The State is Too Dangerous to Tolerate

Dr. Robert Higgs delivers the closing speech for the Mises University of 2013 which was titled "The State is Too Dangerous to Tolerate."

http://mises.org/media/8028/Mises-University-2013-gtgt-The-State-Is-Too-Dangerous-to-Tolerate

"The state is simply the place for the most vicious people in society to congregate. Once in the state, with the apparatus of coercion and death at their disposal they are orders of magnitude more dangerous than as private actors. Without a state you MAY be a victim of crime. With a state you are assured to be a victim of crime."

The state doesn't just prey on society, it coarsens and ultimately destroys society. At any given point you may say that the price of the state is a price you are willing to pay, but the existence of the state creates unintended consequences, negative incentives. In the next cycle the state will be more powerful and attract a lower morality person. In comparison, the market and voluntary interaction tends to benefit good behavior, so that in the next cycle things are likely to be better.