> The social trust and fabric of society stuff is kind of too funny to even lampoon*
It's funny because you probably grew up in a civilization and take it for granted.
> if you can generate consumer surplus by breaking the law, what exactly does that say about the law, and on whose behalf it's working?
It doesn't say anything. You can create consumer surplus breaking any law if you're willing to dump externalities elsewhere, on parties you don't count as consumers. A thief can for sure create consumer surplus by distributing stolen money among friends. So can the owner of a factory enrich the city by dumping toxic waste into a river, driving his costs down but poisoning people downstream.
