“Government,” Thomas Paine wrote in Common Sense, “even in its best state, is but a necessary evil; in its worst state, an intolerable one.” Such sentiments were widely shared among the more radical and idealistic members of the Founding generation, such as Paine, and have since been advocated by the likes of early libertarian theorists Lysander Spooner and Albert Jay Nock, many modern libertarians and anarcho-capitalists, and some left-wing strands of anarchism.

There are probably few contemplative souls who, at one time or another, have not wondered — given the long and mostly destructive history of government — whether humanity would not be better off with no government at all. After all, every experiment in limiting the power of government has failed in the long run. Even American limited constitutional government is very much in jeopardy of following ancient Rome into autocratic ruin. Many of the constitutionally mandated limits and checks on our federal government’s power have been set aside, and even state and local governments have been on an unprecedented growth spurt over the last few decades.

Not only that, even in its pristine form, the American body politic suffered from some significant flaws, most prominently the institution of slavery. In the course of eliminating chattel slavery, the United States fought a horrendously destructive, fratricidal war — and ushered in a new era of centralized executive power in Washington.

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