There are two kinds of laws: “malum prohibitum” and “malum in se”.
“Malum in se” means it’s wrong of itself, something that any reasonable person would recognise as wrong or evil, without legislation needing to make it prohibited. Things that are unlawful under common law, that a court might punish even absent of legislation, crimes that have a victim - things like murder and assault are “mala in se”.
“Malum prohibitum” means “wrong because we say so”, “bad because it's banned” - something that is outlawed because of a legal declaration or statute. Things like the enforcement of patents, or a ban on the possession of weapons are “mala prohibita”.
Now remember, “mala in se” crimes must have a victim. “Mala prohibita” crimes do not need to have a victim. You might say that drink driving is a “malum in se” crime, because the drunk driver could potentially cause an accident and injure somebody. You might say that selling marijuana, or another drug, is a “malum in se” crime, because it might hurt the community. But “malum in se” doesn’t include potential victims, only actual victims. Drink driving (not including reckless driving) and possession of drugs are illegal by statute, not by common law. If they were obviously wrong, a statute wouldn’t be required to make it illegal.
Now you might believe that “mala prohibita” laws are fine, just and necessary for a society to function. Alright, a lot of people believe that. I do not. But be vigilant with your thoughts - do not delude yourself. When you call for “mala prohibita” laws, you are calling for punishment, under threat of violence, of somebody who has injured nobody, stolen from nobody, hurt nobody, done harm to nobody. Do you really want to advocate violence, or the threat of violence, against somebody who has injured no-one?
About me
My name is Kurt Robinson. I grew up in Australia, but now I live in Guadalajara, Jalisco. I write interesting things about voluntaryism, futurism, science fiction, travelling Latin America, and psychedelics. Remember to press follow so you can stay up to date with all the cool shit I post, and follow our podcast where we talk about crazy ideas for open-minded people, here: 