“The individualistic conception of the State as some external authority exercising a malign influence upon the life of the community is a travesty of fact. The State is that form of organised society which has evolved through the process of the ages, and represents the aptitude for freedom and self-government to which any people has attained. The policeman and the soldier, for example, who are at the call of the landlord or the employer when tenant or workman becomes turbulent, exist by the will and under the express authority of those same tenants and workmen, who constitute a preponderating majority in the State, and without whose consent neither soldier nor policeman could continue to exist.”

— Keir Hardie

Source: From Serfdom to Socialism (1907), p. 6-7

Adopted from Wikiquote. Last update June 3, 2021. History

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Keir Hardie 14

Scottish socialist and labour leader 1856–1915

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Variant translation:
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Keir Hardie 14

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