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[DCT Jared]

>> Actually, since that is the whole point of putting something
>> in a contract, it does. IANAL, but I do know that one.
>>
>> Contracts are bizarre; once you sign it, of your own free will,
>> you are bound to its terms, no matter WHAT it says. That's
>> why you read the fine print, and do not sign until the contract
>> is written according to _your_ understanding of the agreement.
>
>This is not true.  Contract law can not compel illegal behavior.

Correct. I said that, later in the same letter:

>> Of course, there are laws that prevent people from contracting
>> with intent to harm others, but that is not what is being
>> discussed here.

>Also in some states, contracts are not permitted to compel some rights
>to be waived.  E.g. if I signed a contract with my employer stating that
>I would not seek employment in any industry in any state of the union,
>that would be an unenforceable clause.

Not unenforceable. Just very difficult to enforce. This is what I mean by
"contract law could be used to topple a gov't," which I have no intention
of doing, since I quite like the principles upon which our current
republic is established.

>> Contract law is awesome. People could topple the government
>> simply by pressing their rights under contract law more firmly.
>> No one does it though, because it takes a lot of work and
>> several years of dedicated effort.
>
>The American Revolution is one example of a government being expelled in
>spite of the fact that it took a "lot of work and several years of
>dedicated effort".  I'm sure if I spent another 3 seconds I could come
>up with additional examples.

If we're going to be precise, take a look at what I was saying:
that _contract law_ is not used to topple governments because it
takes a lot of work and several years of dedicated effort.

In fact, as you pointed out, there are thousands of other efforts, some
successful, which require hard work and years of dedicated effort.
Few, however, have the virtue of contract law approach, which is
one of the _most_ difficult, and therefore why no one does it.

Contract law is useful when you want to completely alter the gov't
on a fundamental level. The Declaration of Independence, and its
consequent Constitution, are examples of such fundamental rewrite,
with global consequences cascading out into dozens of similar
constitutional rewrites, all of which were local implementations of
the profound liberties articulated by the U.S. Constitution.

-Jared