Laws and You.

This piece first appeared in IQTeens some issues ago. I’ve represented it here with a lot more added because it fits.

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Society has a lot of rules and laws; too many in fact. The rules change while you’re playing and nobody tells you them before the game anyway. It can be a mess.

You’re taught one set of rules by whoever you grow up with and obviously there are sets of rules used by other people that don’t match yours. You will, and probably still, believe the first set of rules whether they’re right or wrong because that’s what you were taught by your parents.

Your parents are good people, hopefully, but they are still fallible like the rest of us. They believe something from their era and its evidence or just because they were taught by their parents. They’ve probably never analyzed it.

There can’t be impartiality in a one sided teaching. You have to realize this and weigh the evidence. But you can’t compare it to what you’ve been taught. It must be weighed against reality. Anything that is only opinion must be seen to be just that. You have to think for yourself. Question everything.

Just changing neighborhood can change the rules. Go to a different country and they change again. What’s good here can be bad there and vice versa.

There are different ways to dress, words to say or not say, manners to abide by, rituals to go through, and while a lot of it is made to ensure society runs smoothly, a lot of it is man made rubbish to protect the people who can’t handle change. Either that or they have a position of power and don’t want to lose it.

Some rules are necessary so we don’t have chaos. Imagine having no road rules. If everybody just drove where they wanted like shoppers walking in a busy mall we’d all end up with battered ball shaped cars.

Thou shall not kill is a rule but sometimes it happens without intent so we have rules about that too. When soldiers go to war we forget about the rule and encourage them to kill. Indeed we make sure they want to kill other Mother’s boys. Both sides say God is on their side. What is right? When someone does kill and we sentence them to death aren’t we committing the same crime when we execute them?

There are rules to protect the frail or innocent people in society. We don’t live in the “Minority Report” movie world but often the police can’t do anything until a crime against these people is committed. By then it can be too late so what can we do?

Thou shall not steal is obviously a good rule for anybody who has something worth stealing. For those who don’t have; it may be the only way to eat. But for most theft the punishment is wrong. If Fred steals your car and smashes it, he is put in jail. What happens to you? You haven’t got a car. Putting Fred in jail is no use to you. Fred should be made to pay for a new car and all expenses on the way to getting it.

If vandals burnt down a shop they should pay back the insurance company or shop owner for restoration.

Our prisons are overloaded with minor criminals and the most “freedom” loving country on the planet puts more of its citizens in jail than any other country. Something is wrong there.

How many of the rights your forefathers fought for are you willing to give up for so called “Security’? So much information about you is stored and available for anybody to use if they know where to look or have the right gadget or money for a bribe. Laws of privacy are being eroded every day.

How about victimless “crimes” like smoking marijuana? Does the government have a right to deprive liberty from someone who isn’t hurting anybody? We allow alcohol but only arrest a drunk when he becomes violent or a threat to others. I’ve never seen someone high on pot smashing someone’s face.

Does the government have any rights to tell you what you can do sexually with a consenting adult in private? If “public morals” are the guide line; we know what they are because of the internet. Sexy photos and movies are a massive market. Should the laws be changed to reflect reality?

We know that ‘speed cameras’ are used for revenue raising, not to protect the public. The facts support this. Yet we put up with the fines rather than band together to fight them. At times in various parts of the world, there have been no traffic cops or lights and the result was fewer accidents, safer road courtesy and better traffic flow.

By far the majority of people are law abiding and will take care of each other. We don’t need so many laws.

There are a lot of corrections to be made in our legal system. The need for so many laws has to be reexamined.

If you are thinking of a career in the legal profession or just want to make some changes, get active, because there is a lot to do.

Maybe you could bring up this topic at work or with friends to get their opinions or send a comment to the world via this site. Don’t listen to the ones who say “Forget it; you’ll never change the law”. It only takes one to start anything.

Are there any Legal people out there who would like to make a comment?

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IQTeens has opened and if you have anything constructive, naturally, to say, please tap on the keys.

Keep well and alert,

Jay Ross.