Republicans typically run on a call for law and order. Is it law and order when there’s riots in Kenosha and Portland and Milwaukee? Is it law and order when poverty exists and its ill effects trickle down into our families and our communities, creating crime and a sense of dread and hopelessness? Is it law and order when women have to resort to prostitution to get by and men resort to violence and drugs to stay afloat? The answer is no. This is not law and order. This is law, not order. What we need is order, not law.
By “order, not law” I am referring to government law. Government law is what causes disorder and chaos. When there is government law, there is no peace. What we need is natural law which I wrote about in “Defense in a Stateless Society.” If the natural law is allowed to exist untouched, then there will be order and peace and liberty.
Government law puts women in prison for prostitution, keeping mothers and daughters away from their families; puts drug users in prison, preventing them from getting help for their addiction and could make it worse; prevents the little guy from making it in the world, ensuring the continued domination of corporations. When riots happen because of government law, it always increases power with new laws. When more start, it demands more power. Did the first set of new laws not stop this? It wasn’t able to prevent riots the first time. How can we be sure these new laws will help? We can’t because it will never be satisfied and there will always be new laws because the old ones just never seem to be enough.
The police follow government law, not natural law. They’ll always be on its side. That’s why you don’t see cops who are anarchists or libertarians. The police will even ally with right-wing militias who also embrace government law. Now, this does not mean police are bad. We need police. However, we need private police (as written in “Defense in a Stateless Society”). These police will follow the natural law and there will be so many of them that the competition will keep prices low and quality high. This will lead to cops who won’t kill or act out of line, unlike the monopoly that is the public police.
Law and order are not possible. There can be law. There can be order. There can never be law and order. Government law is the antithesis of order and if there is no order, there is no liberty. We need to emphasize order, not law. It is a rebuke of that tired idea of law and order. It is a belief in true liberty. It is a belief that we need natural law. We don’t need unnatural, government law.
