“Any government whose members commit this crime, or authorize it in their subordinates, has betrayed its function.”

— Simone Weil

Draft for a Statement of Human Obligation (1943)
Context: The proportions of good and evil in any society depend partly upon the proportion of consent to that of refusal and partly upon the distribution of power between those who consent and those who refuse.
If any power of any kind is in the hands of a man who has not given total, sincere, and enlightened consent to this obligation such power is misplaced.
If a man has willfully refused to consent, then it is in itself a criminal activity for him to exercise any function, major or minor, public or private, which gives him control over people's lives. All those who, with knowledge of his mind, have acquiesced in his exercise of the function are accessories to the crime.
Any State whose whole official doctrine constitutes an incitement to this crime is itself wholly criminal. It can retain no trace of legitimacy.
Any State whose official doctrine is not primarily directed against this crime in all its forms is lacking in full legitimacy.
Any legal system which contains no provisions against this crime is without the essence of legality. Any legal system which provides against some forms of this crime but not others is without the full character of legality.
Any government whose members commit this crime, or authorize it in their subordinates, has betrayed its function.

Adopted from Wikiquote. Last update June 3, 2021. History

Help us to complete the source, original and additional information

Do you have more details about the quote "Any government whose members commit this crime, or authorize it in their subordinates, has betrayed its function." by Simone Weil?

Simone Weil 193

French philosopher, Christian mystic, and social activist 1909–1943

Related quotes

“Torture is not tolerated by this country on the battlefield or off. Anyone who tortures or abuses a detainee tarnishes the service of every honorable student and soldier in this room today. The President has said this, and I will say it again: those who commit torture in the name of the United States government will be prosecuted. In any discussion of Guantanamo, detainees and military commissions, I think that one final fact helps put things in perspective — and that is the fact that members of al Qaeda are not merely common criminals. Some critics around the world have argued that they are “just” criminals, that their crimes somehow do not amount to war crimes. But here are the facts: al Qaeda seeks to employ weapons of mass slaughter as a means of achieving political goals against both the civilian and military capacity of the United States, Europe, and our allies throughout the world. Its members continue to fight our Armed Forces on battlefields around the world, and they will continue to do so until we stop them. Al Qaeda has committed acts on a scale that transcends mere crime, as recognized by NATO immediately after the attacks of September 11th. Their crimes are therefore nothing less than war crimes. Given the magnitude of the atrocities al Qaeda has committed, there can be no comparison between the crimes of its members and that of common civilian criminals.”

Alberto Gonzales (1955) 80th United States Attorney General

Speech regarding Civil Liberties and the War on Terrorism (November 20, 2006)

“The citizens are the members of the civil society: linked to this society by certain duties and subject to its authority, they participate with equality has its advantages.”

Emer de Vattel book The Law of Nations

Alternate: The citizens are the members of the civil society, bound to this society by certain duties, and subject to its authority; they equally participate in its advantages.
The natives or natural-born citizens are those born in the country of parents who are citizens.
..
if he be born there of a foreigner, it will be only the place of his birth, and not his country
page 176 https://books.google.ca/books?id=NukJAAAAIAAJ&pg=PA176&lpg=PA176 of English translation published in 1883,
while the bottom-left marks it as page 176, it is listed as page 101 on the top-left. The section of the book is titled "OF OUR NATIVE COUNTRY, ETC." and it is part of chapter XIX called "OF OUR NATIVE COUNTRY AND SEVERAL THINGS THAT RELATE TO IT"
quoted in 1856 case https://supreme.justia.com/cases/federal/us/60/393/#476 in supreme court
quoted in 1942 by Mr. Stewart seen in page 1683 https://books.google.ca/books?id=qiI9TLONLVMC&pg=PA1683 of part 2 of volume 8 of "Proceedings and Debates of the 77th Congress Second Session"
The Law of Nations (1758)
Original: (fr) Les citoyens sont les membres de la societe civile : lies a cette societe par certains devoirs et soumis a son autorite, ils participent avec egalite a ses avantages.

“The Public Administration neither comprises nor heads any branch of government but is subordinate to all three of them. Like Congress, president, and courts, the Public Administration makes its distinctive contribution in a manner consistent with its peculiar place, which is one of subordination.”

John Rohr (1934–2011) American political scientist

John Rohr (1990) "The constitutional case for public administration." In G. L. Wamsley et al. (eds.), Refounding public administration, Sage. p. 80

“Each officer possesses all the power necessary to render his position efficient, and has the authority with the approval of the President and General Superintendent to appoint all persons for whose acts he is held responsible, and may dismiss any subordinate when, in his judgment, the interest of the company will be promoted thereby.”

Daniel McCallum (1815–1878) Canadian engineer and early organizational theorist

Source: Report of the Superintendent of the New York and Erie Railroad to the Stockholders (1856), p. 40; Cited in Alfred D. Chandler, Jr. (1977) The Visible Hand: The Managerial Revolution in American Business. p. 102

“Everyone has an interest in the economy: in how it functions, how well it functions, and in whose interests it functions.”

Jim Stanford (1961) Canadian economist

Introduction, Why Study Economics?, p. 1
Economics For Everyone (2008)

“As part of the National Strategy, the Government should commit itself to the virtual elimination of functional illiteracy and innumeracy.”

Claus Moser, Baron Moser (1922–2015) British statistician and Civil Servant

The Moser report on Literacy and Numeracy http://www.literacytrust.org.uk/Database/moserec.html

“In committing these crimes, the mullahs are testing Western governments. In such circumstances, a lack of resolve or a passive attitude by Western governments will intensify the regime’s terrorist actions.”

Maryam Rajavi (1953) Iranian politician

Maryam Rajavi as quoted in The Washington Times https://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2018/sep/24/iranian-resistence-calls-european-action-against-r/ (24 September 2018)