In “Why The State is Different“, Llewellyn H. Rockwell, Jr. says: “the state is the only institution in society that can impose itself on all of society without asking the permission of anyone in particular. You can’t opt out.”
This brings up a point that can be problematic to the unprepared libertarian. Statists assert that you can opt out because you can choose to leave one State and move to another, just as you can change land-lords. They claim that The State is essentially a land-lord. There are some rebuttals to this:
- No land-lord takes your money and then offers you a room (the quality of which may be questionable) as compensation; rather, it’s the other way around: landlords offers rooms of defined quality for a given price, and consumers can choose between one land-lord and another, depending on which one offers the best value.
- Land-lords acquired their property, which they are renting, via legitimate peaceful means, by voluntary contract. The State acquired control over the territory it rules via coercive violent means.
- Land-lords simply by virtue of being land-lords do not gain the right to initiate violence against anyone; they do not initiate violence against the bodily property rights of their tenants nor against tenants of other land-lords. Land-lords, in short, do not wage war against their tenants, other land-lords, and the tenants of other land-lords. State’s, however, wage war both against their own citizens, other States, and the citizens of other States.
- There are often restrictions on emigration and immigration; thus, individuals cannot necessarily choose which State to live in.
- Even there was free immigration and emigration, the choice of which State to live under would be like a choice among various mafia families.
- On a related note, the fact that those in a neighborhood ruled by mobsters can choose to live in another neighborhood does not justify or excuse the behaviour of the mobster, nor the criminal organization. Various States are essentially nothing more than massive mafia organizations.
