GenZedong

I was reading law this week (for an exam) and I noticed some things about constitutions: (not a lawyer, so this isn't legal advice)

1. Constitution states, but does not explain. Look at these articles from the Constitution of the USSR:

   ARTICLE 1. The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics is a socialist state of workers and peasants.

   ARTICLE 121. Citizens of the U.S.S.R. have the right to education.

   Like, the Constitution doesn't bother to explain why exactly the people of the USSR chose socialism as their system of government nor the entire theory of Marxism-Leninism. It also doesn't explain what subjects are gonna be taught in schools etc. The Constitution is a guideline for future developments. Explanations are probably part of jurisprudence.

   I know it's a bit obvious that this is the purpose of constitutions but I still think it's neat to note. Imagine if Marx wrote like this:

   Article 20. Labor-power is the capacity to do work.

   Article 21. The proletariat is the class defined by its lack of capital and whose only means to sustain itself is by selling labor-power to the bourgeois.

   Then in a book, he goes like:

   Consequently, it appears that the capitalist buys their labour with money, and that for money they sell him their labour. But this is merely an illusion. What they actually sell to the capitalist for money is their labour-power (Constitution, Article 21). [...]

   All Marxist theory would just people citing articles from the "Constitution" in other documents and exploring its consequences.

2. Law works in a general pattern: "If X, then Y, unless Z happens, in which case W."

   For example, everyone has the right to move anywhere, except if you commit a crime, in which case you lose your freedom in jail. Laws don't work like physical laws or Math axioms that generalize a lot of cases. It's a general principle and then a ton of exceptions.

   Exception in laws is where loopholes live and arguably where the bourgeoisie do their businesses.

3. Law is made to achieve an outcome.

   Also obvious but noting this kind of takes away the "power" of the law. Like, if you know that a law was made to punish protests then you know you should protest even if it's illegal. Because...

4. Law is a superstructure.

   Law only exists if there is people to enforce it and people to obey it. Otherwise it's just a piece of paper. Even something that isn't a law like a sign that says "Do NOT touch the saw. The saw CAN turn on at ANY moment" is probably gonna have way less disobedience than a federal law that forbids loitering.