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<h1>Authority - Consent's Blind Spot</h1>
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<div class="header-meta">
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<author>Joshua Seigler</author><date>July 2, 2020</date>
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<span class="tags" style="--totalTags: 11"
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><a class="tag" style="--tagIndex: 0" href="/tags/ethos">ethos</a>
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<header class="toc">
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<span class="toc">
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<ol>
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<li>
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<a href="#solutions"> Solutions</a>
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<ol>
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<li>
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<a href="#look-for-ways-to-sidestep-authority-altogether.">
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Look for ways to sidestep authority altogether.</a
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>
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</li>
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<li>
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<a
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href="#teach-other-people-how-to-see-these-tricks-more-clearly."
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>
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Teach other people how to see these tricks more clearly.</a
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||
>
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</li>
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<li>
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<a href="#promote-alternatives-that-respect-consent.">
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Promote alternatives that respect consent.</a
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||
>
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</li>
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<li>
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<a href="#use-the-ceremonies-of-authority-against-itself.">
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||
Use the ceremonies of authority against itself.</a
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||
>
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</li>
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<li>
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<a
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||
href="#surround-yourself-with-people-who-care-about-consent."
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||
>
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||
Surround yourself with people who care about consent.</a
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||
>
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||
</li>
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</ol>
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</li>
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<li><a href="#additional-resources"> Additional Resources</a></li>
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</ol>
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</span>
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</header>
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<main data-pagefind-body="data-pagefind-body">
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<blockquote>
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<p>
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2025 disclaimer: I haven’t thought through all these ideas in a while,
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but I probably would change some of this or soften/rephrase it.
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</p>
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</blockquote>
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<p>
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Consent occurs when an individual voluntarily agrees to the proposal or
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desires of another. It comes from the concept that who should decide
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what happens to your person, is you.
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</p>
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<p>
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There are two ways people interact: with consent, and without it. Some
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people care a lot about consent, but overall, most take whichever route
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is easiest, or more convenient.
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</p>
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<p>
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People respect consent in most of their face-to-face dealings with
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others. Violating someone’s consent in person is usually met with
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resistance, possibly very strong resistance with a long-lasting impact.
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But there are covert ways to violate consent, so that the target must
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not notice the violation—or if they do notice, they must be unable to
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determine who is to blame.
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</p>
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<p>
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Pretty much everyone has had circumstances where they did something
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because another person, or group of people, compelled their compliance.
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Classic examples include paying taxes, being drafted, and avoiding
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certain activities, beliefs, or substances.
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</p>
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<p>
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Here are some popular excuses for violating consent that you may have
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seen:
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</p>
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<blockquote>
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<p>I am actually helping you.</p>
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</blockquote>
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<blockquote>
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<p>
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You like some of the things I do, so you must accept this as well.
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</p>
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</blockquote>
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<blockquote>
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<p>Everyone else lets me do this.</p>
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</blockquote>
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<blockquote>
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<p>Everyone else said it was okay if I do this.</p>
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</blockquote>
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<blockquote>
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<p>I am doing this, but someone else is responsible for my actions.</p>
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</blockquote>
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<blockquote>
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<p>You agreed to this by being born here.</p>
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</blockquote>
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<blockquote>
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<p>I am allowed to do this.</p>
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</blockquote>
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<p>
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That last one combines all the others into one argument, called
|
||
authority. This is the idea that certain people are justified in
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violating consent. Usually there is a vaguely religious ceremony
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associated with the granting of authority—something like a holy
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document, large gatherings of people, formal outfits, or important
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sounding titles.
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</p>
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<p>
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Sometimes consensual relationships are described as involving authority,
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such as a boss at work having “authority” over an employee—but the
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difference is clear: if the boss says to do something but the employee
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no longer consents, they could exit that relationship.<br />
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Sometimes people refer to an expert as an “authority” on a certain
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matter, but this definition is also not of use here. I refer to
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authority here as the ability to act upon another’s person, without
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regard for consent.
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</p>
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<p>
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One problem with authority is that all the people on earth are humans.
