Liberty Classics
An Unavoidable Theory of the State
When the dust settles, Anthony de Jasay's The State1 will probably be recognized as one of the great books of the 20th century. It may be the most serious and subversive challenge to state authority ever written. That this book is not banned must be proof that we are not living under real tyranny or at least under intelligent tyrants. Or perhaps the powers-that-be are confident that few people can understand the book, the more so as "snowflakes" become scared of intellectual challenges. Anthony de Jasay is an economist born in Hungary, educated in Australia and England (Oxford), and living in France. He does not have a Ph.D. and is affiliated with no university, which makes him a rarity from the viewpoint of the very structured U.S. academic world. He pursued his academic interests after a career in finance, and has since written several important books and articles. He is one of today's most original political thinkers. He does not fit into any ready-made ideological category....