It is a mistake to assume that government must necessarily last forever. The institution marks a certain stage of civilization-is natural to a particular phase of human development. It is not essential, but incidental. As amongst the Bushmen we find a state antecedent to government, so may there be one in which it shall have become extinct.

Social Statics; Or, The Conditions Essential to Human Happiness Specified, & the First of Them Developed (ed. 1873)