If there were no State, with its legitimized monopoly on the use of initiatory and coercive violence, what would stop some greedy capitalist from forming his own army? Libertarian anarchists will often tell you that this sort of thing basically can’t happen in the absence of a State, because without the centralized apparatus of control to hijack, any would-be super villain would have to build his own State from scratch. This is highly unlikely for the simple fact is that wars are never profitable – unless you can force someone else to finance it. And you can’t force someone else to finance your war unless you already control them.

“I think it’s extraordinarily dangerous when a nation begins to outsource its monopoly on the use of force and the use of violence in support of its foreign policy or national security objectives,” says veteran U.S. Diplomat Joe Wilson, who served as the last U.S. ambassador to Iraq before the 1991 Gulf War.

You’re damn right it’s extraordinarily dangerous! Private contractors now outnumber U.S. force in Iraq by a wide margin, doing everything from peeling potatoes to acting as security personnel for the Military’s top brass. (via STR)

And I’d be willing to wager that the typical Mercenary earns far more than the typical G.I., else there wouldn’t be such a shortage of enlistees – this is elementary. The government has no problem paying market price for mercenaries, but can’t be bothered to do the same for its own.

Bear in mind that all those guns and munitions that you’ve supplied through your tax dollars, “for your protection,” are first and foremost pointed right back at you. And through the politics of pull, these mercenary armies have been able to hijack that threat of force, turning you and me into their financiers. Apparently the State is no impediment to this “corporate-army” chimera, either – even though that’s what its apologists will argue. On the contrary, it is the absolute power wielded by the State, which permits it to funnel your hard-earned income to über-top-secret paramilitary groups like Blackwater, to effect unpopular wars without democratic (or legal) repercussions.

…Another myth bites the dust.