VOLUME VI, CHAPTER 5, SECTION 9
One Lock, Four Systems Save Together, Law Lights It, Culture Warms the Heart, the Economy Draws the Firewood, Politics Dissolves the Knife
The last section set up the first step, to save first the people inside the legal system. This section tells what to save them with. Let me first say a plain thing to you. To save this whole nest of the illiterate-in-the-law, to undo that chain that harms the people lawfully, resting on law alone will not undo it. That lock is the letter of the law, the economy, culture, and politics, four strands twisted into one hard lump, and it takes four systems, four strengths, brought at once. This time law is the main force, and culture, the economy, and politics come to help, so that the one illiterate in the law, rolled up in the lock, cannot, does not want to, need not, and dares not, go on harming people lawfully.
One. Resting on Law Alone Will Not Undo It
You are probably taken aback. Is this not the chapter on the new order for law? How is it that even law cannot save them? Let me tell you, resting on law alone, this one thing, will not cure it. Why? Look back, that lock that makes the illiterate-in-the-law read the letter and not the intent, and harm the people lawfully, which strands is it twisted of?
There is the strand of the letter of the law. Legal education, examinations, promotion, precedent, all of it is that set of the letter, procedure, clauses, loopholes, and the ones who want to read the intent, no one teaches, no one tests, no one promotes. There is the strand of the economy. The judge's pay, the lawyer's flow of cases, the lawmaker's position, are all tied to winning cases, fluency in the letter, keeping safe, and not tied to protecting the people, reading the intent, not working loopholes, and are even tied the other way round. Protect the people, offend the side with power, and the next case has no share for you. There is the strand of culture. In the heart there is no heart to protect people held, no true nature of the law as a living ruler that leads people to keep themselves in check held, and the professional air is that winning is right, not that protecting people is right. There is the strand of politics. That coercion of law enforcement, which ought never to have been, has grown onto the law. Behind that thought in the hand of the one illiterate in the law there is coercion propping it up. He dares to harm people lawfully by the letter because that coercion behind him will force the harmed to give in. The letter, the economy, culture, politics, four strands, twisted into one hard lump, have locked this whole nest of people into today's illiterate-in-the-law.
Two. Undo Only One Strand, and in a While It Coils Back
Then you go and undo it from the strand of the letter of the law alone, teach the letter better still, set the intent plainer still, will that do? It will not. You teach this judge to read the intent, but his pay, his promotion, keeping his position, are still tied to winning cases, fluency in the letter, following procedure by the rule, and the strand of the economy has not moved. He reads the intent, but he has a family to keep, a promotion to win, a position to hold, and he still has to do it by the letter, does not dare protect the intent. Reading it is one thing, and doing goes on as before.
You teach this lawyer to understand the intent, but his clients, his flow of cases, his professional air are still that whoever can pay, you work the loophole for, and the strand of culture has not moved. He reads the intent, but if he does not work the loophole for the one who pays, he has no bread. If he stops working loopholes, his peers laugh at him for being too naive. Reading it is one thing, and doing goes on as before. You set it plain that the intent of the law is to protect the people, but that coercion of law enforcement in the hand of the illiterate-in-the-law is still there, and the strand of politics has not moved. He harms people by the letter, and behind him there is coercive force propping it up, and the harmed cannot fight back. Set the intent as plain as you like, the coercion is still there, and he still harms people lawfully. You see, undo it from one strand alone, and the other strands are still taut, and in a while that lock, of itself, coils the strand of the letter of the law back again. A lock of four twisted strands, undo only one strand, and it does not come undone.
Three. It Takes Four Systems, Four Strengths, Brought at Once
Then what is to be done? It takes four things, brought at once. And this leads back to the greatest claim of this book, the systems of this world are not of one kind only, they are four, culture, the economy, politics, law. They are the five fingers on one hand, completing one another, helping one another, and also keeping one another in check. A lock of four twisted strands takes these four systems, four strengths, brought at once, before it can be undone.
