The Law Has Been Perverted

Either Fraternity Is Spontaneous, Or It Does Not Exist. To Decree It Is To Annihilate It. The Law Can Indeed Force Men To Remain Just; In Vain Would It Try To Force Them To Be Self-sacrificing.

The Impulses Of My Heart Are The Voice Of Nature, Which Is Never Mistaken. The Institutions That Stand In My Way Are Man-made And Are Only Arbitrary Conventions To Which I Have Never Given My Consent. In Trampling These Institutions Underfoot, I Shall Have The Double Pleasure Of Satisfying My Inclinations And Of Believing Myself A Hero

Now Since Man Is Naturally Inclined To Avoid Pain - And Since Labor Is Pain In Itself - It Follows That Men Will Resort To Plunder Whenever Plunder Is Easier Than Work. History Shows This Quite Clearly. And Under These Conditions, Neither Religion Nor Morality Can Stop It. When, Then, Does Plunder Stop? It Stops When It Becomes More Painful And More Dangerous Than Labor.

All You Have To Do, Is To See Whether The Law Takes From Some What Belongs To Them In Order To Give It To Others To Whom It Does Not Belong. We Must See Whether The Law Performs, For The Profit Of One Citizen And To The Detriment Of Others, An Act Which That Citizen Could Not Perform Himself Without Being Guilty Of A Crime. Repeal Such A Law Without Delay. ... [i]f You Don't Take Care, What Begins By Being An Exception Tends To Become General, To Multiply Itself, And To Develop Into A Veritable System.

Thus, If There Exists A Law Which Sanctions Slavery Or Monopoly, Oppression Or Robbery, In Any Form Whatever, It Must Not Even Be Mentioned. For How Can It Be Mentioned Without Damaging The Respect Which It Inspires? Still Further, Morality And Political Economy Must Be Taught From The Point Of View Of This Law; From The Supposition That It Must Be A Just Law Merely Because It Is A Law. Another Effect Of This Tragic Perversion Of The Law Is That It Gives An Exaggerated Importance To Political Passions And Conflicts, And To Politics In General.