Great Post!
Have to agree with Ol' Winston. I'd add that, with ten thousand regulations, it seems clear that the majority of our lawmakers have no respect for the law. Politicians use regulations to create little hills for their voters to die on; elevating themselves on a mountain of death.
That being said, you could always choose not to follow a law. That reality alone doesn't render laws meaningless or ineffective. Choosing to follow the law is an issue reliant upon enforcement as opposed to the utility of a given law. Still, it's much easier to enforce a policy that is aligned with cultural and social values. That consideration leans in the direction of your own sentiment, as it appears to me. If the policy is simply a restatement of a cultural or societal value already in practice, what's the utility of the law?
I think those elements are part of an important discussion that needs to be pursued, especially in the U.S.
there should be so FEW laws that everyone knows what all of them are...and knows what all of them MEAN
after all
Ignorance of the law is no excuse.
Absolutely! There are so many laws it is impossible to comply with them all, all of the time. As I type this I am breaking 2 and I broke another just this morning. I have no respect for law unless it has some rational basis to it, and that rules out about 99% of it.
I agree. Spent three years arguing on behalf of that idea in law school. I suppose it shouldn't be surprising that law professors weren't too receptive. More sensible policies directly impact their income lol
Srsly. Odd that lawyers draft almost all our new laws, isn't it?