Every legal system, without exception, is an exact, color photograph of the behavior of the ruling class.

An expansion of the first maxim to the entire architectural level. It argues that the structure of courts, procedures, rights, and professions (judges, lawyers) is not a neutral framework, but a mirrored hall designed to reflect and manage the power relations that birthed it. Adversarial systems reflect competitive capitalism; bureaucratic legalism reflects managerial control.

Every legal system, without exception, is an exact, color photograph of the behavior of the ruling class. Example: The American legal system's immense complexity, cost, and reliance on high-paid experts photographs the behavior of a ruling class that uses law as a tool for strategic advantage. Its outcomes often mirror existing wealth distribution, not because judges are corrupt, but because the system's design favors those with resources to navigate it.

by Nammugal February 5, 2026

Every crime, without exception, is an exact, color photograph of the individual's behavior.

A tautological but pointed statement emphasizing that a criminal charge is a legalistic representation of an act, not an objective moral judgment. The "photograph" is framed by the state's lens: the same act (possession of a substance) may be a crime in one jurisdiction and legal in another. It highlights the artificial, constructed line between "criminal" and "non-criminal" behavior.

"Every crime, without exception, is an exact, color photograph of the individual's behavior." Example: A person is arrested for "vagrancy." The "color photograph" is their behavior: sleeping on a park bench. The charge is the state's caption. The statement forces us to separate the act (sleeping) from the socially imposed label ("crime"), revealing how law defines deviance.

by Nammugal February 5, 2026

Every law, without exception, is an exact, color photograph of the behavior of the ruling class.

A radical, materialist maxim asserting that legal codes do not regulate the powerful; they codify and sanctify their existing conduct and interests. Laws against theft protect bourgeois property; complex tax codes legalize elite wealth optimization; regulatory capture turns corporate preference into statute. The law is a documentary snapshot of what the rulers already do, dressed in the garb of universal justice.

"Every law, without exception, is an exact, color photograph of the behavior of the ruling class." Example: A government passes a strict new "anti-piracy" law with severe penalties for downloading media. This "exact photograph" captures the behavior of the media conglomerate lobbyists who drafted it, seeking to criminalize consumer sharing that threatens their profit model, while their own history of exploiting artists remains perfectly legal.

by Nammugal February 5, 2026