“Having gathered all power to itself, [the State] has become the sole focus of all conflict, and it must construct totalitarian defences to match its total exposure.” StatesDemocracyFocusConflictSoleConstructsExposureDefence Author:Anthony de Jasay
“People who live in states have as a rule never experienced the state of nature and vice-versa, and have no practical possibility of moving from the one to the other ... On what grounds, then, do people form hypotheses about the relative merits of state and state of nature? ... My contention here is that preferences for political arrangements of society are to a large extent produced by these very arrangements, so that political institutions are either addictive like some drugs, or allergy-inducing like some others, or both, for they may be one thing for some people and the other for others.” PeopleMayStatesGovernmentMovingFormPoliticalOne ThingPossibilityDrugInstitutionsVicesPracticalsMeritRelativeArrangementsHypothesisPreferenceVice VersaContentionAllergiesPolitical Institutions Author:Anthony de Jasay
“In the process of helping some (perhaps most) people to more utility and justice, the state imposes on civil society a system of interdictions and commands.” PeopleStatesHelpingProcessJusticeSocietyCommandUtilityCivil SocietyInterdiction Author:Anthony de Jasay
“Self-imposed limits on sovereign power can disarm mistrust, but provide no guarantee of liberty and property beyond those afforded by the balance between state and private force.” SelfStatesForceLibertyBalanceLimitsPropertyGuaranteesSovereignMistrust Author:Anthony de Jasay
