Bastiat's essay is timeless, because it applies whenever and wherever the state assumes unto itself different rules and different laws from that by which it expects other people to live.
Anatomy of the State gives a succinct account of Rothbard’s view of the state. Rothbard regards the state as a predatory entity. It does not produce anything but rather steals resources from those engaged in production.
Rothbard says that the very existence of the state — the entity with a monopoly privilege to invade private property — is contrary to the ethics of liberty. A society without a state is not only viable; it is the only one consistent with natural rights.
This book is very radical in the true sense of that term: it gets to the root of the problem of government and provides a rethinking of the whole organization of society.
Rothbard proposes a once-and-for-all escape from the two major political parties, the ideologies they embrace, and their central plans for using state power against people.