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There’s nobody better than humans who would obviously deserve special
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treatment, nor is there some obviously superior category of human, so
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||
people expect some excuse for how an ordinary person obtains authority.
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||
</p>
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||
<p>
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||
In certain belief systems, the excuse was “God chose me and made me
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||
worthy.” Contemporarily, the claim is based on “the will of the people”.
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||
Whoever wins a special regional popularity competition is considered to
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||
have authority over everyone in that region, even people who disagree.
|
||
</p>
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||
<p>
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||
You would think acting on someone in a way they don’t allow is
|
||
difficult, but people are impressed by ceremonies of authority, and they
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||
are confused by the way everyone involved claims that their actions are
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someone else’s responsibility. Even if people manage to see through the
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||
tricks they are usually still afraid to resist authority out of a belief
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||
that nobody will help them. So almost everyone obeys.
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</p>
|
||
<h2 id="solutions" tabindex="-1">
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||
<a class="header-anchor" href="#solutions" aria-hidden="true"></a>
|
||
Solutions
|
||
</h2>
|
||
<p>Once you have seen through this trick, what can you do?</p>
|
||
<h3 id="look-for-ways-to-sidestep-authority-altogether." tabindex="-1">
|
||
<a
|
||
class="header-anchor"
|
||
href="#look-for-ways-to-sidestep-authority-altogether."
|
||
aria-hidden="true"
|
||
></a>
|
||
Look for ways to sidestep authority altogether.
|
||
</h3>
|
||
<p>
|
||
Since very few people accept <em>absolute</em> authority, there are all
|
||
kinds of limitations to its scope. If you can find ways to move your
|
||
activities to areas of life that are not “covered” by authority, you
|
||
will be able to ignore it more.
|
||
</p>
|
||
<ul>
|
||
<li>
|
||
<a
|
||
href="https://theconsciousresistance.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/01/How_to_Opt_Out_of_the_Technocratic_State.pdf"
|
||
target="_blank"
|
||
rel="noopener"
|
||
>How to Opt Out of the Technocratic State (PDF)</a
|
||
>
|
||
by Derrick Broze
|
||
</li>
|
||
<li>
|
||
<a
|
||
href="http://www.kopubco.com/pdf/An_Agorist_Primer_by_SEK3.pdf"
|
||
target="_blank"
|
||
rel="noopener"
|
||
>An Agorist Primer (PDF)</a
|
||
>
|
||
by Samuel Edward Konkin III
|
||
</li>
|
||
<li>
|
||
<a href="https://www.seasteading.org/" target="_blank" rel="noopener"
|
||
>The Seasteading Institute</a
|
||
>
|
||
</li>
|
||
</ul>
|
||
<h3
|
||
id="teach-other-people-how-to-see-these-tricks-more-clearly."
|
||
tabindex="-1"
|
||
>
|
||
<a
|
||
class="header-anchor"
|
||
href="#teach-other-people-how-to-see-these-tricks-more-clearly."
|
||
aria-hidden="true"
|
||
></a>
|
||
Teach other people how to see these tricks more clearly.
|
||
</h3>
|
||
<p>
|
||
Relatively few people claim to have authority. If even a moderate
|
||
fraction of people resist authoritarian demands, it becomes impossible
|
||
to compel them all by force.
|
||
</p>
|
||
<ul>
|
||
<li>
|
||
<a
|
||
href="https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL4jzSARXHuuwhBfzGNYhSVE4gJ8zmRnTH"
|
||
target="_blank"
|
||
rel="noopener"
|
||
>Playlist: Thomasz Kaye Animations</a
|
||
>
|
||
</li>
|
||
<li>
|
||
<a href="https://fee.org/stories" target="_blank" rel="noopener"
|
||
>Foundation for Economic Education</a
|
||
>
|
||
</li>
|
||
</ul>
|
||
<h3 id="promote-alternatives-that-respect-consent." tabindex="-1">
|
||
<a
|
||
class="header-anchor"
|
||
href="#promote-alternatives-that-respect-consent."
|
||
aria-hidden="true"
|
||
></a>
|
||
Promote alternatives that respect consent.
