces a snowball effect of distortions.

The consumer is also robbed since such siphoning “lowers the producer’s incentive to produce beyond his own subsistence.” This is why Rothbard goes on to say:

“In the long run, the robber destroys his own subsistence by dwindling or eliminating the source of his own supply. But not only that, even in the short-run, the predator is acting contrary to his own true nature as a man.”

At the end of the day, everybody loses, and it starts with the State siphoning goods, services, and, at the end of the day, money, be it through direct taxation, or the “hidden tax” of inflation. Something we’ve seen play out in the 2020s.

The Verdict

Even with the evidence Rothbard pointed out, a critic could still claim the Individual is Subject to the State. But Rothbard closed this loophole. On page 16 of the text, Rothbard said,

“Since production must always precede predation, the free market is anterior to the State. The State has never been created by a “social contract”; it has always been born in conquest and exploitation.”

If we can judge what we’ve seen going on throughout the 20th century, starting with the conquest of Spain, in the American Empire and its rapid expansion of the State, it’s safe to conclude Rothbard is right in every single facet.

The day before I penned this slice of Anatomy of the State, Ron Paul wrote in his Weekly Report that we need to “Audit USAID…Then Shut it Down!” Paul couldn’t have driven the point home any better when he said,

“Behind most US foreign policy disasters overseas you will see the fingerprints of USAID. From Ukraine to Georgia and far beyond, USAID is meddling in the internal affairs of foreign countries – something that would infuriate Americans if it was happening to us.”

Paul also mentioned the New York Post piece Elon Musk reposted on X,

“Reporting that USAID funneled $53 million to EcoHealth Alliance to support gain-of-function research on coronaviruses at the Wuhan Lab! Did USAID help fund COVID? Americans have a right to know.”

Still think the State has a right to do whatever it pleases with its “subjects?”

The Takeaway

The message here is as clear as day: When popular thinking pretends the State is above the Individual, the State starts by lowering the prosperity of producers which, in turn, affects consumers. When it taxes to fuel its rapid expansion, it further lowers that prosperity by lowering the incentive to produce, and, in some cases, to consume, regardless if it’s a direct or a hidden tax.

When left unchecked, the State goes far beyond stealing from its own people. It extends its reach far beyond its borders, sticking its nose in places it doesn’t belong, and, perhaps ultimately, fueling worldwide crises.

That doesn’t sound like a benign entity that’s above anyone if you ask me. Instead, it’s a parasite that will destroy anything and everything in its path to maintain its stranglehold on those it’s tricked into worshiping. That said, the Individual must seek to contain the State, not defend its rapid and unjust expansion.

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Arcane Awakenings, my prequel to the libertarian young adult fantasy series Arcane Elemental Academy, provides the basis for that argument. Young Yote Diamondback, who attends a heavily regulated private school, witnesses what happens when a teacher deviates from the lockstep of their State-mandated curriculum. What the pro-Statist Yote witnesses might just plant a seed to her awakening of all the evils her beloved State commits.