Four Things the State is Not | Tom Woods

Archived from the live broadcast, this Mises University lecture was presented at the Mises Institute in Auburn, Alabama, on 24 July 2014.

[@stanleyvandermeer]

Tom in 2014: "That's not to say that the government couldn't figure out a way to make us all perfectly safe. I mean, they could lock us all in our homes." Come 2020...

[@Individual_Lives_Matter]

Exactly the comment I came to make. Prophetic almost, though we all should have seen something like it coming. We live in a safety first culture. Hopefully, we’ll snap out of it soon.

[@stanleyvandermeer]

@@Individual_Lives_Matter We'll snap out of it as soon as there is critical mass of enough individuals in society that make it their daily business in life to face their fears and thrive.

[@Individual_Lives_Matter]

@@stanleyvandermeer You we’re right. Though safetyism (self-imposed statism) still abounds it just has new targets, one of which is the unvaccinated.

[@connorism69]

I was just about to post about that quote :D.

[@oinkooink]

@@Individual_Lives_Matter Not going to happen

[@CountArtha]

This guy is so freaking sharp, it hurts.

[@landisgallagher]

CountArtha please don’t do drugs. Education saved me from drugs. Education of the poor is socialism

[@resmarted]

@@landisgallagher Tom Woods has a PhD

[@jimgrieser9381]

@@landisgallagher what does this mean lmao

[@morningstarx5340]

@@jimgrieser9381 I think he's on drugs

[@connorism69]

@@jimgrieser9381 It was nonsensical, so what it means is that it was public education.

[@earlye]

The missing table of contents: The government... 1) 1:33 ... is not and cannot be run like a business, because it is not a firm producing a product on the market. 2) 6:52 - .. is not "a public service agency that is committed to carrying out the common good, implementing the will of the people, populated by selfless crusaders for justice." 3) 21:15 - ... is not a problem solver. "Problems solved by the government, one of the world's shortest books." 4) 45:33 - ... is not an indispensable provider of services.

[@cron93]

how would we get descriptions of videos like this without the gubmint forcing you to post them?!

[@EarthSurferUSA]

Your mind, I fear, is a backward fantasy. "Gubmint" would not agree to any of those points.

[@taylorrathbone5638]

"Problems Solved By the Government" - The world's shortest book. I laughed so hard my coworkers were concerned for me.

[@kimberlywiederhold627]

The pages would all be blank.

[@dagwould]

An uncle of mine, a small businessman, quipped: if only the government could take over crime, it would grind to a halt and we'd all be much safer.

[@1x0x]

@@dagwould funny but government is actually the pinnacle of organized crime

[@misesmedicine]

Tom has become near Rothbardian in terms of his An-Cap wit and jokes. Really enjoy listening to him speak.

[@michaelwoodall7922]

49:10 - "They could lock us all in our homes." How prophetic.

[@anonymousAJ]

46:00 "They could lock us all in our homes..." Way to go Tom, thanks for the lockdown

[@JK360noscope]

The bastard! Murdered millions by giving them big ideas! 😢😅

[@robofclanlennox]

Tom is a talented speaker. This info and explanation is gold. Thanks Tom.

[@readrothbard153]

#returntothegoldstandard

[@brutuscassius1647]

The three most important things that the state is not: socially-beneficial, inevitable, or necessary. Hope to see it discredited & abolished in my lifetime, at least on some part of the earth.

[@beatsNstrings]

***** every successful invention or change in history is counter evidence to your point.

[@beatsNstrings]

***** i wasnt talkin about that. i was talking about the logic of calling the state inevitable. even though there has been periods and territories without the state before, plus communication technology never before dreamed of. slavery was inevitable and then finally people came around and now theres societies not built on pure slavery. yeah the internet etc was invented by military budgets. its safe to say they were in heavy competition with other governments though so the incentive problem is not as bad as it would be for internal projects.

[@beatsNstrings]

-with now decentralized communications and news and education systems, theres new possibilites that have never been tried, as far as regulations, reputations, and efficient ways to defend ourselves from theft and fraud. i dont see how you can claim absolute knowledge of a future with so many changed variables. besides, these govt institutions are killing people and destroying communities as we speak. it behooves us to explore all alternatives... as for your argument, it doesnt follow at all, or you are making a big leap saying (1) there will always be evil people (TF) there will always be dumb people in mass to oppose freedom..? naw, the existence of evil people does not necessitate the need for dumb people nor does it prove that evil people will always be able to brainwash them. besides, if the doctor told you that you had cancer, and he could cut it out, but it might grow back again down the line.. would you allow it to multiply or tell the doc to cut it out, then immediately start researching ways to prevent cancers!

