liberalism marxism and the state · liberalism, marxism, and the state ralph raico. individual...

LIBERALISM, MARXISM, AND THE STATERalph Raico

Individual property rights, and freedomofexchange. Nowhere—noteven In England or America—was this system consistently realizedIn every aspectofeconomic life. Yet, as thegreatAustrianeconomistLudwig von Mlses (1927, p. 1) put it, It was enough to change thecountenance ofthe world, For the first time, mankind was able toacnnns tha Malf4un~ianinn 3 W44. tL~annrmnue lnnraa.a In nnnnln..

state as the instrument ofdomination by exploiting classes that aredefinedby their position within the process ofsocial production, forexample, the capitalists. The state Is simply “the executivecommit-teeofthe rulingclass.” Sometimes, however, Marxcharacterized thestate Itselfas theIndependentlyexploiting agent InThe EighteenthBnsmalre ofLouis Bonaparte, Marx considered the stateas it devel-

;;-;~ r;;;;;irt;aa ;wi;’aa;pioneers in the theory ofrent seeking.5 For these reasons, I thInk Itis worthwhile brieflyto sketch the views ofthese liberals.

Class Conflict Theory and the FrenchI

doctrine Industrlaiisme.’°The greatest Influence on theIndustrialists was Jean-BaptisteSay.

Say (1815,p.14) held that wealth Iscomposed ofwhat has value,andvalue is based on utility:

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gles between theplunderIng and theproducing classes. Feudalisi,for instance, was essentially a system fbrthe spollatlon ofdomesticpeasants bythe warrior elite of“noblemen.” With therise oftownsin the 11th century, one may even speak of two nations sharingthe soil of France: the plundering feudal elite and the productivecommoners ofthe towns.

no ionger tenoen to meir own businesses ana, m me elm, naa nomeansofsubsistence but the public treasury. Finally, governments,while burdening the producers with taxes, “have very rarely fir.nished society with the equivalent ofthe values theyreceIved fromIt Sr governing” (Dunoyer 1811, p. 124).

The Industrialist writers looked forward to “the extinction ofthe

capacity as hinctlonary, produces absolutely nothing; that, on thecontrary, he exists only on the productsofthe Industrious class; andthat he can consume nothing that has not been taken from theproducers.

True to the Industrialist concentration on the “economic factor,”Duuoyer (1819, pp. 15—118) surveyed “the Influence exercised on

uon cowu posswiy accommoaaw.. . . nereune wouiu easuy unu wepersonnei to govern twenty kingdoms” (Dunoyer 1819, p. 103).

The State and Class Conflict in Liberal TheoryThe concept ofclass conflict linked to the state is one thatperme-

ates thehistory ofliberalism from beginning to end. Itwas especially

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limited to the Sot Union. Administrations elected on platformsdemanding a reduction ofthe legions offunctionaries—whether inBrazil or the United States—seem somehow never to be able torealize theiroriginal Intentions. It was good ofDeputy Prime Minis-terLeonidI.Abalklntopolntoutthatthe U.S.DepartmentofAgricul.4...... k.... .........1........... at..... at.. c...a...s Q4... r,.........a...a...... n....

private nxjiw. Lu any lathe, wuat ‘a tins mcwwta.up UI tXI115U1JiCt~

lsm, this “mindless materialism,” ofwhich Havel—and many otherliterary intellectuals from eastcentral Europe—speak? Is It thepro-vision ofcompact-discelectronic systems to tens and soonhundredsoftnlllions, enabling them to listen to nearly concert ball perfoetversions ofthe music ofTchaikovsky, Shostakovich,and Rachmani-nov? Does it consist Inmakin2 available. In even’Western country.

growth ot Leviathan.

This description is one with which both the greatFrench liberals,whom I have discussed, and Karl Marx could have agreed. Thequestion remains: What realistic alternative exists to state-parasitism?The answer providedbya contemporary French scholar,fl...........AD........ilflCfl OC~ CI%

Euzent~Patricia J., and Maitin, Thomas I. “Classical Roots ofthe EmergingTheoryofRent Seeklng~The Contribution ofJean-Baptiste Say.”HistonjofPolitical Economy 16 (Summer 1984): 255-62.

Fitzgerald, S Ernest The High Priests ofWaste. New Yale Norton, 1972.Fukuyama, Francis. ‘the End of History?” The National Interest no. 16

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Distribution and Consumption of Wealth. 4thed~1880. Translated by C.11. Prlnsep. Reprint New York: Augustus M. llelley, 1964.

Thierry, Augustin. “Commentalre stir r&pnt do.Loisde Montesqulcu.” I.eCenseurEurnpêen 7(1818): 191—260.

Trevelyan, George MacaWay. The Life ofJohn Bright. London: Constable,1913.