The market is characterized by human cooperation. Statism is characterized by violence. The two can’t exist simultaneously. Therefore, statism is the enemy of cooperation. Society is the outcome of peaceful cooperation. It must destroy any peaceful actions to claim to improve anyone’s standard of living. Societies don’t automatically form. They need humans to cooperate. Humans create societies through peaceful action.
Peaceful action is what separates man from beast. Society would never form if peaceful action didn’t improve our standard of living. The division of labor exists because man recognizes his standard of living will be higher with cooperation. Man doesn’t have to turn into Aristotle or Goethe to recognize this. This is the nature of man. This isn’t the nature of a few. Statism seeks to destroy peaceful cooperation and the nature of man.
The advantages from peaceful cooperation are universal. It’s not a win-lose situation. It’s a win-win situation. However, it’s more than a win-win situation. Society benefits and descendants benefit as well. The division of labor is progressively enlarged. The division of labor must be protected from parasites. There will always be those intent on using violence. Those seeking to live off the benefits of division of labor.
The parasite must resort to violence to achieve his ends. Someone is always harmed. Either one individual can be harmed or society at large. Those asocial individuals must be punished so the rest of society can cooperate. Society will be destroyed when the punishers punish peaceful individuals and not the asocial ones. Coercion must be used but it must be restricted to those intent on disturbing peace.
The peaceful individuals must realize certain actions don’t benefit them. The best remedy is education. Statism must divide mankind into two classes, the overlords and the masses. The overlords are living at the expense of the masses. Anything the overlords design is unrealizable. It’s a nonexistent utopia. It’s a dystopia in real life. Any step towards the overlord’s utopia is a step towards de-civilization.
Reference
Ludwig von Mises; Human Action