Law becoming justification for violation

You might be shocked to learn how little regard I have for the law.

Or, maybe you wouldn’t.

This doesn’t mean I approve of harming others, their property, or their rights; quite the opposite. It just means I recognize the law for what it is. Instead of being protective, the law has become the most common excuse used to violate people. Laws, and the state that imposes them, are the opposite of civilization; they are anti-social.

As Lao Tzu observed over 2,500 years ago: “The more laws and restrictions there are, the poorer people become.”

America is there. Maybe not so poor, economically — although so much poorer than we could be otherwise — but poor in spirit.

There are only two kinds of law: the unnecessary and the harmful; it could be argued they are the same.

Laws prohibiting murder or theft are unnecessary; such laws are irrelevant to your right to defend yourself and others from the acts in question. And any law that restricts your human right to live as you see fit, as long as you don’t violate others, is actively harmful.

More and more, laws are the justification for violations; exempting certain people from consequences of being the violator, as long as they are acting on behalf of the law.

The disconnect between legal and right has gotten so large it is finally being noticed by ordinary people.

To say “There ought to be a law” is to plunge another knife into the chest of society. To support the laws that already exist is to twist one of those knives a little more.

It’s also dangerous. The more tightly controlled any system becomes, the greater the likelihood of catastrophic collapse from unexpected events — no room is left for adapting. If modern America isn’t yet to the point where everything not forbidden is mandatory, you can see it from here.

Where does this leave people room to learn to make right choices? It doesn’t.

Too many people think “Is it legal?” instead of “Is it right?,” from a lifetime of training.

If every decision is already made for you by a law, it’s easy to believe that’s what you should do. No thought required. Ethics and morals become obstacles.

If forced to live in a wheelchair, your leg muscles will waste away. If propped up by multitudes of laws, your moral sense and your ethical radar will waste away in exactly the same manner.

I prescribe some exercise, instead.

Farwell’s Kent McManigal champions liberty. Contact him at: [email protected]