[@IllicitGreen]

theres no state in somalia

[@BladeOfLight16]

Are you advocating for anarchy?

[@scotttydog4444]

Woods is the best ambassador for libertarianism.

[@3y3l33t]

Time 49:08 aged very well to those who just lived through 2020. Quite giving them idea Tom.

[@matthewmorter9679]

this speech is strong and concises. maybe the best one ive seen. good laughs too too :) thanks Mr. Woods!!

[@artic1260]

Tom woods is great can listen to him all day.

[@morningstarx5340]

"That isn't to say that the government couldn't find some way to make us safe. They could lock us in our homes." Oooff - nope, that didn't work either -2021

[@jakobm87]

I expected the number of bureaucrats to be 13. 13 guys frying wiener sausages over an open fire made of tax dollars.

[@PaterTenebrarum1]

Excellent presentation, thank you!

[@jamesbancroft2467]

1. a regulator (unless there’s fraud or it’s part of a government contract) of businesses 2. a distributor of subsidies or bailouts 3. a vehicle for any income redistribution or welfare 4. a tool for restricting freedoms some people don’t like

[@samuski36]

Fantastic speech!

[@ryanphillips4218]

Hypocrisy of private sector vs government accountability is perfectly exemplified by the fact that any corporate retail store manager with a break in will be at their store asap but Benghazi.....? still crickets on us leaving them there to die.

[@Dellboy255]

Thanks Mr. Woods!

[@jesusisalive2]

unfortunately, this material will take several generations , if it happens at all, to disseminate to a critical mass of people.

[@hawk8403]

+Chloelivi The government of a country isn't going to let you stop paying taxes and take over a plot of land. They know what kind of precedent that would set. Truly that is all that I want. I don't want any part of a collective anything like the US has become.

[@Trishific]

But, let's be optimistic and figure ways to increase the numbers on our side...financial backing of entrepreneurs in the media and tech industry (to compete against the "statists")who honor these values and will not betray their conscience is a start.

[@DaveMustaineShreds]

We plant trees so our grandchildren can enjoy their shade. This is the way.

[@shyama5612]

I've really enjoyed this talk. Enlightening and crisp presentation..

[@romaneremian7192]

most genius and awsome lecturer i heard ever!

[@dianaaugustine5438]

This reminds me of my experience with the police. I had a neighbor move in who loved to come home at 3am on weekday mornings and start blaring his music as loud as it would go. So naturally I looked up the city noise ordinance and decided that the situation was worth a call to the non-emergency police line. When the police showed up, they told me there was “Nothing we can do. Don’t call us again. If he wants to play his music, he will. We have more important things to do. You should just move.” Are you serious? He was breaking the law and I should move?

[@Individual_Lives_Matter]

If you lived in a high crime area, I don’t really blame them. Though I worked in a high crime area and we still took care of noise complaints.

[@Si_Mondo]

Let me guess.....you lived in New York.

[@namjignerak]

TIL,Washington monument syndrome, I noticed this before, but coined the word for this symptom.

[@dsaulw]

Tom's point about how to assess claims of government-provided safety applies well to its vaccination program as well. Mortality from the various infectious diseases was down drastically before the vaccines were developed. In fact, the ones which did not have vaccines for them died out too with improvements in sanitation and nutrition.

[@TheeBudGuru]

"She Couldn't Even Post-Dicked-It"!!!!! ROFLMAO!! That's a scream!

[@leonardticsay8046]

so funny that it had me yellin.

[@MegaJolaus]

i just want this guy as my neighbour

[@nabin9768]

I want this guy as my father.

[@comesahorseman]

👍👍 Still relevant today.

[@MrCarkyle]

The Government SHOULD be run like a business in that they should have to use persuasion rather than force for the things they want

[@seaofglass77]

It was a big ice cube!! I live this video much .

[@JosueTheBigot]

He smashed it!

[@janetthompson5696]

Fantastic, Dr. Woods! I recommend Terence Kealey's book "The Economic Laws of Scientific Research" as often as I can. The empirical evidence put forward is compelling. It's not difficult, then, to extrapolate the science example to other state-funded endeavours.

