Slavery, Protection, And Monopoly Find Defenders, Not

Life, Faculties, Production-in Other Words, Individuality, Liberty, Property-this Is Man. And In Spite Of The Cunning Of Artful Political Leaders, These Three Gifts From God Precede All Human Legislation, And Are Superior To It.

The People Who, During The Election, Were So Wise, So Moral, So Perfect, Now Have No Tendencies Whatever; Or If They Have Any, They Are Tendencies That Lead Downward To Degradation. . . . If People Are As Incapable, As Immoral, And As Ignorant As The Politicians Indicate, Then Why Is The Right Of These Same People To Vote Defended With Such Passionate Insistence?

Everyone Wants To Live At The Expense Of The State. They Forget That The State Wants To Live At The Expense Of Everyone.

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.

But How Is This Legal Plunder To Be Identified? Quite Simply. See If The Law Takes From Some Persons What Belongs To Them And Gives It To Other Persons To Whom It Does Not Belong. See If The Law Benefits One Citizen At The Expense Of Another By Doing What The Citizen Himself Cannot Do Without Committing A Crime.