Occasionally throughout the 20th century, commentators have clearly recognized the coercive nature of government. But alas, it is efficacious because it is involuntary. What matters is not the rhetoric in the speeches of politicians but rather the power in the hands of prosecutors and law-enforcement agents.
Governments rest upon the statute book.
The essence of a law is the threat of government force to compel obedience to a legislative or regulatory edict. The first question is not whether government is good or evil, but whether government is coercive - whether government relies on force to fill its coffers, enforce its commands, and impose its will. To get a clear understanding of the pervasive use and threat of force in daily government actions is the first step towards political realism. Few issues make the nature of the state clearer than taxation. The average American worked until May 10 in 1998 simply to pay his taxes, according to the Tax Foundation.