Look back at the third chapter and the fourth chapter. The third chapter, saving the economic kinds of people, undoing that lock of if you do not earn you are wiped out, used exactly the four strengths at once, with the economy as the main force. The fourth chapter, saving the people inside the political system, undoing that lock of the collusion of officials and business, still used the four strengths at once, with politics as the main force. Come to this chapter, saving the people inside the legal system, undoing that chain that harms the people lawfully, it is still these four strengths at once. Only, this time, the main force is changed. That lock of the third chapter, the strand of capital was thickest, so the economy was the main force. That lock of the fourth chapter, the strand of power was thickest, so politics was the main force. This lock of this chapter, the strand of the letter of the law is thickest, it is coiled on this machine of law, it is the illiterate-in-the-law reading the letter and not the intent, harming people lawfully, so this time law is the main force, and the other three, culture, the economy, politics, come to help, to lend a hand.
Four. The First Strand, Law Lights It, So That He Cannot
Let me tell you clearly how these four strands are used together, one at a time. The first strand, law, sets the intent plain, shines that beam of light back. This is the main force. That one illiterate in the law, rolled up in the lock, that thought in his hand was meant, in the first place, to be for protecting the people. It is that lock of reading the letter and not the intent that coiled this thought crooked, coiled it into doing it by the letter, by the rule is enough, whether a person lives or dies, not lifting his head.
What the strand of law, the main force, means to do is to bend this thought back out of the crooked letter, back to its true nature of reading the intent, protecting the people. How to bend it? Set up this one line, the intent of the law is to protect the people, as the ruler that weighs everything, and measure every law, every ruling, with this ruler. What protects the people stays, what fails to protect them is struck down, what turns around to harm the people is rooted out, bottom and all. Set up this one line, read the intent, not the letter, as the root of handling cases, making laws, judging cases, and arguing a defense. Set up this one line, the law is a living ruler that leads people to keep themselves in check, as the true nature of the new order for law. These are the business to be told in detail in the sections behind. For this passage, hold this, the work of the strand of law is to bend that thought from harming people lawfully by the letter back to protecting the people by the intent. Bend the thought back to its proper place, and the thickest strand of that lock, the strand of the letter, loosens. This is what is meant by so that he cannot: he can no longer have that letter to lean on for harming people lawfully.
Five. The Second Strand, Culture Warms the Heart, So That He Does Not Want To
But bending that thought alone is not enough. Bend this thought back to the intent alone, and that one illiterate in the law still wants, in his heart, to keep his position, that system of promotion outside still forces him to be fluent in the letter and win cases, things are still not enough for him and he still has to work loopholes to keep his family, and the moment you let go, that thought coils itself back to the letter. So it takes the other three strands, brought alongside.
The second strand, culture, warms the heart of that one illiterate in the law, so that he does not want to be one illiterate in the law. That one illiterate in the law, rolled in, has a thing missing in his heart. He is not missing clauses, not missing procedure, not missing the letter, he knows them better than anyone. What he is missing is that heart of I handle this case, I make this law, I sign this name, to protect a living person. What the strand of culture means to do is, with character education, that set from the second chapter, together with training in reading the intent, to patch this missing heart back on for him, warm it back, let him understand anew that he wears this robe and sits in this position to protect the people, not to do it by the letter and harm people lawfully. Let him think back to that whole breast of a true heart to uphold justice and protect the common people he carried when he studied at law school. Warm this heart back, and he himself no longer wants to be one illiterate in the law. Do not think small of these two words, does not want. A judge who truly understands the law and has that heart, before he signs his name, will pause, lift his head, and look once at that living person below. One illiterate in the law, with no such heart, before he signs his name, has eyes only for the words and does not see the person. What is lacking is not skill, not the letter, what is lacking is that heart. That heart, culture raises.
Six. The Third Strand, the Economy Draws the Firewood from Under the Pot, So That He Need Not
The third strand, the economy, draws the firewood from under the pot, so that he need not be one illiterate in the law. That one illiterate in the law, why, with that bit of unease plainly in his heart, does he still do it by the letter, still work loopholes, still hold onto his position? At the root there is one thing, he fears things are not enough. He fears that if he does not hold his position he cannot keep his family. He fears that if he stops working loopholes his flow of cases is gone, that if he does not do it by the letter he cannot rise, that if he protects the intent and offends the side with power he has no bread. This cause, keeping the family fed, holding onto the position, has welded him onto this road of harming people lawfully by the letter.
