Legal vs lawful vs moral; legally sanctioned yet immoral

[Shawn K. Quinn]

On Thu, 2016-09-15 at 01:36 -0700, Stephen D. Williams wrote:
> On 9/15/16 1:12 AM, Zenaan Harkness wrote:
> 
> > On Wed, Sep 14, 2016 at 11:20:31PM -0700, Stephen D. Williams wrote:
> > > On 9/14/16 8:34 PM, grarpamp wrote:
> > > > Leaking paper is one thing, disassembling the quiet
> > > > handshakes and luncheons of conspiracy is another.
> > > Much of what corporations do is legal, whether you like it or not.
> > Legal, as in compliant with their statutory right to financially pillage
> > and legally bully their way around arbitrary "privilege" monopolies,
> > yes.
> > 
> > Lawful, as in compliant with the common man's sense of right and wrong
> > (the "common law" or "community law"),
> > no!
> 
> I think common law could be defined more precisely.  There has always
> been a gap between what was considered illegal and what seemed unfair
> to someone.

"[B]eing forbidden [by the law] doesn't make it wrong. In general, laws
don't define right and wrong. Laws, at their best, attempt to implement
justice. If the laws (the implementation) don't fit our ideas of right
and wrong (the spec), the laws are what should change." -- FSF, Words to
Avoid (or Use with Care) Because They Are Loaded or Confusing
<https://www.gnu.org/philosophy/words-to-avoid.en.html>


-- 
Shawn K. Quinn <skquinn at rushpost.com>