Bonus: Damon Binder on Economic History and the Future of Physics
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Is There a Difference Between State Power and Average Quality of Life?
In a neo-Malthusian world anything that seems good that allows the populations to grow is actually bad for the long run average welfare of the person. So states can make life worse for peasants by taxing them very harshly which has certainly happened many times. It can also I mean it can increase war by fighting a lot of wars with neighbors and things like this. But once a big state exists, it can enforce a kind of monopoly on violence and so that will reduce the amount of wars. Ironically this can make life Worse for the average peasant.
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