Laws are important because they structure society. They tell us what we can and cannot do, and they have consequences for breaking the law. Without laws, society would be chaotic and people could do whatever they want. This could lead to violence, theft and other crimes. Laws created according to the principle of harm are written to protect people from injury caused by others. Violent and property crime laws fall into this category. Without the fundamental laws of the principle of damage, a society eventually degenerates into despotism – the domination of the strong and violent over the weak and non-violent. Harm laws are essential, and every government in the world has them. If society didn`t have laws, it would be a very different place. People could do whatever they wanted, and there would be no consequences for their actions. This could lead to a lot of crime and violence, as people would not have to fear arrest or going to jail. There would also be no protection for our rights, and we would not be able to hold anyone accountable for their actions.
It would be a very chaotic and dangerous world. A few decades ago, it was widely accepted that the generic pronoun in the written language is masculine: he/he/being. This rule has rightly been largely repealed. But it has also been replaced – not by the absence of rules, but by a different and broader set of rules that governs our use of pronouns. The urge to overturn stifling, unfair or simply unnecessary rules is entirely justified. But without some rules – and a certain tendency for us to abide by them – society would quickly slide into pandemonium. In fact, many social scientists would regard our tendency to create, follow and enforce rules as the foundation of social and economic life. If it`s illegal to punch someone in the face, someone who gets beaten can do something other than just swing backwards. In a perfect world, justice is equal. It doesn`t matter who was beaten or who punched them.
What matters is that the law against beatings has been broken. Everyone in a society – not just a privileged few – must have equal access to justice through the law. The fact that the law can be used to cause harm is the ultimate reason why it is so important. Laws are not always beneficial to society or they are only beneficial to a selected group. Governments often use laws to increase their power and punish critics. Laws can also be problematic if they do not address the root causes of a problem and even make it worse. Fines designed to encourage people to obey laws can add up to the point of putting them in debt and criminalizing poverty. The war on drugs is another key example of how laws can harm people. Instead of treating addiction as a public health problem, laws have turned it into a criminal problem.
In these cases, laws violate human rights instead of protecting them. Many norms of everyday life perform exactly the same function as the rules of the game – they tell us what “movements” we can and cannot do. The conventions of “favor” and “thank you” that seem so boring to young children are indeed arbitrary – but the fact that we have such conventions, and perhaps critically, that we agree on what they are, is part of what keeps our social interactions running smoothly. And the rules regarding driving on the left or right, stopping at red lights, queuing, not garotage, picking up our dog`s debris and so on fall into the same category. They are the building blocks of a harmonious society. Some people have trouble following the laws because they don`t agree with them. Others have difficulty complying with the law because they do not believe the law applies to them. We`re glad you`ve joined the discussion, ori! Which rules annoy you the most? We also have laws that protect our rights as citizens and include things like: As citizens, we respect laws because they are clearly communicated and applied fairly. Everyone is held accountable under the same laws, and those laws protect our fundamental rights. This is the foundation of the rule of law in the United States.
Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor once said, “I firmly believe that the rule of law is the foundation of all our fundamental rights.” Fundamental rights are the human rights to which everyone is entitled. These include the right to life, the right to marry, the right not to be discriminated against and much more. These are listed in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, but this document is not legally binding. To make human rights a reality, they must be protected by law. Without law, human rights would be an abstract concept. If you want to learn more about human rights, you should study a master`s degree. Individuals and societies face a constant battle over rules – and we need to be careful about their purpose. So, yes, “standing up straight” on an escalator can speed up everyone`s commute to work – but beware of conventions that have no obvious benefit for everyone, and especially those that discriminate, punish and condemn. How many times a day does someone tell you what to do? How many times do you have to stop yourself from doing what you want because you know that this action is forbidden or wrong? A good place to start is to imagine life in a world without rules. Besides the fact that our bodies follow very strict and complex biological laws, without which we would all be condemned, the words I write now follow the rules of English. In the Byronian moments of artistic individualism, I might dream about freeing myself from it.
But would this new linguistic freedom really do me any good or free my thoughts? This law comes from the judiciary. Although the courts do not pass laws, they interpret them. This means that the judiciary bases its legal decisions on what is in the constitution and on previous court decisions in similar cases. This is a process called stare decisis, which means “to leave the decision standing” in Latin. The law is the king of kings, much stricter and more powerful than kings.