[@DHundrethMonkee]

Good talk.

[@jesusisalive2]

It is a hard thing to grasp at first, but now it seems so obvious. What is the best way to help newbies quickly 'get it' ?

[@BenjaminFavre29]

Best way is to get a job and pay taxes and not be a total tool

[@Nerd.Immunity.]

This is brilliant

[@kerbaman5125]

The "we live in a society" hits different now lol (56:20)

[@jkovert]

Perhaps the govt can't be run "as a business," but the separate and differing agencies and departments can certainly be tightened up and run more efficiently.

[@landisgallagher]

JW P efficiency is not capacity where it does its job. Efficiency could be incompetent

[@justinjozokos1699]

I was gonna make a comment about how the "They could lock us all in our homes" quote at 49:06 didn't age well, but it appears the whole comment section is already on that

[@GoldberryIsland]

Imagine if you had a relationship partner that did all the state does to you. Likely you wouldn't stand for it for long. Now here we are, why???

[@lycanmychances7926]

Guys pretty boss! Nice speech mate! Witty, informed, truth , right cause and Awaken! loved it! 23:51"Because i do that over there" LMAO Subbed

[@edwardhuff]

Anyone know if there is a transcript of this speech on the interwebs?

[@htttt9208]

tom said around 16:02 that the department of agriculture gets money from the war on drugs, does anybody know how?

[@user-og1fj8yo5x]

OMG, it's perfect

[@landisgallagher]

Владимир Хориков there is no perfection, rather approximation aiming toward the good

[@NickvanBast]

Amazing Speech.

[@RevoltingPeasant123]

Jesus. 49:10 was a bit prophetic.

[@tjohannam]

The state sounds like the mafia!

[@samuelnelson9463]

@@landisgallagher plato was not a good man, wise but amoral.

[@Si_Mondo]

@@samuelnelson9463 He was right about honest people though. They are generally hated.

[@erastvandoren]

What is the book he mentioned at the very end?

[@erastvandoren]

Never mind, found it: www.amazon.de/Economic-Laws-Scientific-Research/dp/0312173067

[@berlin36moto]

what if maching bands are the reason to go to the armee in the first place?

[@landisgallagher]

The military defended us from foreign god worshipping idols. Call it free market capitalism or oligarchy, the military saves us from true slavery

[@poetmaggie1]

I collected that 250 SS death payment but it was really a dumb thing, I thought so then, I still do. The check must have cost a lot more than 250 to issue.

[@PokerProTips.]

Other than getting it all wrong on Trump, mr Woods offers up some thoughtful insights.

[@Individual_Lives_Matter]

He may have been wrong but look what the bureaucrats did to Trump for running the country like a business. They were not happy and they were in constant opposition to what he was trying to do.

[@BobWidlefish]

50:16 killed me, 50:29! ;)

[@moshecohen5551]

can't believe the crowd missed the jerk store line kids...

[@TheSkoaler10]

I have had enough of the damn government I am going to do something about it.

[@Rabbit-el1cr]

49:10 who knows that would happen in 2020/2021

[@alanerkkila4213]

How come nobody ever talks about Shirley Chisholm any more.

[@cowboyx1970]

Agreed with him on number 1. The comparison of the archdiocese in NY is apples and oranges as he left out the rest of the church's bureaucracy.

[@Individual_Lives_Matter]

If he looked at the rest of the church’s bureaucracy, wouldn’t he have to look at the rest of NY’s bureaucracy? It’s entirely possible that I misunderstood what he was saying.

[@Weirdomanification]

@@Individual_Lives_Matter Nah you are right. Op probably has a vested interest in the public school system.

[@AngryDogPerformance]

@49:00 they COULD lock us in our homes…

[@marna_li]

People are more like the slavish ants they look down to with amazement and think they differ from. Now they got pissed off.

[@endthefed5304]

What about Luxotica , the Monopoly on eyeglasses?

[@testtube70]

What about them?

[@chrismathew2295]

There's an article by the Mises Institute on Luxotica: mises.org/library/monopoly-through-austrian-lenses Nothing to see here.

[@gorillamacgyver7411]

Skillsets....... skillsets

[@blakepettys28]

1:50 trump? Amirite?

