We Are Not The Government

Martin Rewrites: Anatomy of the State, Part 2

What the Government Is

Humans are born with infinite needs and desires. We shelter and feed ourselves using natural resources and the energy within each individual, one must use more energy and resources to do so. When we apply our ideas to resources, we create property, a natural extension of the individual who created it. The individual owns the results of his or her own actions.

Additionally, humans have learned that trading ideas, resources and property allow for substantially better living conditions for everyone involved. This spontaneous order is the only natural way for any individual and/or group to better their lives without violating others. This idea that humans have the right to keep or freely exchange the products of their labor is called the free market.

The second method of obtaining resources is somewhat easier, but can be risky. By taking resources from others, the individual does not have to be productive in any meaningful way. It only requires a knowledge of violence and coercion, and the willingness to use them against others. This can be a dangerous way to obtain resources, as others may try to stop you from taking the products of their labor. This is theft, also known as "the political means."

Since we've determined that the free market is the natural path for humans, it should be equally clear that theft is contrary to human nature. It is the nature of a parasite, and does not add to the overall wealth of humanity; it subtracts from it. 

When people use theft to obtain resources, they send economic signals to productive people to either hide their excess resources, or stop producing more than is needed. In this way, the thief destroys his own resource supply by removing the incentive to produce excess goods to trade with other people. It is an unsustainable, and unnatural. 

Since those who use the economic means are known to protect their resources, taking goods from others uncertain business, and can sometimes be dangerous. To reduce this risk of retribution, predators have set up a system that allows for a relatively orderly, systematic channel to obtain private property.

We can now better answer the question of what is government. It is simply a group of people who use the political means to obtain wealth in an organized fashion. This group uses violence (or the threats thereof) to take goods from productive people within a given geographical territory. 

Historically, all governments have arisen from violence, starting with the first tribe that realized it would be more productive to let a conquered tribe continue to live and produce goods, than it would be to loot and murder. This way, the conquerors can demand regular tributes, providing for a steady, secure means of plunder.

Let us take this anecdote as an example. In the valley of "Ruraland," a group of outlaws manages to physically control the area. The leader makes himself the "President of the Independent Government of the Valley of Ruraland," proclaims his men to be "federal leaders," and holds elections for local government representation. Thus, a new nation and a new government is born.

Disclaimer: This is my attempt at simplifying the book "Anatomy of the State," written by Murray N. Rothbard. This is not a plagiarized writing; it is my interpretation, and is paraphrased from the writing. For the full text, please click here: Anatomy of the State.

Martin Rewrites: Anatomy of the State

What Government Is Not

Most people consider government to be a social service, a tool to ensure security for the population and regulation of business and economy. Most say it should be used to achieve the goals of humanity. And most would say it is an absolutely necessary.

In democracies, people self-identify as being part of the government, even if they don't hold office, or work for a government agency. The common refrain is "we are the government," an idea that confuses "society" with "government."

Using the word "we" allows people to ignore the reality of political life. If "we are are the government," then anything the government does, "we" do. If government goes into debt to fund social services, then "we" go into debt because "we owed it to ourselves." Drafting soldiers becomes acceptable, because the individual soldier is really just a part of the "we" group, and no rights have been violated. When government throws peaceful protesters in jail, the protesters are essentially throwing themselves in jail, and no brutality could be said to have occurred. Using this logic, anyone killed by their own government weren't murdered; they actually "committed suicide."

Obviously, this is preposterous, and makes it clear that "we" are NOT the government, and the government is NOT "us."

It must also be made clear that government can't represent "us," because a true representative always follows orders and can only represent one person's opinion at a time. Additionally, a representative could be fired at any time. Government could never fulfill these requirements.

Since "we" are not the government, what is government?

Government is a group of people who use force and violence in order to maintain authority over other people. Government is a group of people who claim the sole right to use the threat of violence, arrest and jailing to extract income from another group of people and the only group of people who claim the right to regulate the actions of an individual person or groups of people within their borders.

Disclaimer: This is my attempt at simplifying the book "Anatomy of the State," written by Murray N. Rothbard. This is not a plagiarized writing; it is my interpretation, and is paraphrased from the writing. For the full text, please click here: Anatomy of the State.