Now Since Man Is Naturally Inclined To

We Cannot Doubt That Self-interest Is The Mainspring Of Human Nature. It Must Be Clearly Understood That This Word Is Used Here To Designate A Universal, Incontestable Fact, Resulting From The Nature Of Man, And Not An Adverse Judgment, As Would Be The Word Selfishness.

Law Is Justice. In This Proposition A Simple And Enduring Government Can Be Conceived. And I Defy Anyone To Say How Even The Thought Of Revolution, Of Insurrection, Of The Slightest Uprising Could Arise Against A Government Whose Organized Force Was Confined Only To Suppressing Injustice.

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.

This Question Of Legal Plunder Must Be Settled Once And For All, And There Are Only Three Ways To Settle It: (1) The Few Plunder The Many. (2) Everybody Plunders Everybody. (3) Nobody Plunders Anybody.

Who Then Would Not Like To See These Benefits Flow Upon The World From The Law, As From An Inexhaustible Source? But Is It Possible? Whence Does The State Draw Those Resources That It Is Urged To Dispense By Way Of Benefits To Individuals? Is It Not From The Individuals Themselves? How, Then, Can These Resources Be Increased By Passing Through The Hands Of A Parasitic And Voracious Intermediary?