Thinkers with as different a view of the world as Sigmund Freud and Mikhail Bakunin have been struck by the fact that the role of the state is to assert a monopoly on crime. Individuals get medals, promotions, and honors by committing the same acts for the state for which they would be hanged or imprisoned in any other circumstances. […] The very meaning of sovereignty which states guard so jealously is the magical power to decide what is or is not a crime.                       —Richard J. Barnet, Roots of War: p. 13.Read More