From: Mike Lorrey (mlorrey@yahoo.com)
Date: Tue Jul 16 2002 - 17:39:49 MDT
Anders Sandberg wrote:
"On Tue, Jul 16, 2002 at 01:03:51PM -0700, Brian D
Williams wrote:
> > Is it still theft when 10's of millions are doing
it?
> > > Yes.
The real issue is, was it theft in the first place?
And if culture andlaw changes, is it still theft? And
perhaps most important, is itimmoral?
To a large extent theft is culturally constructed
(ouch, I hate sayingthings like that!): what is and
isn't theft is defined not by natural law but by
cultural norms - witness how taxation is accepted as
most as non-theft while libertarians consider it theft
but lack the cultural clout to make it so. "
Law isn't a 'cultural norm'. Sure, if you had a
national majority of crack addicts, crack would
certainly be legalized, but whether such a law or lack
thereof falls within natural law is a separate issue.
Just because something is a law doesn't make it right
from a point of political philosophy.
For example, there are a lot of laws that the States
can pass but that the federal government cannot,
specifically because of the 9th and 10th amendments.
As the SCOTUS has ruled, abortion is an issue for
states to decide.
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