The Satoshi Revolution: A Revolution of Rising Expectations.
Section 4: State Versus Society
Chapter 9, Part 6
Government is a law factory. It passes laws in the same manner that another type of factory extrudes metal molding…But, whereas a factory which extrudes metal molding is providing a product which is useful to the citizens generally, and which certain citizens will purchase voluntarily; the government factory extrudes compulsion which is useful principally to the government, itself, but is purchased [through taxes and other ‘fees’] in advance by the people, who are never in a position to refuse to buy.
-Robert LeFevre, The Nature of Man and His Government
A key difference between state and society: the latter does not force people to buy products or services they do not want. Society does not require them to use central banks, to purchase law enforcement, or to finance military protection against foreign nations. People can decline that type of product altogether, or they can use a competing private supplier.
By contrast, the state compels the purchase of such products on the grounds that they are essential to the social good. Not only that, government claims that monopolies are needed to act as trusted third parties (TTPs).
At the core of the conflict between state and society lies antithetical views of TTPs. The state insists on a neutral or benevolent definition; that is, a TTP is an entity that facilitates the quality or honesty of interactions between people who invest it with trust. The description can be accurate. People can use a lawyer, for example, as an intermediary in a business deal. But a TTP is neutral or benevolent only if no one is forced to use or to finance it.
Both groups, like the cypherpunks, and
