The Servile State · Chapter
Endnotes explained
The endnotes provide clarifications on the use of 'collectivist' versus 'socialist', illustrate the fall in purchasing power of money and its impact on the Crown, discuss the role of politicians in trust formation, define property as means
What happens
The endnotes provide clarifications on the use of 'collectivist' versus 'socialist', illustrate the fall in purchasing power of money and its impact on the Crown, discuss the role of politicians in trust formation, define property as means of production, critique illusions about natural forces and capital, note the selective feasibility of confiscation based on public morality, apologize for geometric metaphors, trace the transformation of wealth through state redistribution, and highlight the emergence of status-based legislation through contrasting legal cases.
Themes in this chapter
The Replacement of Contract by Status
The endnote contrasts legal liability based on social status (working man vs. professional) illustrating the shift from contract to status.
Moral Contradiction Between Legal Theory and Social Reality
The selective feasibility of confiscating breweries versus railway stock highlights moral contradictions in capitalist society.
Poverty as the Engine of Servitude
The transformation of wealth through state measures (e.g., Inebriates Bill, Insurance Act) shows how poverty drives servile legislation.
Characters to notice
- Unknown
The narrator provides explanatory notes and commentary throughout the endnotes.
- Henry VIII
Mentioned as a benchmark for purchasing power: £1 under Henry VIII purchased what £3 would under Charles I.
- The Crown
Noted as having customary receipts but competitive expenses, leading to financial strain.
- Europeans
Implied as the 'we' in discussions of trusts and legislation.
- Collectivism
Referenced in the special sense of the word 'collectivist' as distinct from 'socialist'.
Key passages
“The purchasing power of money fell during this century to about a third of its original standard. £3 (say) would purchase under Charles I the necessities which £1 would have purchased under Henry VIII.”
Inflation reduced the value of money so that what cost £1 in Henry VIII's time cost £3 under Charles I.
Illustrates the Crown's financial difficulties due to fixed income and rising expenses.
“Before any trust is established in this country, the first step is to 'interest' one of our politicians.”
To form a trust, you must first bribe a politician.
Critique of political corruption in the formation of monopolies.
“Thus you can raid the brewers in a society half-Puritan where brewing is thought immoral by many, but proceed to railway stock and it will be a very different matter.”
Confiscation is easier when the industry is morally suspect, but not when it is seen as legitimate.
Highlights the moral selectivity of state expropriation.
“If I contract to write for a publisher a complete History of the County of Rutland, and in the pursuit of that task, while examining some object of historical interest, fall down a pit, I should not be able to recover against the publisher. But if I dress in mean clothes, and the same publisher, deceived, gives me a month's work at cleaning out his ornamental water and I am wounded in that occupation by a fierce fish, he will be mulcted to my advantage, and that roundly.”
A professional writer injured on the job cannot sue, but a manual laborer similarly injured can recover damages, showing status-based legal treatment.
Demonstrates the replacement of contract by status in liability law.