|
||
</h3>
|
||
<p>
|
||
For every authority-based solution to a problem, there is a more
|
||
effective consensual solution, and usually the consensual way of doing
|
||
things is already being used somewhere, and has lower costs and better
|
||
outcomes.
|
||
</p>
|
||
<ul>
|
||
<li>
|
||
<a
|
||
href="http://daviddfriedman.com/The_Machinery_of_Freedom_.pdf"
|
||
target="_blank"
|
||
rel="noopener"
|
||
>The Machinery of Freedom (PDF)</a
|
||
>
|
||
<a
|
||
href="http://daviddfriedman.com/The_Machinery_of_Freedom.prc"
|
||
target="_blank"
|
||
rel="noopener"
|
||
>(Ebook)</a
|
||
>
|
||
<a
|
||
href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jTYkdEU_B4o"
|
||
target="_blank"
|
||
rel="noopener"
|
||
>(Video)</a
|
||
>
|
||
by David D Friedman
|
||
</li>
|
||
</ul>
|
||
<h3 id="use-the-ceremonies-of-authority-against-itself." tabindex="-1">
|
||
<a
|
||
class="header-anchor"
|
||
href="#use-the-ceremonies-of-authority-against-itself."
|
||
aria-hidden="true"
|
||
></a>
|
||
Use the ceremonies of authority against itself.
|
||
</h3>
|
||
<p>
|
||
If someone with authority asks your opinion on some topic, steer them
|
||
away from choices that violate consent. It may even be appropriate to
|
||
support people who seek positions of authority if you believe they will
|
||
prevent it from being used, but don’t be surprised if their encounter
|
||
with power changes their values.
|
||
</p>
|
||
<ul>
|
||
<li>
|
||
<a href="https://lp.org/" target="_blank" rel="noopener"
|
||
>Libertarian Party</a
|
||
>
|
||
</li>
|
||
</ul>
|
||
<h3
|
||
id="surround-yourself-with-people-who-care-about-consent."
|
||
tabindex="-1"
|
||
>
|
||
<a
|
||
class="header-anchor"
|
||
href="#surround-yourself-with-people-who-care-about-consent."
|
||
aria-hidden="true"
|
||
></a>
|
||
Surround yourself with people who care about consent.
|
||
</h3>
|
||
<p>
|
||
If you know the people around you care about consent, then when someone
|
||
claiming authority makes demands of the community, it will be much safer
|
||
to ignore the demands since you would not be alone.
|
||
</p>
|
||
<ul>
|
||
<li>
|
||
<a href="https://www.fsp.org/" target="_blank" rel="noopener"
|
||
>Free State Project</a
|
||
>
|
||
</li>
|
||
</ul>
|
||
<h2 id="additional-resources" tabindex="-1">
|
||
<a
|
||
class="header-anchor"
|
||
href="#additional-resources"
|
||
aria-hidden="true"
|
||
></a>
|
||
Additional Resources
|
||
</h2>
|
||
<ul>
|
||
<li>
|
||
<a
|
||
href="https://spot.colorado.edu/~huemer/1.htm"
|
||
target="_blank"
|
||
rel="noopener"
|
||
>The Problem of Political Authority (Chapter 1)</a
|
||
>
|
||
<a href="https://amzn.to/2AyQxw0" target="_blank" rel="noopener"
|
||
>(Amazon)</a
|
||
>
|
||
by Michael Huemer
|
||
</li>
|
||
<li>
|
||
<a
|
||
href="https://ia601208.us.archive.org/27/items/236222899TheMostDangerousSuperstitionLarkenRose2011/the-most-dangerous-superstition-larken-rose-20111.pdf"
|
||
target="_blank"
|
||
rel="noopener"
|
||
>The Most Dangerous Superstitition (PDF)</a
|
||
>
|
||
by Larken Rose
|
||
</li>
|
||
<li>
|
||
<a
|
||
href="http://bastiat.org/en/the_law.html"
|
||
target="_blank"
|
||
rel="noopener"
|
||
>The Law</a
|
||
>
|
||
by Frédéric Bastiat
|
||
</li>
|
||
</ul>
|
||
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