Murray Rothbard explained that “if you wish to know how libertarians regard the State and any of its acts, simply think of the State as a criminal band, and all of the libertarian attitudes will logically fall into place.” For a New Liberty exhorted readers to see the State not as just another piece of social technology but as a parasitical enemy that guides its actions by however it can best exploit us. This essay argues that the picture we have of the State will decide which normative and descriptive facts strike us as salient. Once you see Rothbard’s picture, you can’t unsee it.

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