On the Origin and Nature of Government

Primitive societies had leaders but no government. Small bands of hunter-gatherers and nomads lived from hand to mouth dependent of the exigencies of the hunt, the bounty of the sea and the caprice of nature; they never generated an economic surplus. They moved from place to place and were not easy targets for predators. Nonetheless, such primitive bands frequently were victimized by roving bandits. However, the bandits, once they had plundered what little booty that was available, moved on to plunder others; after all, there was no incentive for them to remain behind.

All that changed during the Neolithic Revolution when people learned agriculture and created permanent settlements. Now humans generated a regular economic surplus and were more vulnerable to bandits because they had more to plunder and had to remain in one location. Once again, roving bandits came to plunder; however, they were not stupid. There was an incentive for them to stay to plunder permanently. Roving bandits became stationary bandits, forcefully subjugating the populus and keeping out other bandits. They had a monopoly of the use of force and, bingo, government was born.

A regular economic surplus is an a piori condition for the existence of a state; hence, government cannot exist without entrepreneurs. Without those who accumulate capital, take risks and create things people need or want, government could not exist. Even the earliest farmers had to build capital to support their families while the crops were grown and they had to overcome many risks such as weather and pestilence. Meanwhile, the now permanent bandits did nothing constructive and even imposed obstacles to productivity; they also took a big chunk for themselves.

There is little difference in principle between the stationary bandits of yore and today’s governing class. Instead of kings and emperors, they now call themselves presidents and prime ministers. They both have a monopoly on the legal use of force; they both hinder production; they both take a large share for themselves; and they both are permanent. The difference is that, instead of conquest, today’s rulers achieve power by guile, ersatz promises, lies, bribery and pitting people against each other.

Even today, we might be better off governed by Neolithic barbarians wearing animal skins. At least they understood that government does not create wealth and that things had to be produced before they could be plundered. They understood that imposing regulations and creating obstacles and uncertainty reduced the amount of plunder. Some of the barbarians even grasped that plundering less today enabled them to plunder more tomorrow – benefitting both the plunderers and the plundered.

Moreover, the barbarians of yore sometimes got sated and left us alone for awhile. Today’s predator class never gets sated and never leaves us alone.

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Next on February 27th – Socialism and Toilet Paper.

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