Quote#Politics & Power
We designate by the term "State" institutions that embody absolutism…
Quote byBenjamin Tucker · 1854–1939
Commonly attributed — not confirmed in an authoritative edition. Cited on Wikiquote to: The Relation of the State to the Individual (1890).
English (original)
We designate by the term "State" institutions that embody absolutism in its extreme form and institutions that temper it with more or less liberality. We apply the word alike to institutions that do nothing but aggress and to institutions that, besides aggressing, to some extent protect and defend. But which is the State's essential function, aggression or defence, few seem to know or care.
— Benjamin Tucker
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