… insists that Thou shalt not steal is an impractical principle, fit only for dreamy-eyed idealists. The protectionist believes that the better “rule”* is this: Thou shalt not steal – unless others are being stolen from.
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* I put “rule” in scare-quotes because “pragmatic” protectionists, by their very nature, reject rules. Rules are principles in action, and “pragmatists” reject principles. “Pragmatists” look with contempt upon those who bind themselves to rules. Rule-following, after all, is oh-so-not-pragmatic – or so “pragmatists” mistakenly think.
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