The quote below from Robert Higgs reminds us of why it is the state that is the enemy of all mankind. Regrettably, the Left focuses all of its attention on alleged oppression, whether real or imaginary, sponsored by all sorts of Isms, Archies, and Phobias. Yes, class exploitation really exists. Yes, ethnic rivalries and sectarian religious conflict can have dire social consequences. Yes, in-group/out-group conflicts can severely disadvantage marginal populations. But let’s not forget whose power comes from the barrel of a gun.

“Business corporations, even the biggest ones, do not send SWAT teams to crash into your home at night to kill you or members of your family; they do not compel you to purchase their goods and services on pain of being kidnapped and confined in a steel cage; they do not mount attacks on foreign countries whose leaders displease them; they do not drop atomic bombs on cities; they do not shower neighborhoods with cluster bombs, spray them with poisonous depleted-uranium ammunition, or incinerate them with white phosphorous artillery shells. They do not ram down your throat actions that you regard as abhorrent, forcing you to pay for them or even to participate in them; on the contrary, they strive to please you and win your ongoing patronage.

Why, then, do so-called progressives systematically seek to have the institutions that commit these crimes (and a host of others) oversee and dominate the business corporations, which do not commit such horrendous crimes. For a student of comparative institutions, the so-called progressive agenda flies in the face of reason and humanity. (Not that the so-called conservative agenda does not, mind you; but its absurdities are somewhat different.)”