Terrorism as ‘the essence of government’

The arrest of a 19-year-old suspect who allegedly planned a terrorist attack at a Taylor Swift concert in Vienna brings with it some lessons in light of what Auberon Herbert, a student of Herbert Spencer, wrote in 1894. The suspect, an Austrian citizen “with North Macedonian roots,” who reportedly pledged allegiance to Islamic State, apparently with the intention of attacking the crowd with knives and explosives. (To see “Teenager confesses ‘Isis’ attack plan against Taylor Swift concerts,” Financial timesAugust 8, 2024; And “Taylor Swift terror suspects planned to use bomb-filled car at concert, authorities say,” Wall Street JournalAugust 8, 2024).

Auberon Herbert was a British individualist-libertarian anarchist, although he called his philosophy ‘voluntaryism’ and rejected the anarchist label. The European anarchists of his day were mostly communists and often terrorists who blew things up to speed up revolution. In his Contemporary review article, “The Ethics of Dynamite” (reproduced in The right and wrong of state coercionLiberty Fund, 1978), Auberon Herbert argued that the “dynamites” (the terrorists) were not really against the government:

Perhaps for the sake of some of my friends, who are somewhat imprudently inclined to glorify this word “governing” without thinking of all that it implies, I should at once translate the term so often on our lips as: which I think is its true meaning: to impose one’s own will and pleasure, whatever they may be, if one happens to be the strongest, on other persons. … Dynamite is not against the government; on the contrary, it is government in its most intensified and concentrated form. … [Dynamite] is a purer essence of government, more concentrated and intensified than ever before practiced. It is a government in a nutshell, a government stripped, as some of us claim, of all its cherished fictions, ballot boxes, political parties, House of Commons speeches and the rest of it. How, indeed, is it possible to govern more effectively, or in a shorter form, than to say, “Do this—or don’t do this—unless you wish to have a pound of dynamite placed in your ground tomorrow night?” floor study.” It is the perfection, the ne plus ultra, of the government.

Speaking of the terrorists, he addressed the governments of his time:

Here is your own child. This is what your doctrine of deified power leads to, this is what your disregard for human rights leads to, this is what your possession of men and women leads to.

This was at a time when Western governments were much less powerful than those of today. Certainly, the latter are still far from being able to defeat Islamic State and many other tyrants in the world. Still, we might consider a hearing in the Senate on another issue related to Taylor Swift, but especially on the administration’s dirigiste crusade against so-called monopolies and market inefficiencies – a claim that, coming from the governmentis difficult to take seriously (“Senate hearing on Ticketmaster’s Taylor Swift Meltdown: five tips,” Wall Street JournalJanuary 25, 2023):

Live Nation Entertainment Inc. faced questions from lawmakers in Washington on Tuesday during a Senate hearing following Ticketmaster’s failed ticket sales last year for Taylor Swift’s upcoming tour. …

Senators from both political sides of a divided Congress came together to criticize Ticketmaster, with Democrats and Republicans calling for a reexamination of Live Nation’s market power.

Individual freedom and private property are necessary to prevent social conflict or Leviathan. Give people who love Taylor Swift the freedom to patronize her concerts, if they or others can fund them. Those who don’t like Taylor Swift or don’t enjoy fun should abstain. And let people who want to go to Taylor Swift concerts buy their tickets from whoever organizes these concerts or acts as an agent of the organizers or has tickets to resell.