“But the state lies in all the tongues of good and evil; and whatever it says it lies; and whatever it has it has stolen.”
– Friedrich Nietzsche, The New Idol
I’ve got to get around to revising my Definitions page. One change I need to make is from George Washington’s “Government is force” to Isabel Paterson’s “Force is what is governed,” quoted in my last post. Another is to subtract my assertion that “ruling is itself intrinsically criminal, and is the essence of the State.” We are each of us necessarily rulers. We are not only the judges but the authors of the law. But this does not imply a subjective chaos:
The great experience of the forest consists of the encounter with the Ego, with the self, with the inviolate core and essence that sustains the temporal and individual appearance. This encounter, so decisive for the conquest of health and for the victory over fear, is also supreme in its moral value. It leads to the primal basis of all social intercourse, to the man whose example defines individuality. In this sphere we will encounter not only community but also identity. This is the symbolic meaning of the embrace: the Ego recognizes itself in the other human being in the saying, ”This is you.” The other can be the beloved, the sufferer, or the helpless victim. In giving help, the Ego helps its own immortal essence and confirms the basic ethical order of the universe.
That leaves as the essence of the State lies and theft.