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 coznfx rated 25 months ago - I am truly surprised that our bushy Amerikan government hasn't tried to elinimate this article (and the ideas it superbly advocates) from existance.
The author, John Hasnas, an Associate Professor of Law at George Mason University, brilliantly demonstrates how law, as developed and maintained ...
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2 Reviews
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- alexko rated 25 months ago
- From the page: "I would argue that this ability to maintain the belief that the law is a body of consistent, politically neutral rules that can be objectively applied by judges in the face of overwhelming evidence to the contrary, goes a long way toward explaining citizens' acquiescence in the steady erosion of their fundamental freedoms. To show that this is, in fact, the case, I would like to direct your attention to the fiction which resides at the heart of this incongruity and allows the public to engage in the requisite doublethink without cognitive discomfort: the myth of the rule of law."
- coznfx rated 25 months ago
- I am truly surprised that our bushy Amerikan government hasn't tried to elinimate this article (and the ideas it superbly advocates) from existance.
The author, John Hasnas, an Associate Professor of Law at George Mason University, brilliantly demonstrates how law, as developed and maintained by the State (meaning government ... ANY government!), is not necessarily needed to maintain "order" in a society! Further, he establishes the fact that in our American legal system, opposing viewpoints on just about ANY controversy in any court can each be shown simultaneously to be legally valid, correct and proper!! Talk about your Orwellian double-speak at work!
NOTE: This is a long article, but worth the read. Also, the author IS an Associate Professor of Law, so expect LOTS of "big words."
From the page: (Boldface emphasis is mine) "I refer to the myth of the rule of law because, to the extent this phrase suggests a society in which all are governed by neutral rules that are objectively applied by judges, there is no such thing. As a myth, however, the concept of the rule of law is both powerful and dangerous. Its power derives from its great emotive appeal. The rule of law suggests an absence of arbitrariness, an absence of the worst abuses of tyranny. The image presented by the slogan "America is a government of laws and not people" is one of fair and impartial rule rather than subjugation to human whim. This is an image that can command both the allegiance and affection of the citizenry. After all, who wouldn't be in favor of the rule of law if the only alternative were arbitrary rule? But this image is also the source of the myth's danger. For if citizens really believe that they are being governed by fair and impartial rules and that the only alternative is subjection to personal rule, they will be much more likely to support the state as it progressively curtails their freedom.
In this Article, I will argue that this is a false dichotomy. Specifically, I intend to establish three points: 1) there is no such thing as a government of law and not people, 2) the belief that there is serves to maintain public support for society's power structure, 3) the establishment of a truly free society requires the abandonment of the myth of the rule of law."
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