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Abuse Of Power

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Is the state a power for good, protecting the people of a nation or a parasitic villain feeding from the wealth produced by the people under its rule? In many ways the state is neither and both. The state is a champion of the people; however, it is also the people’s oppressor. “War is a Racket,” written by Butler defames war and the people who profit from it. He presents the staggering profits gained by war profiteers and condemns the treatment of soldiers by their own government. “The Anatomy of the State”, by Rothbard, discusses the abuses suffered by the public in order for the state to maintain control. Rothbard’s work also discusses the state’s ability to self-regulate. An ability that grants nearly limitless power. Finally, Hayek’s “Road …show more content…

Little more than a group of bandits who have managed to claim and maintain control of a region. The power of the state is held by threat or tradition and grudging consent of the majority. The subjects of the state are not required to be happy with the state merely passive victims of the predation of the ruling caste. (Rothbard 2009) The state’s power is preserved through the manipulation of the common people. The public works to support themselves and to create personal wealth. Which the state then collects claiming taxation. Without goods or services provided the state through taxes and fees maintains itself. The state produces nothing of value. However the state claims a share of the wealth produced by its subjects. The state justifies this theft by promising stability within and protection from outside forces. The state creates a monopoly of violence to protect it from dissidents. Any attempt to take from the state or to act against it is met with swift reprisal. Assault against the individual is punished by law. An attack against the state or its agents is treated as a much more heinous crime. This is necessary to maintain the illusion that the state is all powerful and in control. This predation demands the complacency of the population. The people need not be happy with the conditions provided by the state; they must merely not resist in numbers great enough to challenge the ruling caste. (Rothbard 2009) The state may …show more content…

I found the section entitled How the State Transcends its Limits to be very disturbing. Not only does it showcase the state’s ability to regulate itself, it offers examples of how the U.S. government has subverted laws intended to restrict abuse of power. Having taken U.S. Government I have discovered other examples of government subversion of restrictions placed on it. Despite the worrying idea that the state can and does regulate its own actions, I am forced to question some of the more melodramatic claims about the origin of the state. While I do openly distrust the state, I do not believe that the state is a band of brigands feeding from its subject people. At first read the use of intellectuals to influence the masses seems a little exaggerated. Until one considers talk radio and the various news shows that report the news in shades of red or blue. The use of intellectuals to spread and endorse political propaganda is more common than it

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