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"Did you really think we want those laws observed?" said Dr. Ferris. "We want them to be broken. You'd better get it straight that it's not a bunch of boy scout

"Did you really think we want those laws observed?" said Dr. Ferris. "We want them to be broken. You'd better get it straight that it's not a bunch of boy scouts you're up against... We're after power and we mean it... There's no way to rule innocent men. The only power any government has is the power to crack down on criminals. Well, when there aren't enough criminals one makes them. One declares so many things to be a crime that it becomes impossible for men to live without breaking laws. Who wants a nation of law-abiding citizens? What's there in that for anyone? But just pass the kind of laws that can neither be observed nor enforced or objectively interpreted – and you create a nation of law-breakers – and then you cash in on guilt. Now that's the system, Mr. Rearden, that's the game, and once you understand it, you'll be much easier to deal with." ('Atlas Shrugged' 1957)

johnny22 15y ago
quoting fiction doesn't help your case.
- johngalt 15y ago
  How about non-fiction? http://www.amazon.com/Three-Felonies-Day-Target-Innocent/dp/1594032556 http://www.amazon.com/Three-Felonies-Day-Target-Innocent/dp/...
  - anigbrowl 15y ago
    I'm a fan of that particular legal theorist, but I think you'll need to go a bit farther than merely mentioning the title, which refers to life in the USSR under communism. He's not saying that everyone in the US is actually committing 3 felonies a day, but rather arguing for tort reforms, better sunset provisions, and a more responsive legislative process. A great deal of law finds its way onto the books because 'it seemed like a good idea at the time,' and very often such laws are the result of populist pressure. Some are engineered by people with selfish motives, many are simply misguided.
    - Bo102010 15y ago
      I don't think you've read this book.
guelo 15y ago
The fact that this law is being pursued in the interest of private corporations, namely the music and movie industries, makes the evil government conspiracy argument invalid. This is about corrupt ineffective government, not evil mastermind government.
- anonymoushn 15y ago
  I'm not sure the "evil government conspiracy" argument and the "evil corporations conspiracy" argument are mutually exclusive. In Atlas Shrugged (I know, it's terrible that I suggest anyone actually read that book, but bear with me) the problem is almost exactly as you observed: Some companies are able to write the law, and everyone else loses. I've spent a fair amount of time around left/right libertarians and anarchists, and it bothers me that they spend so much time debating this. One side will say "The problem is the evil corporations," and the other will say "The problem is that the government has too much power," but the argument is pointless because they are both correct.
  - narrator 15y ago
    The thing is is that corporations and governments are composed of individual humans and many times their interests are intertwined. For instance, as anyone who's studied the financial crisis knows, there are plenty of people in the SEC who used to work for big wall street firms or got very cushy high paid wall street jobs after they leave the SEC. Thus, the wall street firms were not prosecuted for their possibly illegal practices during the financial crisis. The government vs the private sector is just a false conflict to divert your attention away from the individual actors with lucrative ties to the entertainment industry in the public and private sector who are driving this.
- CWuestefeld 15y ago
  If you think that the quote regards an evil mastermind, and not a corrupt and ineffective government, then you haven't read the book. Those bad guys may have thought that they were being evil masterminds, but (spoiler alert) in the end, they wind up as king nothing, as civilization falls to pieces around them.
- 15y ago
danssig 15y ago
25% of all imprisoned people are already in US jails. I think more ways to go to jail is the last thing the US needs.

johnny22 15y ago

quoting fiction doesn't help your case.

johngalt 15y ago
How about non-fiction? http://www.amazon.com/Three-Felonies-Day-Target-Innocent/dp/1594032556 http://www.amazon.com/Three-Felonies-Day-Target-Innocent/dp/...
- anigbrowl 15y ago
  I'm a fan of that particular legal theorist, but I think you'll need to go a bit farther than merely mentioning the title, which refers to life in the USSR under communism. He's not saying that everyone in the US is actually committing 3 felonies a day, but rather arguing for tort reforms, better sunset provisions, and a more responsive legislative process. A great deal of law finds its way onto the books because 'it seemed like a good idea at the time,' and very often such laws are the result of populist pressure. Some are engineered by people with selfish motives, many are simply misguided.
  - Bo102010 15y ago
    I don't think you've read this book.

guelo 15y ago

The fact that this law is being pursued in the interest of private corporations, namely the music and movie industries, makes the evil government conspiracy argument invalid. This is about corrupt ineffective government, not evil mastermind government.

anonymoushn 15y ago
I'm not sure the "evil government conspiracy" argument and the "evil corporations conspiracy" argument are mutually exclusive. In Atlas Shrugged (I know, it's terrible that I suggest anyone actually read that book, but bear with me) the problem is almost exactly as you observed: Some companies are able to write the law, and everyone else loses. I've spent a fair amount of time around left/right libertarians and anarchists, and it bothers me that they spend so much time debating this. One side will say "The problem is the evil corporations," and the other will say "The problem is that the government has too much power," but the argument is pointless because they are both correct.
- narrator 15y ago
  The thing is is that corporations and governments are composed of individual humans and many times their interests are intertwined. For instance, as anyone who's studied the financial crisis knows, there are plenty of people in the SEC who used to work for big wall street firms or got very cushy high paid wall street jobs after they leave the SEC. Thus, the wall street firms were not prosecuted for their possibly illegal practices during the financial crisis. The government vs the private sector is just a false conflict to divert your attention away from the individual actors with lucrative ties to the entertainment industry in the public and private sector who are driving this.
CWuestefeld 15y ago
If you think that the quote regards an evil mastermind, and not a corrupt and ineffective government, then you haven't read the book. Those bad guys may have thought that they were being evil masterminds, but (spoiler alert) in the end, they wind up as king nothing, as civilization falls to pieces around them.
15y ago

danssig 15y ago

25% of all imprisoned people are already in US jails. I think more ways to go to jail is the last thing the US needs.