Failing Tao, man resorts to Virtue.
Failing Virtue, man resorts to humanity.
Failing humanity, man resorts to morality.
Failing morality, man resorts to ceremony
–Translated by John C.H. Wu, Tao Teh Ching, Chapter 38, Page 85.
I very much love that chapter.
Athenian: “We ought not to have said that the legislator laid down his rules with an eye on only a part of virtue, and the most trivial part at that. We should have said that he aimed at virtue in its entirety, and that the various separate headings under which he tried to frame the laws of his time were quite different from those employed by Modern legal draftsmen. Each of these invents any category he feels he wants, and adds it to his code. For instance, one will come up with a category on ‘Inheritances and Hieresses’, another with ‘Assault’, and others will suggest other categories ad infinitum.”
–Translated by Trevor J. Saunders, Plato, The Laws, Book I, p. 54, Penguin Classics Edition
That’s why in my view why English law and American law in particular with the written constitution is more realistic and better suited to deal with reality than continental law:
cf American Law Institute Restatements – 50 laws of contract
– Restatement of Contracts 2d
– Uniform laws e.g Uniform Commercial Code • But all except Louisiana common law
• Some differences between States’ laws remain
Functional approach
– Strip away different terminology, concepts – Base Principles on outcomes
Whereas, the continent, the eu:
Uses of soft law ‘Principles’
Basis for EU or national legislation
Use as “soft law”
– Express adoption by parties
• Cannot replace national law
– Incorporate into contract, subject to mandatory rules
• But arbitration under non-national rules
Source:
English and continental contract laws: key differences
Hugh Beale Hugh.Beale@warwick.ac.uk
Did you ask why the major tech giants, e-commerce giants etc are American?
To me it’s based on the laws., especially the contract laws, the laws of free association between different parties.
Without certainty there’s no firm basis for business activity.
Without a firm basis, you cannot build a skyscraper.
At present, the European Union is a free association of sovereign states (a de facto, but not de jure, confederation) designed to further their shared aims.
Where am I going with this? How does it tie to magic?
Law is by its very nature conservative and evolves later most other fields.
That’s why in some Eastern European, middle eastern and African societies witches are persecuted to this day.
The English common law system allows law to advance quicker on a-case-by-case basis, with previous precedent guiding, but not completely determining, future cases, making law more adaptive flexible and stronger and more tolerant towards minorities.
So, beware the witch in those areas.
If you’re lucky people will say you’re nuts and if unlucky in some remote places you might get stoned to death.
A monopoly doesn’t like competition the jci religions in my eyes are just that and don’t like witches for the same reason.
Without separation of church and state, there’s no hope for magic…