#9. “There’s no way to rule innocent men. The only power any government has is the power to crack down on criminals. Well, when there aren’t enough criminals, one makes them. One declares so many things to be a crime that it becomes impossible for me to live without breaking laws. Who wants a nation of law-abiding citizens? What’s there in that for anyone? But just pass the kind of laws that can neither be observed or enforced nor objectively interpreted – and you create a nation of law-breakers – and then you cash in on guilt.”
― Ayn Rand, Atlas Shrugged
Rand echoes Tacitus here, who argued that the more corrupt a state, the more numerous the laws. The laws of the United States are so numerous now that everyone commits three felonies a day. This is the way that government can selectively enforce the law against anyone, anytime they please. Boston civil liberties lawyer Harvey Silverglate said that “Since the New Deal era, Congress has delegated to various administrative agencies the task of writing the regulations,” even as “Congress has demonstrated a growing dysfunction in crafting legislation that can in fact be understood.” Now thanks to the FDA, the FCC, the FAA, and all the other agencies, everyone is in violation of some law, somewhere.
