On Parasites
Render no share to Caesar—in a word,
I am too proud to be a parasite
And Wendy McElroy writes today:
The most profound truths are simple ones – sometimes deceptively so. . . .
In his pivotal book, The State, the sociologist Franz Oppenheimer (1864-1943) stated the basis of libertarian class analysis in fundamental terms. He presented two opposing principles upon which society functioned: the economic means and the political means.
. . .
The organization of the economic means was called “Society.” Oppenheimer wrote, “I mean by Society, the totality of concepts of all purely natural relations and institutions between man and man.” The organization of the political means was called “the State.” He wrote, “I mean by it that summation of privileges and dominating positions which are brought into being by extra-economic power.” Society and the State were in basic and constant conflict with each other. This one insight forms the basis of libertarian class conflict and analysis. Do you belong to the productive and peaceful class, known as Society, or do you belong to the parasitic and violent class, known as The State?
. . .
In an admirably accessible manner, Oppenheimer’s The State explains the dynamics set in motion by the political means. It is in the nature of parasites to multiple and drain ever more of the hosts’ resources. As the political means comes to dominate, those using the economic means see diminishing return from their productivity and, so, they have little incentive to produce beyond subsistence. Why should they labor to feed a thief? Society stagnates, leaving less for the parasite to siphon. And, so, inherent within the State is its own demise.
. . .
Follow
