the legal system¶

Step one in doing any analysis of the legal system of bourgeois society is understanding the purpose of law itself. There is not a single law that was designed as a magnanimous gesture. The corpus of law has exactly one purpose: the maintenance of bourgeois rule. Specific legal victories can be won through concerted effort by oppressed people; these are concessions, tactical retreats by the ruling class, not changes in the fundamental character of their law. They are not freely given, and they are temporary. And they remind us of this every day, with constant warnings that they could (and often do) roll back any legally granted "protections."

We need to be clear-eyed in our recognition that the bourgeois state is fundamentally opposed to liberation of all types. Changing the law is not a viable path to permanent liberation. Preserving the law is running on a treadmill. Capitalists have complete control of every state apparatus, and at every opportunity, they will revoke any legal gains we make. Do not become addicted to legal victory.