Column on loopholds and holes

Illegals?Yes and No?

Tibor R. Machan

It isn?t even illegal to take advantage of loopholes, which many who want
to keep their wealth to themselves and not have it shipped to various
centers of bureaucracy make good use of but are hounded about constantly.
We hear, over and over again, especially from rich bashing Leftists and
their politicians, that such loopholes must be closed up firm and good.

However, when it comes to people who take advantage of different
loopholes?or just holes, in America?s borders?these same Leftists act as
if the law were a necessarily unjust obstacle to the pursuit of human
happiness. How do they reconcile this in their own minds?it?s OK to rail
against loopholes here but not there?

The answer is that among the Left the poor are a different species. They
are for these cheerleaders of envy a bunch of subhuman beings and so they
cannot be expected to abide by such human institutions as the law. Or
perhaps they are human and for the Left human beings should never be
constrained by inconveniences like the law. And then it?s members of the
entrepreneurial class who are not quite human, so for them there must be
firm laws to constrain their beastly impulses, such as wanting to keep
their wealth.

In a just society, however, the law is supposed to be equally applicable
to all persons, rich or poor, handsome or homely, short or tall, men or
women, you name it. So if something is illegal for me, it is supposed to
be for you too. And this applies to taking advantage of loopholes. Not
that I am a great fan of the idea that the law is always sacred. It isn?t,
since it?s made by people?and mostly the worst of them, politicians, whose
motivations are quite generally suspect. (What is suspect about them is
that they are willing to use coercive force to bend everyone to their
liking, to make sure their favorite notions of how people should act
become universal?that rotten one-size-fits-all policy!)

For my money I champion both groups whose members take advantage of
loopholes. Those ridiculous obstacles to coming to America are there
mostly because of this welfare state of ours which tends to foster a
tribal mentality: ?Keep them out lest they raid our coffers which, of
course, we wish to raid all by ourselves here in America.? (I know several
people who have stood in line at American consuls in various countries
only to be sent away for the most trivial and insulting reasons, such as,
?You are too young and will be a burden on us, etc.? Just the opposite is
likely to be true with most young folks trying to come here.)

And I also champion those among the well to do who are prudent and smart
enough to hide their stuff from the feds and other extortionists. These
would be tyrants, after all, would violate their rights in a jiffy so as
to dispose of what belongs to them freely and are bent, instead, on
expropriating their goodies so they can decide what to do with it all.

In this, by the way, I am again fully consistent: I used to applaud all
those young people who managed to dodge conscription, for whatever reason,
religious or political or something else, back when the draft was still an
ugly blotch on our system of justice.

The bottom line is that everyone who gets to escape any part of tyranny,
be the measure petty or Draconian, should get widespread support in a
country that claims to be championing freedom for all across the globe.
Let?s hone this love affair with liberty at home. So folks who take
advantage of loopholes go for it. I am behind you all the way.

What needs to be done to make folks obey the law is to get decent laws on
the books, not harass those who see that many existing laws are vile
things and should be dodged ASAP.