RT> Raymond Yates wrote in a message to Todd Sullivan:

 TS>>>> Hell, what person /wouldn't/ try to stay "off the
screen"?

 VH>>> Well, see, we'll make it against the law to alter a gun's
 VH>>> "fingerprint."
 VH>>> That'll fix criminals -- they'd NEVER break a law, you know.

 TS>> Then everyone's a criminal, based upon the treatment one receives
 TS>> at the country's airports.

 RY>> Now you're catching on !

 RY>> we all are you know, just haven't been caught yet.. With the
 RY>> number of laws and regulations, there has to be /something/ we've
 RY>> tripped over..

 RT> Herewith, from ATLAS SHRUGGED (1957):

 RT> "Did you really think that we want those laws to be observed?" said
 RT> Dr. Ferris.  "We *want* them broken. ... We're after power and we mean
 RT> it. ... There's no way to rule innocent men.  The only power any
 RT> government has is the power to crack down on criminals.  Well, when
 RT> there aren't enough criminals, one *makes* them.  One declares so many
 RT> things to be a crime that it becomes impossible for men to live
 RT> without breaking laws.  Who wants a nation of law-abiding citizens?
 RT> What's there in that for anyone? But just pass the kind of laws that
 RT> can neither be observed nor enforced nor objectively interpreted - and
 RT> you create a nation of law-breakers - and then you cash in on guilt.
 RT> Now that's the system, Mr. Rearden, that's the game, and once you
 RT> understand it, you'll be much easier to deal with."

 RT> Think she had something there,  perhaps?     :-(

Althought I'm no fan of Ayn Rand I've read her, and could work on this theme
for pages.. There's a lot of unpleaseant truth in what she writes..

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