Hey Reader,

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Remember how I said in my last email that we're in a nonconsensual relationship with the law?

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Well, this week I want to talk more about that because it's not something we discuss often, but it's worth mentioning.

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This year, I'm participating in my friend Toi's free program The Deepening where you receive one email per week on a political topic as a way to create a consistent practice of political education and engagement.

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One of the recent articles I received was about anarchy. Specifically, it provided a basic overview of what anarchy is and is not.

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Now I'm not here today to talk to you about the merits of anarchy, but I am here to talk about the really good point that they make about the law and our governmental structure generally, which is that we as a people never gave our affirmative consent to be governed by this existing set of laws.

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And because it was decided at some point that our consent to be governed is irrelevant to whether the law can be enforced against us, there are a ton of legal things in our lives that we're essentially forced to accept.

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For example, you know all those lovely little terms and conditions agreements attached to services like your bookkeeping service, your email service, your web browser, that client management tool you use, your newsletter service, your social media scheduler, your project management tools, etc.?

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None of those agreements actually involve consent because the reality is you don't really have a choice. If you want to use that tool, then you have to agree to the terms. There's no room for negotiation or creating any sort of consensus. You either accept the terms and use the tool or don't accept the terms and don't use the tool.

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Those are your "choices."

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And because so many things in our everyday life present us with that kind of "choice," we sometimes struggle to recognize when we actually have a real choice to consent to the law.

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That's part of the reason I talk so much about contracts.

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Because our business contracts are one of the few areas where we have a lot of choices when it comes to the law.

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We get to say when, how, how much, where, and under what circumstances.

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We get to read through a contract someone sends us and negotiate the terms that we don't like and/or aren't willing to agree to.

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Or we get to send someone else a contract that we created that sets out all the conditions under which we're willing to collaborate and establish a working relationship.

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And yes, these choices are more limited when you're dealing with a larger corporation or considering an employment offer.

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But I know firsthand from my own dealings and secondhand from supporting customers in their contract negotiations that there is room for negotiation in those types of contracts too. There's room for you to point out the things you can't consent to and revise the contract to say something that you can consent to and still move forward with the deal.

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To me, contracts are one of the few places where we get to practice consenting to the law.

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We get to practice having a say, which can be extremely empowering.

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And that's why I'm a huge advocate of creating your own template contract for your business. It's an opportunity to have a say and take a more assertive approach to the law.

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It's a chance to engage with the law on your own terms.

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This is why I have a contract drafting service, which is my most popular offering by the way.

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But it's also why I have a contract review service, which is my least popular offering.

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I created both offerings to help you engage with the world of contracts and explore a part of the world of law where you have real choices that go beyond oppressive ultimatums.

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That feels both important and empowering to me. And it also feels like a great opportunity to build an acquaintance with a part of the law that's a little kinder, a little softer, and a lot more malleable.

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Plus there's the added bonus of contracting in alignment with your values if that's important to you.

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If you're looking for help with either (negotiating a contract or drafting one), then check out my flat-rate contract services below.

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Until next time, wishing you good health and prosperity,

Brionna

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SUPPORT REQUEST

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