On bourgeois ‘rule of law’

“ The thing about the rule of the bourgeoisie is that it is just that — the way the bourgeoisie rule. As an instrument of capital and empire, the law could be read or stretched to allow all sorts of thuggery and mischief. And as the crises of US hegemony grow and magnify, it perpetuates the urge toward more expansive power and brutality. The “rule of law” was nurturing the seeds of its own abuse. In the coming months and years, the legal front will be an indispensable part of the struggle against Trumpism. The unlawful conduct of Trump’s presidency should be watched and fought vigorously. But we should not content ourselves with formalistic checks against the most obscene expressions of power. We need a genuine, transformative, and radical mass politics to confront capital and empire head-on. For there is nothing innately good or bad about the “rule of law,” except how it is used. Because at the end of the day, the court answers to the king ”

Jordan Von Manalastas, ‘The Rule of Law Won’t Save us’, Jacobin Magazine