The Power To Enforce Laws That Have Been Discovered

(by Eli Harman)

“Make lying illegal and you’ll outlaw the truth. So what other “LAWS” do you want to make? What other power do you want to give to those who have power?”

You misunderstand. My aim isn’t to give power, but to take it, and to hold it.

In specific, the power I seek is not that of MAKING laws, but of enforcing those that I DISCOVER to be conductive to human flourishing and cooperation, by such processes as shall prove most conducive to the discovery of such laws, meaning, in large part, distributed processes.

But that is not the whole part, because hierarchy and authority have their place too. Some conflicts are not decidable under law, because there may be no objectively “right” or “best” answer. But the role of authority is in pronouncing judgement in such cases, when there is nevertheless some benefit to being on the same page.

And in the never-ending clash and conflict between authorities, we must suppose truth, wisdom, and justice to confer some advantages, though not all will embody or exhibit them, and none perfectly.