the original meaning/designation of “outlaw” was someone who was deprived any legal protection from the law. sometimes present in societies without a death penalty, to be designated “outside the law” was the harshest punishment because it mean anyone could beat you, take from you, enslave you, or murder you without consequence. social and civil death. if you wanted to live, you had to go where no one knew you and if you were discovered you had to flee again.

its kind of amusing, because my understanding of the maoist revolution was not that soldiers or militias had to go around executing landlords. rather cheaply, their practice of landlording was outlawed. the peasant tenants far outnumbered the landlords in every community or any amount of thugs they could hire, and like anyone who has ever been a tenant knows, if they couldn’t call the cops to save their asses and enforce their property rights, every landlord would be dead in a fucking ditch.

boomer losers are always trying to self-describe as outlaws because they ride a loud ass motorcycle and cosplay Large Adult Sons of Anarchy. it would be awesome if they were deprived all legal protection.