The only man made “law” that has ever mattered for a people is a Constitution grounded in natural law and human rights. Chances are the rest is either superfluous, spurious or corrupt. Man made laws throughout history have largely been tools of the powerful to either gain an advantage(or keep it) or suppress the masses. My very first Law course in college began with a statement from the professor: “The Law is what the Judges say it is”. That is certainly not Constitutional law which was designed to protect the individual from precisely such reckless use of power. The Constitution was designed to be the Supra-Law, that which stands above all other laws as a permanent and unchangeable protection of the rights of individuals. There is no such thing as group rights just as there is no such thing as social justice. Sadly in America the Constitution has been shredded and it is not an exaggeration to say that we live in a lawless land, where laws are indeed what partisan judges say they are and individual rights are being suborned to political ends and the rights of the group or class.
Great article as always, Anya! This conversation reminds me of contemporary discourse around copyright laws and how many of them are in desperate need of an update. Social media and the fact that any artist, musician, writer, etc. can upload their works in one click without gatekeeping has made plagiarism and the violation of copyright functionally inevitable. I would love to hear your take on this from a classics perspective.
Copyright is certainly excellent fodder for a fervent discussion! My thoughts on the matter have changed a lot over the years - but as you say - technology make this topic a rapidly evolving conundrum.
Bad laws will usually lead to an UNBALANCED SYSTEM where one part of the population is done in or cheated...
It is an intolerable situation and extreme cases, like Nasism, will require a war to get rid of...
With bad laws there needs to be a resistance that is registered against it, otherwise it will just persist because there is always someone that makes money from the situation...
Hitler, once again, is an extreme example. He was once known as the 'King of Munich) and he lived in wealth in a sea of extreme poverty (in times of economic depression)...
If people are not willing to start a resistance then they and their children will live in bondage forever...
In places where people don't want to get their hands dirty, like Zimbabwe, everything is basically in the hands of a few thousand people...
It is better to live in a state of war where one, or one's children, MAY (HOPE is generated by action) have better conditions ONE DAY than to live in a false peace where people are living in a state of SYSTEMIC POVERTY where people are actually stripped of HOPE...
THe old saw is "The best way to get a bad law fixed is to enforce it" and Lincoln's Lyceum speech brings out the fact that 'bad law" means any law and is thus a prescription for anarchy
good men, men who love tranquility, who desire to abide by the laws, and enjoy their benefits, who would gladly spill their blood in the defense of their country; seeing their property destroyed; their families insulted, and their lives endangered; their persons injured; and seeing nothing in prospect that forebodes a change for the better; become tired of, and disgusted with, a Government that offers them no protection; and are not much averse to a change in which they imagine they have nothing to lose. Thus, then, by the operation of this mobocractic spirit, which all must admit, is now abroad in the land, the strongest bulwark of any Government, and particularly of those constituted like ours, may effectually be broken down and destroyed--I mean the attachment of the People. Whenever this effect shall be produced among us; whenever the vicious portion of population shall be permitted to gather in bands of hundreds and thousands, and burn churches, ravage and rob provision-stores, throw printing presses into rivers, shoot editors, and hang and burn obnoxious persons at pleasure, and with impunity; depend on it, this Government cannot last. By such things, the feelings of the best citizens will become more or less alienated from it; and thus it will be left without friends, or with too few, and those few too weak, to make their friendship effectual. At such a time and under such circumstances, men of sufficient talent and ambition will not be wanting to seize the opportunity, strike the blow, and overturn that fair fabric, which for the last half century, has been the fondest hope, of the lovers of freedom, throughout the world.
As always an enjoyable passage of time reading everyone's submissions. Good advice and healthy recommendations that many rulers/leaders should follow!!!
Well, yes - it's clear from the article that it would be an almost impossible number to determine, since the number of laws are impossible to determine and track. However, I got this figure from a quote by a Former Security Specialist at Federal Government of the United States.
Ok as I had to look it up. If these numbers are recited, they should be at least able to show you clear examples, as it happens to everyone. Every day, supposedly.
I imagine a lot of them are zoning and copyright... but there are also so many obscure ones that have never been erased. Too many women living together, teenagers owning permanent markers... singing happy birthday in public.
