“The state is God, deifies arms and prisons. The worship of the state is the worship of force. There is no more dangerous menace to civilization than a government of incompetent, corrupt, or vile men. The worst evils which mankind ever had to endure were inﬂicted by bad governments. The state can be and has often been in the course of history the main source of mischief and disaster.”

— Ludwig von Mises

Source: Omnipotent Government: The Rise of the Total State and Total War (1944), Chapter III: Etatism

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Ludwig von Mises62

austrian economist 1881–1973

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