But which is the State's essential function, aggression or defence, few seem to know or care.
Benjamin TuckerRead
Voting is merely a labor-saving device for ascertaining on which side force lies and bowing to the inevitable... It is neither more nor less than a paper representative of the bayonet, the bully, and the bullet.
Interpretation
What this quote means
Voting is a way to make decisions but ultimately reflects underlying power dynamics.
Benjamin Tucker's quote suggests that voting is not a true expression of democratic will but rather a tool that simplifies the process of determining which group holds power. He argues that it serves as a façade for violence and coercion, where the true forces at play are intimidation and physical might, rather than genuine consensus or agreement among the populace.
Themes
VotingPowerDemocracyPoliticsCoercion
In practice
Example use cases
This quote can be used during a political debate to emphasize the true nature of political power.
More from Benjamin Tucker
All quotes →The main question ... is not what motive inspired the law, but what it will be possible for men of bad motive to do with the law.
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There is no freedom that I would grant to any man that I would refuse to woman, and there is no freedom that I would refuse to either man or woman except the freedom to invade ... whoever has the ballot has the freedom to invade, and whoever wants the ballot wants the freedom to invade. Give woman equality with man, by all means; but do it by taking power from man, not giving it to woman.
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Government is the assumption of authority over a given area and all within it, exercised generally for the double purpose of more complete oppression of its subjects and extension of its boundaries.
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To force a man to pay for the violation of his own liberty is indeed an addition of insult to injury.
Benjamin TuckerRead
Anarchism does not repudiate the right of ownership, but it has a conception thereof sufficiently different from [others'] to include the possibility of an end of that social organization which will arise, not out of the ruins of government, but out of the transformation of government into voluntary association for defence.
Benjamin TuckerRead
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