… is from page 34 of the 2009 collection of some essays by the Italian jurist and political philosopher Bruno Leoni, entitled Law, Liberty and the Competitive Market (Carlo Lottieri, ed.); in particular, this quotation is from Leoni’s brilliant 1963 New Individualist Review article, “‘Consumer Sovereignty’ and the Law” (original emphasis):
If only one word had to be used to define this widespread change in the idea of the law, I would say that according to the man on the street the law today is something which must be manufactured, or even pre-fabricated. That is, it is something produced with the minimum of time and effort judged necessary, according to plans prepared in advance, by the “suitable” people in the “suitable” places (the national legislatures), and presented to those who must obey the laws. The latter people (we might say the “consumers,” if the word were not misleading for reasons which we shall shortly see) do not have – or are thought not to have – any other role than that of using the product ready made for them, just as they use the automobile or the washing machine.
