If a thousand billionaires, out of all the hundreds of millions of capitalists in the world, have become the state, then it hardly seems like capitalism itself is the problem. And I agree with you that this has occurred. Where we differ is that I think the state was custom designed, from its very beginnings, to be run by the worst people with the worst motives. As you said, the scum rises to the top. In times past it was entitled royalty; under state communism it's the Party; in the modern industrialized world it's corporate oligarchy. Either way, the state itself is the vehicle (the only vehicle) that can be used by a small group of psychopaths to control entire populations of people. Rulers have generationally tricked us into consenting to be ruled, and it's going to take a lot of deconditioning to ever break out of those shackles. And I do think states are necessarily toxic, because in order to function, they must violate the core rule of morality, which is to not initiate force. No other type of human institution necessarily violates that rule. Not businesses, not churches, not neighborhood covenants; nothing except the state.

Thanks for your comments. I appreciate the discussion.