Play or Die: Man’s Need for the Rule of Law

 

When the Law is King

The people invent games 

That fill their night with dream

And their day with song

Did you know that Basketball (1891) and Football (1869) were all invented between the end of the Civil War (1865) and the creation of the Federal Reserve and the Federal Income Tax (1913), when rule making and law was the norm, not the exception. The first official game of baseball was played in 1845 in New York, 39 years after all Northern states had passed emancipation laws. 

Slavery is a kind of anti-game because it removes almost all shared rules between black and white people. Central banking and income taxes is another kind of anti-game, allowing banks and the government to commit fraud and steal while the citizens practice honesty and work. 

Ask yourself why you love sports and how you feel when one team has an unfair advantage, not because of superior play calling or talent, but because of the perception that the referees are on one teams side? Would you love football if one team was able to score by putting points on the scoreboard while the other had to score touchdowns the honest way? Would you watch a boxing match where one man had gloves and the other had a gun? Such is the nature of anti-games where one person is permitted an action another person is not. 

Ironically, in 1875 Karl Marx attempted to create a rule to govern all society. It appeared to be a universal rule but in reality was a new version of the anti-rule that split people onto two teams. On one team were the good guys who could score points but not keep them. On the other were the bad guys who could couldn’t score points but could have them. The rule was this: “From each according to his ability. To each according to his need.” How much fun do you think the Russians had with that little anti-game? Tens of millions died of hunger and hundred of thousands were executed  in the 50+ years after Marx coined that anti-rule. 

After the Federal Reserve and Income Tax was established in America, we experienced WWI, the Great Depression, WWII, Vietnam, Korea, The War on Poverty, Desert Storm, 9/11 and the War on Terror… Americans experienced a complete devaluation of the American dollar, the break down of the modern family, rampant drug addiction and alcoholism, and an epidemic of obesity. Violence fills our city streets and school shootings are so frequent they are hardly noticed…

On the other hand, while not perfect, this belief in “one rule for me, another for thee” was refuted in America for 48 years between 1865 and 1913 and with it we invented and developed in earnest three of the most beloved sports we know today. This was the period of industry, of equality, and play in America, a time of American joy and youth.

We have a choice. We are either a people of Law or a people of Anti-Law. We cannot experience a renaissance of play unless we welcome a renaissance of Law where each man and woman is allowed to invent games with his fellow man and no man is permitted under no circumstances to live by a different set of rules than anyone else. That is the fundamental choice and it begins within the heart of each person. 

I’ll start.

Either you play by my rules, or I play by yours. There is no middle way. 

Steal from me, I’ll steal from you. 

Commit fraud against me, I’ll commit fraud against you. 

Trade with me, I’ll trade with you. 

Deal honestly with me, I’ll deal honestly with you. 

Follow me to the promised land.