[@AnarchistMetalhead]

gary johnson

[@CountArtha]

He means Romney, I'm sure. Still prophetic, though.

[@JayEllJayToo]

LOL! He was talking about Romney, but man. Would that we just had someone as tame as Romney running against Hillary....

[@blakepettys28]

+CountArtha I know Romney is similar. I was just pointing that out

[@immaculatesquid]

Blake Pettys Romney was a pussy neocon

[@JurijFedorov]

Lol, did this guy just predict the Trump presidency? Nothing gets past him.

[@Individual_Lives_Matter]

It’s funny that some of his biggest predictions in this (Trump and lockdowns) were just off hand remarks.

[@analoglibra]

I turned 18 in 1992.... my first election. I almost voted for perot. But, honestly, i knew nothing about government and politics in that era other than we were done with Bush Sr.

[@lisamontez7461]

I remember when I voted when i was misinformed. Now I wish i had not. It makes me mad to think that there are tens of thousands of americans who vote but have no idea why or for whom they should vote. They are just canceling out all the votes of the informed people. Now I do my research before i vote, as everyone should.

[@analoglibra]

Lisa Montez Indeed. I'll never make that mistake again.

[@Samsgarden]

Lisa Montez One person reached, seven billion to go

[@fredheuristic]

Homelessness has become the new war on drugs. Sink money in it with no actual results.

[@cronicjointpain1]

Patrick's Poop Ball Palace is having a Half Off sale on Poop Balls. For A Limited Time all 10 pounders are only $54.95 Act Now While Supplies Last! comes in three varieties. brown, green and with nuts

[@user-fl1cv8tm5t]

Привет

[@cronicjointpain1]

сацита алисултанова How Are Ya?

[@davidmaharaj6900]

Safety, brought to you by the biggest killers in the country.

[@aliquewilliams3080]

Why do you call government an "it"? Would be more sensible to say them or they.

[@TomWoodsTV]

American English refers to collective entities as "it."

[@landisgallagher]

Alique Williams when you depersonalize and don’t blame them as individuals you take away their humanity.

[@jonkelly2003]

He made the mistake of saying they have $500 million of marching bands.

[@CivilizedLibertarian]

Right, according to one analyst it is double that at $1 billion per year if you extrapolate over the next 50 years for inflation. It was a 2010 Washington Post article that calculated the military spends $550 million annually on all its bands. What a tragic "mistake" to understate his case by 10%.

[@QazzaAU]

didnt think economics would be funny lmao wait till he starts talking about bromine : 35:00 ish minutes

[@takingthelibertywithsam4470]

Is he talking about trump in the beginning? Lol

[@drewsimon9652]

Haha, I was thinking the same thing... I don't know though

[@htttt9208]

i dont think so cause i dont think trump had ever talked about running for president before 2014

[@drewsimon9652]

@@htttt9208 oh really? I didn't know that- I thought he had mentioned it on Oprah or other shows in the 2000s

[@klaptongroovemaster]

21 year Army Band veteran. Military musicians get fired.

[@poetmaggie1]

That trillion might be going to retirement payments.

[@Individual_Lives_Matter]

Wouldn’t they know that? Shouldn’t they?

[@ye333]

Dude looks a bit like von Neumann. 😂

[@tonhettema1005]

I think the audience is not up to the wit and quick mental process of the speaker. That is a pity. He is very well informed, has his facts straight, has excellent delivery, with humour and understatement, and overall gives very valuable information about the deceptions and hypocrisies of our beloved overlords: the government.

[@landisgallagher]

Ton Hettema I disagree respectfully but believe in your right to believe it or freedom of speech

[@SandfordSmythe]

Polished speaker. OK

[@landisgallagher]

Empirical examples are not statistically significant and statistics is the math of social scientists. The house always wins in cards and government.

[@Weirdomanification]

Nonsense

[@richardzellers]

Comment....or allusion to Trump in 2012 didn’t age well, LOL. Also, reference to military musicians not getting "fired" is wrong. I was a military musician and some of my colleagues were forced out.

[@dmcac1]

Lockdowns??

[@ye333]

Dude looks a bit lije von Neumann. 😂

[@TheEmptySki]

TRUMP!!! hahaha!

[@ancientflames6679]

49:12 aged... poorly.

[@Individual_Lives_Matter]

Poorly? He was right.