The only man made “law” that has ever mattered for a people is a Constitution grounded in natural law and human rights. Chances are the rest is either superfluous, spurious or corrupt. Man made laws throughout history have largely been tools of the powerful to either gain an advantage(or keep it) or suppress the masses. My very first Law course in college began with a statement from the professor: “The Law is what the Judges say it is”. That is certainly not Constitutional law which was designed to protect the individual from precisely such reckless use of power. The Constitution was designed to be the Supra-Law, that which stands above all other laws as a permanent and unchangeable protection of the rights of individuals. There is no such thing as group rights just as there is no such thing as social justice. Sadly in America the Constitution has been shredded and it is not an exaggeration to say that we live in a lawless land, where laws are indeed what partisan judges say they are and individual rights are being suborned to political ends and the rights of the group or class.
Justice Holmes: "If my fellow citizens want to go to Hell I will help them. It's my job."
Great article as always, Anya! This conversation reminds me of contemporary discourse around copyright laws and how many of them are in desperate need of an update. Social media and the fact that any artist, musician, writer, etc. can upload their works in one click without gatekeeping has made plagiarism and the violation of copyright functionally inevitable. I would love to hear your take on this from a classics perspective.
Copyright is certainly excellent fodder for a fervent discussion! My thoughts on the matter have changed a lot over the years - but as you say - technology make this topic a rapidly evolving conundrum.
Bad (or silly) Laws
Bad laws will usually lead to an UNBALANCED SYSTEM where one part of the population is done in or cheated...
It is an intolerable situation and extreme cases, like Nasism, will require a war to get rid of...
With bad laws there needs to be a resistance that is registered against it, otherwise it will just persist because there is always someone that makes money from the situation...
Hitler, once again, is an extreme example. He was once known as the 'King of Munich) and he lived in wealth in a sea of extreme poverty (in times of economic depression)...
If people are not willing to start a resistance then they and their children will live in bondage forever...
In places where people don't want to get their hands dirty, like Zimbabwe, everything is basically in the hands of a few thousand people...
It is better to live in a state of war where one, or one's children, MAY (HOPE is generated by action) have better conditions ONE DAY than to live in a false peace where people are living in a state of SYSTEMIC POVERTY where people are actually stripped of HOPE...
Pieter J (PJ)
THe old saw is "The best way to get a bad law fixed is to enforce it" and Lincoln's Lyceum speech brings out the fact that 'bad law" means any law and is thus a prescription for anarchy
good men, men who love tranquility, who desire to abide by the laws, and enjoy their benefits, who would gladly spill their blood in the defense of their country; seeing their property destroyed; their families insulted, and their lives endangered; their persons injured; and seeing nothing in prospect that forebodes a change for the better; become tired of, and disgusted with, a Government that offers them no protection; and are not much averse to a change in which they imagine they have nothing to lose. Thus, then, by the operation of this mobocractic spirit, which all must admit, is now abroad in the land, the strongest bulwark of any Government, and particularly of those constituted like ours, may effectually be broken down and destroyed--I mean the attachment of the People. Whenever this effect shall be produced among us; whenever the vicious portion of population shall be permitted to gather in bands of hundreds and thousands, and burn churches, ravage and rob provision-stores, throw printing presses into rivers, shoot editors, and hang and burn obnoxious persons at pleasure, and with impunity; depend on it, this Government cannot last. By such things, the feelings of the best citizens will become more or less alienated from it; and thus it will be left without friends, or with too few, and those few too weak, to make their friendship effectual. At such a time and under such circumstances, men of sufficient talent and ambition will not be wanting to seize the opportunity, strike the blow, and overturn that fair fabric, which for the last half century, has been the fondest hope, of the lovers of freedom, throughout the world.
As always an enjoyable passage of time reading everyone's submissions. Good advice and healthy recommendations that many rulers/leaders should follow!!!
Concur!
12 felonies a day? Where did this number come from? Sounds made up.
Well, yes - it's clear from the article that it would be an almost impossible number to determine, since the number of laws are impossible to determine and track. However, I got this figure from a quote by a Former Security Specialist at Federal Government of the United States.
Ok as I had to look it up. If these numbers are recited, they should be at least able to show you clear examples, as it happens to everyone. Every day, supposedly.
I imagine a lot of them are zoning and copyright... but there are also so many obscure ones that have never been erased. Too many women living together, teenagers owning permanent markers... singing happy birthday in public.