On the record
It persuades it to think out mean and petty expedients for the enforcement of the law in the same way as its subjects think out mean and petty expedients for its evasion.
Said by
Harold J. Laski
Source
gutenberg.orgHarold J. Laski: “It persuades it to think out mean and petty expedients for the enforcement of the law in the same way as its subjects…”
Editor's note · Context
This statement highlights the irony of how both authorities and citizens resort to petty tactics in response to ineffective laws.
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More from Harold J. Laski
Ultimately, that denial is always made upon the same ground: it is insisted that the doctrines or practices attacked are subversive of the civil order.
We grant it in religion to deny it in politics; we grant it in politics, to deny it in economic matters.
It has been the historic character of persecution always to degrade the persecutor and to strengthen the persecuted by drawing attention to their claims.
Each age finds that the incidence of freedom is significant at some special point, and there, once more, the lesson of freedom has to be learned.
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