On Politics Part Four — The Paradox of Law

When all the men in a tribe or neighborhood or region combine in their efforts to drive off raids and pirates and interlopers, the natural confusion which would otherwise result requires that they follow a single sovereign power as leader, and the natural depravity of man predicts that the sovereign be tempted to exploit the loyalty of his followers for the advantage of himself, his clan, his favorites, his gods and his greeds.

This then is the central paradox of law and the central task of politics: to arrange the laws so that the sovereign is strong enough to protect the innocent from criminals and invaders, but at the same time to restrict or restrain the sovereign to protect the innocent from him.

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Originally published at John C. Wright's Journal. Please leave any comments there.