Natural Law ping!
“...But how is this legal plunder to be identified?
Quite simply.
See if the law takes from some persons what belongs to them,
and gives it to other persons to whom it does not belong.
See if the law benefits one citizen at the expense of another
by doing what the citizen himself cannot do without committing a crime...”
What are these two issues? They are slavery and tariffs. These are the only two issues where, contrary to the general spirit of the republic of the United States, law has assumed the character of a plunderer.
Slavery is a violation, by law, of liberty. The protective tariff (a duty or import tax) is a violation, by law, of property.
Even so today. We're still slaves in that the spoils of our labors, in totality, are not our own due to the income tax and more and more tariffs are being levied upon America's citizens under the auspices of global markets.
JMO
Thanks for the ping!
Love Bastiat!!