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A '''state''' is an organization that maintains a [[monopoly]] on [[force]] within a given territory over which it claims ultimate legal jurisdiction. Proponents of the state defend it with [[The social contract|the social contract]]. The validity of the social contract has been questioned by many libertarians, for example [[Stefan Molyneux]].<ref name="stefan">[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jNj0VhK19QU| The Social Contract: Defined and Destroyed in under 5 mins, 2008]</ref> | A '''state''' is an organization that maintains a [[monopoly]] on [[force]] within a given territory over which it claims ultimate legal jurisdiction. Proponents of the state defend it with [[The social contract|the social contract]]. The validity of the social contract has been questioned by many libertarians, for example [[Stefan Molyneux]].<ref name="stefan">[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jNj0VhK19QU| The Social Contract: Defined and Destroyed in under 5 mins, 2008]</ref> | ||
==History== | |||
As recently as A.D. 1500, less than 20 percent of the world's land area was marked off by boundaries into states run by bureaucrats and governed by laws. Today, all land except [[Antarctica]] is so divided.<ref name="Diamond_state">Jared Diamond. [[Guns, Germs and Steel]], p. 266, 1997. Referenced 2012-05-21.</ref> | |||
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Revision as of 11:16, 21 May 2012
A state is an organization that maintains a monopoly on force within a given territory over which it claims ultimate legal jurisdiction. Proponents of the state defend it with the social contract. The validity of the social contract has been questioned by many libertarians, for example Stefan Molyneux.[1]
History
As recently as A.D. 1500, less than 20 percent of the world's land area was marked off by boundaries into states run by bureaucrats and governed by laws. Today, all land except Antarctica is so divided.[2]
References
- ↑ The Social Contract: Defined and Destroyed in under 5 mins, 2008
- ↑ Jared Diamond. Guns, Germs and Steel, p. 266, 1997. Referenced 2012-05-21.