The King vs. The Steward

The economic trader earns. The State official takes. The State can take many forms, and this will always be true. It is always the political organization of some rulers’ interests; the monopoly of force and law. While this is the defining form of all States, one difference of form is in ownership.

The King personally owns the political apparatus of the State. When the State apparatus expands, the King’s personal estate expands. He is a direct owner.

The Steward is just that, a steward of the State apparatus.

Consumption and Time Preference

In direct ownership of the State, the distinction between ruler and ruled is clear. Responsibility, in the eye of the ruled, is a simple matter of pointing one’s finger to the Ruler and his chosen acolytes. The ruler in the direct ownership State has less options (than the Steward) to point those fingers elsewhere.

In stewardship of the State, various bureaucrats and representatives consume the State apparatus. The ruled can become the ruler if the established protocol and requirements are met. In this way, the line between ruler and ruled is blurred. Partly, this is due to the ever-changing paradigm of who is taking and who is extorted. Another reason is that the bureaucracies of the stewardship State become larger and ever more complex, as it is in the subjects’ interests to become the rulers or expand the State to include themselves into those ranks. As a result of the line being blurred between ruler and ruled, the Steward is more inconspicuous than the King. The Steward, because of his lack of ownership, can “get away with more.”

Due to this ownership difference, one State Official will have longer time preferences than another State Official. The King is not elected. He has his life to rule (if he can protect himself from the State’s two fears), and possibly even heirs to inherit his estate. He has an incentive to consume the State apparatus at lower rates and in more conspicuous ways than the Steward. The Steward, whether elected or a career Official, ensures that once his term or occupation ends, he can no longer consume the State apparatus as directly as when he was in direct power. This is what leads to insider trading, lobbying, and similar shenanigans.

He has an incentive to consume now. This is as opposed to the King, who does not.