Seeing the State for What It Is

Writes Tim Tesluk:

In today’s Murray Rothbard article, Chuang-tzu is quoted as perhaps the first theorist to see the State as a brigand writ large: “A petty thief is put in jail. A great brigand becomes a ruler of a State.”

This just resonated so perfectly with a stone classic Bob Dylan song “Sweetheart Like You” (from the 1980 album “Infidels”, produced by no less than Mark Knopfler and Sly Dunbar, and on which the great – and greatly under-rated – Mick Taylor plays lead guitar) where in the third verse Dylan writes “Steal a little and they put you in jail, steal a lot and they make you king”.

Maybe you were thinking of this song when you posted Rothbard’s article. In any event, a timeless concept in timeless classic. And if you don’t know the song, check it out.

In his City of God, St. Augustine tells the story of a pirate captured by Alexander the Great. Alexander demands of him, “How dare you molest the seas?” The pirate replied, “How dare you molest the whole world? Because I do it with a small boat, I am called a thief. You, with a great fleet, molest the whole world and are called an emperor.” St. Augustine called this answer “elegant and excellent.”

UPDATE from Bill Fangio:

Lew, the Dylan quote sounded familiar. Then I remembered:

“Steal $100, they put you in stir. Steal a million, they call you sir.”–James Cagney in the movie “Never Steal Anything Small,” 1959.

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8:59 am on November 19, 2014