Do you really believe that anyone here is suddenly going to be convinced by this argument which we've all read and responded to many, many times before? It seems like madness to me. Let me break it down for you one more time:
Everyone here agrees that the government is composed of people.
Everyone here agrees that those people in the government are bound by the law.
However, like all other english speaking people, to us, the word "law" means the rules enacted and enforced by the state. They do not mean the rules imagined and not enforced by Rob Menard (i.e., "THE LAW"). Sorry.
So, to tranlsate into FMOTL language for you:
Everyone here agrees that the people in the government are bound by the wangdoodle. We also all agree that the people in the government are most certainly NOT bound by "THE LAW". Unless you provide us with just one verifiable example from the history of civilization where the government has been bound by "THE LAW" (rather than the wangdoodle), I imagine that you will continue to be the target of much ridicule and scorn.
Almost forgot my second point.
You use the word government and state, are they the same? It lloks to me like you were trying to use some deceptive lawyer type tricks. You agree that the government is composed of people, and bound by the law, but then you introduce a new word, state, and claim they are bound by the rules of the state. But is not the state and the government the same thing?
Let us assume they are.
The government/state is composed of people.
They are bound by the law.
But now you say they are bound by the rules they make up, what with them being the state.
So you have a group of people who are bound by the rules they make up. Sounds fair, but you also claim that those rules also bind other people not members of that group. How is that so? We agreed they are bound by the law, before they ever start making up words, calling them rules and claiming to be the state or the government.
Since they are bound by the law, before they are 'the state' as you have agreed, then they are bound by the concept of equality, and thus they cannot simply make up rules, agree to be bound by them, and then impose them on everyone else. Because they are bound by the law, and are equal with others. If they have the power to do so, they are not bound by the law. If they are bound by the law, before they are 'the state' or 'the government' and start making up rules, then they simply cannot. For if they are bound by the law, and are equal with others, they lack the authority to do so.
I see you using the word state as a way of trying to avoid an examination of the source nature and limits of the state authority. Unless you wish to claim the people in the government are bound by the rules of the state, and are not the state, you are saying the people in the government are bound by the rules of the government. Unless 'the government' and 'the state' are two separate things, why would you introduce the term? I see only one reason. Let's see what happens when you replace 'the state' with 'the government' and what we end up with.
Everyone here agrees that those people in the government are bound by the law.
However, like all other english speaking people, to us, the word "law" means the rules enacted and enforced by the state.
People in the government are bound by the law, and the law is the rules the same people in the government make up, and they are the government because they make up those rules.
Say it like that and the idiocy of the statement is obvious. Add the distracting term 'the state' to replace the second use of the term 'people in the government' and you have a chance of your logical inconsistency being missed.
Nice try Sol, but 'the government' and 'the state' are the same thing, and they are composed of people bound by the law, and thus they are neither the state nor the government without the consent of those whom they govern, and it is this consent which empowers them to do so.
Source, nature and limits of 'the state's' authority. That is the gist of this discussion, and saying 'rules of the state' to avoid the fact that they are just people, and they are in fact 'the government' does not change the truth. Nice try though.