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
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