We all know the modern political myth. Western "democracies" are self govering nations whereby "we the people" elect representatives who pass laws and a president (or prime minister) who executes them for the "common good," according to the "will of the people."

It all sounded plausible when government was relatively small and only skimmed three or four percent of the top of what the productive sector of the population produced. But over time, and especially in this century, the myth seems almost ludicrous. Not only do our supposed representatives appear to be acting against our interests, but opposite of the wishes of the people who elected them.

Trump is only the latest to campaign hard on something his supporters obviously wanted - an end to foreign wars, especially in the Middle East - and then do precisely the opposite of what he promised.

Let's not forget Barack Obama campaigned like a 20th century European socialist and then delivered a healthcare plan that amounted to forcing his constituents to buy the most expensive health insurance on the market from privately owned corporations and eliminating all the cheaper competition. 

In all sorts of ways, the behavior of elected and unelected government officials seems completely mysterious when viewed through the lens of the myth.

But what if there were another way to look at it? What if the state itself, even in republican form, has nothing to do with securing inalienable rights, administering justice, or anything else we're told it exists to do?

What if one could trace the origins of the state from its beginnings, not in political theory, but history itself, and discover it exists for another reason entirely?

Franz Oppeneheimer's classic, The State, Its History and Development Viewed Sociologically does precisely that. I talk about its relevance to the Iran War, Climate Change, and just about everything else dominating American political discourse on today's episode of Tom Mullen Talks Freedom. 
 

Watch Episode 226 here...

Tom Mullen is the author of It’s the Fed, Stupid and Where Do Conservatives and Liberals Come From? And What Ever Happened to Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness? 

 Tom