The common phrase “Might does not make right” resonates as a universal principle as it neatly relates the idea that being powerful does not inherently make one’s actions just. Most people intuitively agree with this concept. Indeed, suggesting otherwise would likely provoke suspicion and, if acted upon, condemnation. A person who justifies their actions solely on their power or strength would be seen as a bad actor and avoided by others.Yet this simple saying can tell us a lot more than just how we should act in our personal affairs and it contains useful truths for how a free or libertarian society can function in reality. After all, the use of the term “right” within the phrase implies the existence of an objective morality—an ethical framework independent of the power dynamics in any

An oft cited reason given for the need for the state is that it is the only means through which the poor can access sufficient welfare to relieve them from the harsh realities that can accompany their circumstances. Yet despite the promises made over many decades and the huge sums spent on state welfare programs, it is hardly clear that the needs of the poor have been sufficiently met, especially given the constant outcry for more resources and better programs. If it can be shown that in the absence of a state, purely voluntary or libertarian welfare options are just as good if not better in dealing with the problem of poverty, then this staple reason for people to assume the necessity of the state can fall away.We already know that a large portion of the population is generally supportive

What is the Mises Institute?

The Mises Institute is a non-profit organization that exists to promote teaching and research in the Austrian School of economics, individual freedom, honest history, and international peace, in the tradition of Ludwig von Mises and Murray N. Rothbard. Non-political, non-partisan, and non-PC, we advocate a radical shift in the intellectual climate, away from statism and toward a private property order. We believe that our foundational ideas are of permanent value, and oppose all efforts at compromise, sellout, and amalgamation of these ideas with fashionable political, cultural, and social doctrines inimical to their spirit.

People tend to think of a fair justice system as one of the cornerstones of a free and flourishing society. Yet most of us are resigned to the idea that it can only be delivered at the hands of the state. Rather than just accepting the status quo, perhaps we should question whether states are appropriate administrators of justice at all, and instead consider whether a state-free or libertarian approach to justice could work.The word “justice” comes from the Latin jus, meaning “right” or “law.” The Oxford English Dictionary defines the “just” person as one who “does what is morally right” and is disposed to “giving everyone his or her due.” Meanwhile, most people conceive of the state as a sovereign organization that exercises control over a defined territory without interference and on

Government and state are terms typically used synonymously these days. But if a state is an institution with a monopoly on the allowable use of aggression in a given territory, is a government always this as well? We know governing is needed in lots of private non-monopoly-wielding institutions, from large manufacturing corporations to local tennis clubs.

Modern minds are so oriented toward state power that people often fail to understand there is a better way. Instead of “thinking outside the box,” we should think outside the state.
Original Article: Thinking outside the State

It’s difficult to go very far these days without tripping over the state with its voluminous laws, regulations, departments, and agencies. The last few decades, and indeed the last few centuries, have seen the continual expansion of states into more and more aspects of our lives with both the left and right of politics having their own grand visions for its development. But is the state really the institution we ought to be banking on for our future, or is it time to consider how we can organize and solve problems without it?
When we talk about the state, most people conceive of a sovereign organization that exercises control over a defined territory without interference and on behalf of its citizens. Through its sovereignty it sets its own agendas, and through its control it is free to