Statism thrives on the illusion of necessity.  Its premise is simple: without centralized control, society would descend into chaos.  If people could rationally cooperate and calculate for themselves, the elaborate machinery of state intervention would be redundant.  Yet, the state perpetuates its existence through a narrative of indispensability, branding itself as the ultimate arbiter of wisdom and morality.  They tell us we are incapable of self-governance, too ignorant to manage our lives.  Are they not mere mortals, subject to the same flaws and vices as the rest of us?  Statism is not sober reason, it is intoxicated presumption.

Statists fear what they fail to grasp: the intricate dance of voluntary human cooperation that underpins every productive endeavor.  They benefit from the fruits of this cooperation yet resent the very mechanisms that make it possible.  Producers, vilified as selfish, are accused of greed for desiring to retain their own property.  Meanwhile, those who advocate expropriation are praised as virtuous.  Does this not strike you as absurd?  Taking what belongs to another is not justice.  It’s parasitic greed dressed in the garb of compassion.

Over time, the state’s influence has expanded into every facet of life.  Each incursion is justified as a safeguard for our own good, as if we are perpetual children incapable of making decisions.  Intellectuals and media mouthpieces serve as the state’s enablers, reinforcing the notion of the public’s inadequacy.  They participate in a grand swindle, promising progress while delivering stagnation.  When politicians speak of progress, it means regression for the masses and advancement only for the privileged few.  Their “progress” is not a forward march, it’s a calculated retreat from liberty.

True societal progress emerges from the free interplay of individuals, not from the heavy hand of political decrees.  When the state intervenes, it undermines genuine advancement, substituting coercion for voluntary cooperation.  “Crony capitalism”—which isn’t capitalism—flourishes as the state partners with select corporations, not to foster innovation but to stifle competition.  This collusion, misnamed “economic policy,” chokes economic life.  In a free market, exchanges benefit both parties.  Under statism, the exchange benefits only the powerful, leaving the individual exploited and diminished.

Statism erodes the human spirit.  It weakens individuals and communities, making them dependent on the very entity that causes their hardship.  The state’s solution to its manufactured crises is always the same: more control, more confiscation, more destruction.  What was once meant to protect property now exists solely to confiscate it, creating a vicious cycle where each seizure fuels further aggression.  These contradictions are not sustainable.  They will either be resolved, or they will lead to society’s collapse.

How do we confront this destructive force?  The answer is deceptively simple: defend private property.  Property is the cornerstone of freedom, the bulwark against state overreach.  Yet, defending it in an era of widespread hysteria is no easy task.  Statists are quick to attack property rights—as long as it’s not their own.  Overcoming this requires more than appeals to emotion.  It demands a revolution of ideas.

Ideas have the power to reshape society.  The battle against statism is fundamentally a battle of narratives.  The statist myth must be countered with truth.  Though the current landscape appears grim, history has shown that ideas can shift, and societies can change.  It begins with rejecting the statist propaganda and proclaiming the principles of freedom.  Only then can we hope to replace control with cooperation, and collapse with renewal.

References

Ludwig von Mises; Socialism: An Economic and Sociological Analysis

Friedrich Nietzsche; The Will to Power