About this item
Highlights
- In his opening paragraphs, Nock states that the expansion of the state comes at the expense of social power, shrinking the role of community.
- Author(s): Albert Jay Nock
- 106 Pages
- Philosophy, Political
Description
About the Book
The classic 1935 book by Albert Jay Nock.Book Synopsis
In his opening paragraphs, Nock states that the expansion of the state comes at the expense of social power, shrinking the role of community. Denying that the two are the same, he points out the historic origin of authoritarian government through conquering warlords and robber barons. This reflects the influence of Franz Oppenheimer on Nock, a key proponent of the conquest theory of the state.
"All the power it has is what society gives it, plus what it confiscates from time to time on one pretext or another; there is no other source from which State power can be drawn. Therefore every assumption of State power, whether by gift or seizure, leaves society with so much less power; there is never, nor can there be, any strengthening of State power without a corresponding and roughly equivalent depletion of social power...The positive testimony of history is that the State invariably had its origin in conquest and confiscation. No primitive State known to history originated in any other manner"
Nock is not attacking government, per se, but "The State", authority that violates society itself, claiming to rule in the people's name but taking power away from the community.
Review Quotes
How wonderful to have this book back in print! If any libertarian work is to graced with the word "classic," this is it. Nock was without a doubt one of the most learned and eloquent spokesmen for individual liberty who ever lived. Our Enemy, the State, published in 1935, combines history, politics social theory into a poignant appeal for natural rights, free markets, and peace. The style sores. The power of this work has never been matched.
This edition includes an extra treat: Nock's wonderful essay "On Doing the Right Thing," a profound affirmation of man's fitness for freedom and nobility. Also included here are two stunning pieces from Walter E. Grinder of the Institute for Humane Studies: an introduction on Nock's life and the meaning of his work, and a bibliography that anyone interested in liberty should be familiar with.
For Nock, the state is not some faceless institution that somehow appears and works its will mysteriously. Drawing on Franz Oppenheimer's The State, Nock notes that "the State invariably had its origins in conquest and confiscation" and is a tool used by one class to exploit another. Here he stands foursquare in the tradition of the earlier French classical-liberal class analysts Comte and Dunoyer, who originated the view that the State is the source of the classes that later came to be called taxpayers and tax-eaters.
The barely touches the surface of Nock's analysis, however, which is endlessly rich and powerful. Buy Our Enemy, the State; be inspired by it. You will read it many times. -- Sheldon L. Richman
Nock's Our Enemy, the State is a great and seminal work, in which Nock, in his justly renowned style, introduces the vital libertarian concepts of "State power" and "Social power," an applies them to American history. "Social power" is people freely creating and voluntarily exchanging and interacting, and is responsible for Western prosperity and civilization. "State power" is the age-old process by which force and theft combine to cripple and confiscate the fruits of Social power. Nowhere can the reader find a clearer or more forceful portrayal of the libertarian position than in this book.--Murray N. Rothbard in Laissez Faire Review -- Murray N. Rothbard in Laissez Faire Review --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.