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Notable Quote

"If the bulk of the public were really convinced of the illegitimacy of the State, if it were convinced that the State is nothing more nor less than a bandit gang writ large, then the State would soon collapse to take on no more status or breadth of existence than another Mafia gang."

— Rothbard, Murray event 1982

From The Ethics of Liberty

Context: From The Ethics of Liberty (1982). Rothbard argues that the State's power ultimately rests on public opinion: once people stop seeing it as legitimate, it has no more authority than any other criminal organization.

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policy Theory of the State flag Liberty