Tax imposition rendered political exploitation less painful, but at the same time, it inaugurated an expansion of dominion over individuals and society unparalleled in history.
The first myth one has to debunk: that the state is merely a natural and organic outgrowth of political power, as old as the history of mankind or of organized society.
All societies require some sort of coercion to maintain order. But "the state" is a very specific and modern type of government institution which claims it can engage in criminal types of coercion with impunity.
Bassani shows that Jefferson was a special kind of libertarian. He did not believe in government, but for one or two areas. Nor did he believe in the “union” much less the nation state. He was a radical individualist who had no use for the political
What is the Mises Institute?
The Mises Institute is a non-profit organization that exists to promote teaching and research in the Austrian School of economics, individual freedom, honest history, and international peace, in the tradition of Ludwig von Mises and Murray N. Rothbard.
Non-political, non-partisan, and non-PC, we advocate a radical shift in the intellectual climate, away from statism and toward a private property order. We believe that our foundational ideas are of permanent value, and oppose all efforts at compromise, sellout, and amalgamation of these ideas with fashionable political, cultural, and social doctrines inimical to their spirit.