That’s actually a more interesting question. I think it depends on what one thinks the purpose of laws are. Is it to keep the peace, or maintain power? Is it a manifestation of a human need for control? Who knows?
I think it depends on what one thinks the purpose of laws are. Is it to keep the peace, or maintain power?
Laws in most places are supposedly to keep the peace. But as we can see in England right now, some laws are thought to be abusive. The truth is that laws are only words and therefore can be manipulated by whoever wants to do so.
Do laws really work? That depends on whether the people find them useful or not. If someone has lots of money, then the laws that govern certain ways of life can be "overlooked" as necessary whereas a poor man would usually pay the full penalty. I know this seems like a generality, but it happens more often than most people realize.
Laws are tied to the needs of society, and are supposed to benefit them. I some cases it benefits only a part of the group such as men but not women, rich but not poor.
But who really decides the laws that govern the society? In most cases it is not a general democratic vote of all the population but a small number of representatives that decide what is best for the rest. And who could even guess what their personal motivation is.
I think I agree with everything you said, but what of the question of the relationship between laws and peace?
In most places around the world I think it is simply a matter of "If you don't break the law, we will leave you in peace".
Every time some thinks up or does something that others thinks is a bad idea they want to make up a rule about it.
Most of the time, but not all of it, laws are made against people doing things that might hurt or cause some sort of problem for other people in the society. Usually these acts are carried out by people that are too stupid to realize that someone else might get hurt, people that know what they are doing is going to hurt someone and do not care, or people that actually get some sort benefit from doing harm to others.
So basically laws are made with the intention of keeping the peace. But not all laws do benefit the whole population, and not all laws are made because of the whole population.
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If there was peace, would there be need for law?
That’s actually a more interesting question. I think it depends on what one thinks the purpose of laws are. Is it to keep the peace, or maintain power? Is it a manifestation of a human need for control? Who knows?
No, it would be those that are lucky/strong/smart enough to avoid being killed; those that have the most power and influence over others.
Laws in most places are supposedly to keep the peace. But as we can see in England right now, some laws are thought to be abusive. The truth is that laws are only words and therefore can be manipulated by whoever wants to do so.
Do laws really work? That depends on whether the people find them useful or not. If someone has lots of money, then the laws that govern certain ways of life can be "overlooked" as necessary whereas a poor man would usually pay the full penalty. I know this seems like a generality, but it happens more often than most people realize.
Laws are tied to the needs of society, and are supposed to benefit them. I some cases it benefits only a part of the group such as men but not women, rich but not poor.
But who really decides the laws that govern the society? In most cases it is not a general democratic vote of all the population but a small number of representatives that decide what is best for the rest. And who could even guess what their personal motivation is.
I can’t figure out what you’re trying to say...
I think I agree with everything you said, but what of the question of the relationship between laws and peace?
In most places around the world I think it is simply a matter of "If you don't break the law, we will leave you in peace".
Every time some thinks up or does something that others thinks is a bad idea they want to make up a rule about it.
Most of the time, but not all of it, laws are made against people doing things that might hurt or cause some sort of problem for other people in the society. Usually these acts are carried out by people that are too stupid to realize that someone else might get hurt, people that know what they are doing is going to hurt someone and do not care, or people that actually get some sort benefit from doing harm to others.
So basically laws are made with the intention of keeping the peace. But not all laws do benefit the whole population, and not all laws are made because of the whole population.