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> The state only exists to keep capitalist enterprise in check.

John Locke would disagree. The state exists to protect the rights of people and the public good. "Wherever Law ends, Tyranny begins."

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The state exists in it's current form because we don't trust private enterprise to perform those functions, otherwise we would. So you're agreeing with me, although I could have phrased it better.

And we don't trust private enterprise for good reasons. They're known under many names - tragedy of commons, coordination problems, collective action problems. One possible solution for all those, towards which all societies in history gravitated so far, is the state.

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