"In empires and kingdoms, Tocqueville noted, the power of the authorities was absolute, often capricious, and dangerous. But the king's armies could not be everywhere. And his agents tended to be thin on the ground. Most people living under these forms of government had very limited contact with the authorities. Taxes were low. Regulations few. And the regulators themselves often lived in fear of being strung up by a mob. The king's grip may have been awful, but his reach was short." Bill Bonner
This is all consistent with Jouvenel's analysis, who pointed out that the Middle Ages were probably the most libertarian epoch in the history of Western civilization.
