State: Difference between revisions
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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> | ||
==Definition== | |||
[[Ludwig von Mises]] defines the state as "the social apparatus of compulsion and coercion that induces people to abide by the rules of life in society".<ref>{{cite book|title=Liberalism|author=von Mises, Ludwig|url=http://mises.org/liberal/ch1sec7.asp|chapter=The Foundations of Liberal Policy}}</ref> [[Hans-Hermann Hoppe]] defines the state as "a compulsory territorial monopolist of protection and jurisdiction equipped with the power to tax without unanimous consent."<ref>{{cite book|title=The Myth of National Defense|author=Hoppe, Hans-Hermann|pages=8|chapter=Introduction|url=http://mises.org/etexts/defensemyth.pdf}}</ref> | |||
==History== | ==History== | ||
Revision as of 19:54, 22 July 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]
Definition
Ludwig von Mises defines the state as "the social apparatus of compulsion and coercion that induces people to abide by the rules of life in society".[2] Hans-Hermann Hoppe defines the state as "a compulsory territorial monopolist of protection and jurisdiction equipped with the power to tax without unanimous consent."[3]
History
States arose around 3700 B.C. in Mesopotamia and around 300 B.C. in Mesoamerica, over 2000 years ago in the Andes, China, and Southeast Asia, and over 1000 years ago in West Africa.
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.[4]
References
- ↑ The Social Contract: Defined and Destroyed in under 5 mins, 2008
- ↑ von Mises, Ludwig. "The Foundations of Liberal Policy". Liberalism. http://mises.org/liberal/ch1sec7.asp.
- ↑ Hoppe, Hans-Hermann. "Introduction". The Myth of National Defense. pp. 8. http://mises.org/etexts/defensemyth.pdf.
- ↑ Jared Diamond. Guns, Germs and Steel, p. 266, 278. Published 1997. Referenced 2012-05-21.