But the third chapter set up that enormous thing, there is, for the first time, enough. Productive power has made the pie big, there is enough for everyone. And, the non-labor share returned to the public, every person has his share, will not starve, has a way to live, has a floor under living and working in peace. That one illiterate in the law sees that things are enough, that his share, his family's share, all have a floor. I protect the intent, offend the side with power, get a few fewer cases, no matter, I will not starve. I stop working loopholes, lose a bit in lawyer's fees, no matter, my family has a floor. I need no longer, for things not being enough, for having to hold my position, harm people lawfully by the letter against my conscience. The strand of the economy draws the firewood from under the pot, pulls that cause forcing him to be one illiterate in the law away from under the pot. The cause drawn away, and he need not be one illiterate in the law. You see, culture makes him not want to, the heart warmed, no longer wanting. The economy makes him need not, things enough, no longer needing. One from the heart, one from the root, pressing in from both sides, and that thought of wanting to slide back to the letter and harm people lawfully goes slack.
Seven. The Fourth Strand, Politics Dissolves That Coercion, So That He Dares Not
The fourth strand, politics, dissolves that coercion of law enforcement, so that he dares not be one illiterate in the law. Not wanting to, needing not, still lacks one thing. That one illiterate in the law has still another thing in his hand. He dares to harm people lawfully by the letter because behind him a set of coercion props him up. This coercion is that coercion of law enforcement which ought never to have been, joining that set of the fourth chapter. The illiterate-in-the-law hands down, by the letter, a ruling that strips a home, and behind it there are enforcers who drive the people out and auction the home off. The illiterate-in-the-law makes a law of harsh taxes and sundry levies, and behind it there are enforcers who force people to pay, and seize them if they do not. The illiterate-in-the-law works a loophole and gets the strong side off, and behind it there is the enforcement system that carries the ruling out, and the harmed cannot fight back.
The ruling by the letter in the hand of the illiterate-in-the-law can land, can harm people, all because this coercion of law enforcement props it up from behind. Without this coercion, his ruling by the letter cannot land on a living person. What the strand of politics means to do is to dissolve this coercion, joining that set of the fourth chapter. In this world you could never think up such a thing as a law-enforcement apparatus. The things to be done are only two, administration settling people, and raising people, leading them back to keeping themselves in check, and there is no third thing called law enforcement. That coercion dissolved, and even if the illiterate-in-the-law still wants to harm people by the letter, his ruling cannot land. He makes a law of harsh taxes and sundry levies, and no one goes to seize by force. He works a loophole and gets the strong side off, and the harmed are not held down by coercion, and can take the road of raising people, of helping people back to keeping themselves in check. With that coercive tool of law enforcement gone from the hand of the illiterate-in-the-law, he dares not. It is not that someone holds him down by force so that he dares not, it is that even wanting to harm, he cannot, there is no one to enforce that letter for him. The strand of politics dissolves that coercion, so that he dares not be one illiterate in the law.
Eight. The Four Strands, Not One of Them Brings Him Down
Put these four strands together and look. Law bends that thought, so that he cannot go on leaning on the letter to harm people lawfully. Culture warms the heart, so that he does not want to be one illiterate in the law. The economy draws the firewood from under the pot, so that he need not be one illiterate in the law. Politics dissolves that coercion, so that he dares not be one illiterate in the law, the coercive tool gone. Cannot, do not want to, need not, dare not, four strengths, pressing his thought from outside, warming his heart back from inside, drawing away from the root the cause that forced him, and dissolving out of his hand that coercion that harms people. These four brought at once, and that hard lump twisted of the letter, the economy, culture, and politics, loosens, strand by strand.
And look back at these four strands, not one of them goes to bring that one illiterate in the law down. Law bends his thought, bends it back to the intent, does not hack him off. Culture warms his heart, does not curse him. The economy draws away the cause that forced him, does not seize from him. Politics dissolves that coercion, does not use coercion to hold him down. Four strands, all of it undoing the lock, saving the person, taking that one illiterate in the law, rolled up in the lock, his conscience being destroyed, living against his true heart, and undoing him out of that lock, letting him out, letting him become again a clean person who truly understands the law and has that heart. This, this is what this section sets up, save first the people inside the legal system, the four systems saving together. The way of saving is these four strands, cannot, do not want to, need not, dare not, brought at once, to undo the person out of the lock, not to bring him down, but to save him. But that biggest knot in your heart is still there, you save him, undo him out of the lock, then the people he lawfully harmed to death in the past, what about them? Undone out, is he to go on sitting in that position? This knot, the next section addresses on its own.
Credit to the ancestors; the mistakes are mine: Tiger Lyon.