What is The State? (original) (raw)

The State is the negation of government.

• The State is a monopoly that initiates force under the pretense of governing
• The State compels obedience on matters far beyond the scope of legitimate government
• The State uses threats of violence to extort submission
• The State uses actual violence to harm people who resist its dictates

All of this is crime, not governance.

You will avoid contradictory thinking if you distinguish between government and The State.

• Governing is a service that protects your rights by only using force defensively
• But The State initiates force in nearly everything it does, and is therefore NOT a government
• This constant use of initiated force means that The State is really an organized criminal gang

There is a long habit of NOT thinking about The State in this way, but we must stop using a double standard. We must come to judge The State by the same moral principles we apply to all other human institutions.

To promote empathy, Zero Aggression, and legitimate government, you must oppose The State.

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By Perry Willis & Jim Babka