How did politicians ever come to believe this weird idea that the law could be made to produce what it does not contain -- the wealth, science, and religion that, in a positive sense, constitute prosperity? Is it due to the influence of our modern writers on public affairs?

Present-day writers -- especially those of the socialist school of thought -- base their various theories upon one common hypothesis: They divide mankind into two parts. People in general -- with the exception of the writer himself -- from the first group. The writer, all alone, forms the second and most important group. Surely this is the weirdest and most conceited notion that ever entered a human brain!

In fact, these writers on public affairs begin by supposing that people have within themselves no means of discernment; no motivation to action. The writers assume that people are inert matter, passive particles, motionless atoms, at best a kind of vegetation indifferent to its own manner of existence. They assume that people are susceptible to being shaped -- by the will and hand of another person -- into an infinite variety of forms, more or less symmetrical, artistic, and perfected.

Moreover, not one of these writers on governmental affairs hesitates to imagine that he himself -- under the title of organizer, discoverer, legislator, or founder -- is this will and hand, this universal motivating force, this creative power whose sublime mission is to mold these scattered materials -- persons -- into a society.

These socialist writers look upon people in the same manner that the gardener views his trees. Just as the gardener capriciously shapes the trees into pyramids, parasols, cubes, vases, fans, and other forms, just so does the socialist writer whimsically shape human beings into groups, series, centers, sub-centers, honeycombs, labor corps, and other variations. And just as the gardener needs axes, pruning hooks, saws, and shears to shape his trees, just so does the socialist writer need the force that he can find only in law to shape human beings. For this purpose, he devises tariff laws, tax laws, relief laws, and school laws.

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目录(75章)

Preface

Life Is a Gift from God

What Is Law ?

A Just and Enduring Government

The Complete Perversion of the Law

A Fatal Tendency of Mankind

Property and Plunder

Victims of Lawful Plunder

The Results of Legal Plunder

The Fate of Non-Conformists

Who Shall Judge?

The Reason Why Voting Is Restricted

The Answer Is to Restrict the Law

The Fatal Idea of Legal Plunder

Perverted Law Causes Conflict

Slavery and Tariffs Are Plunder

Two Kinds of Plunder

The Law Defends Plunder

How to Identify Legal Plunder

Legal Plunder Has Many Names

Socialism Is Legal Plunder

The Choice Before Us

The Proper Function of the Law

The Seductive Lure of Socialism

Enforced Fraternity Destroys Liberty

Plunder Violates Ownership

Three Systems of Plunder

Law Is Force

Law Is a Negative Concept

The Political Approach

The Law and Charity

The Law and Education

The Law and Morals

A Confusion of Terms

The Influence of Socialist Writers

The Socialists Wish to Play God

The Socialists Despise Mankind

A Defense of Compulsory Labor

A Defense of Paternal Government

The Idea of Passive Mankind

Socialists Ignore Reason and Facts

Socialists Want to Regiment People

A Famous Name and an Evil Idea

A Frightful Idea

The Leader of the Democrats

Socialists Want Forced Conformity

Legislators Desire to Mold Mankind

Legislators Told How to Manage Men

A Temporary Dictatorship

Socialists Want Equality of Wealth

The Error of the Socialist Writers

What Is Liberty?

Philanthropic Tyranny

The Socialists Want Dictatorship

Dictatorial Arrogance

The Indirect Approach to Despotism

Napoleon Wanted Passive Mankind

The Vicious Circle of Socialism

The Doctrine of the Democrats

The Socialist Concept of Liberty

Socialists Fear All Liberties

The Superman Idea

The Socialists Reject Free Choice

The Cause of French Revolutions

The Enormous Power of Government

Politics and Economics

Proper Legislative Functions

Law and Charity Are Not the Same

The High Road to Communism

The Basis for Stable Government

Justice Means Equal Rights

The Path to Dignity and Progress

Proof of an Idea

The Desire to Rule over Others

Let Us Now Try Liberty