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Consent of the governed? Then rule of law is dead!
(lemmy.world)
I know most of y'all have heard of consent manufacturing, but I want to radicalize some American liberals. I got some fun slogans to use:
- Democracy is Dead; Law is Dead
- Law of Nature
- The Left was the Answer the Rich Killed
- No Law; No Order. No Justice; No Peace
- The Rich Killed America
- With Power 💰 Comes Responsibility
- Burn With Us
- Too Woke? Not Awake Enough
- Welcome to Hell: Sponsored by _________
- Never Forget What They Took From Us
- Only the Economy was Zero-Sum
- Blame the Rich
- Join Us in Pain
- They Made This Change Inevitable
- Democrats Failed
- Starve Peace and What Do You Feed?
- Never Forgive
- Fascism Kills Global Capitalism Too
- You Gave Trump More Than You Thought
- Self Care, Other Harm
- Make Reason to Live
I'm talking about laws formed from the democratic social contract. In a state of nature, there is no law except absolute freedom to do whatever is necessary to survive. You could reciprocate kindness, or take through violence. It's your fundamental right to do what you want, but also the fundamental right of everyone else too, including taking your freedom.
The social contract of a sovereign state has you giving up that fundamental right to a state that monopolizes violence. So long as you want it to protect you, you play by the laws out of self interest. The barrel of a gun remains should anyone step out of line, but you want to obey so others do too.
A democratic system is supposed to allow everyone to have a say in shaping it by popular demand. Ideally, we have final say in shaping the rules that bind us all. The more democratic, the more breaking the law overrides the will of others. Stop being bound? Stop getting protected.
America was never really a democracy for everyone; never once giving everyone a say. However, under Trump, not even party members will have a say anymore. If they're not loyal, they're out. That's how his fascism will operate. Unless you have the power to threaten his control, you will have no say whatsoever. IF you do have that power, Trump looks to take it away from you so no one can ever override his will.
The rich don't know it yet, but under Trump, they're giving up almost all of their power. So long as he has loyalists to operate the state, their property isn't really theirs. The liberal democracy protected their property, but now that protection is far more conditional.
So now, the state literally only serves a single person's will. Fascism isn't a contractual state, but a state of nature. Anarchy with a powerful monster on the lose. The rule of law is just the will of that monster, with no consistency beyond "I WIN!!!"
This is actually worse than feudal times where the state didn't have much reason to bother people, as they were less dependent on complex supply chains. The rich better get knights to protect their castles, cause this empire is not under their control.