"The worship of the state is the worship of force. There is no more dangerous menace to civilization than a government of incompetent, corrupt, or vile men."
— Ludwig von Mises
The Worship Of The State Is
The worship of the state is the worship of force. There is no more dangerous menace to civilization than a government of incompetent, corrupt, or vile men.
About this quote
From Omnipotent Government: The Rise of the Total State and Total War (1944), written in American exile after Mises fled Austria in 1940. The book analyzed how etatism — the ideology of state supremacy — had transformed Germany from a liberal society into a totalitarian one. Mises directed this warning specifically at intellectuals who admired the efficiency of totalitarian states, arguing that government power is only as good as the character of those who hold it.
Source
Omnipotent Government (1944)