No Legal Plunder: This Is The Principle

Ah, You Miserable Creatures! You Who Think That You Are So Great! You Who Judge Humanity To Be So Small! You Who Wish To Reform Everything! Why Don't You Reform Yourselves? That Task Would Be Sufficient Enough.

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. It Is Evident, Then, That The Proper Purpose Of Law Is To Use The Power Of Its Collective Force To Stop This Fatal Tendency To Plunder Instead Of To Work. All The Measures Of The Law Should Protect Property And Punish Plunder.

I Find It Hard To Understand Why Those Who Demand Unitary Education By The State Do Not Also Demand A Unitary Press By The State... Either The State Is Infallible, In Which Case We Could Not Do Better Than To Submit To It The Entire Domain Of Intelligent Thought, Or It Is Not, In Which Case It Is No More Rational To Hand Over Education To It Than The Press.

If Every Person Has The Right To Defend - Even By Force - His Person, His Liberty, And His Property, Then It Follows That A Group Of Men Have The Right To Organize And Support A Common Force To Protect These Rights Constantly. Thus, Since An Individual Cannot Lawfully Use Force Against The Person, Liberty, Or Property Of Another Individual, Then The Common Force - For The Same Reason - Cannot Lawfully Be Used To Destroy The Person, Liberty, Or Property Of Individuals Or Groups.

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.