When Plunder Becomes A Way

It's Always Tempting To Do Good At Someone Else's Expense

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.

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.

Each Of Us Has A Natural Right, From God, To Defend His Person, His Liberty, And His Property.

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.