Importance of laws, rules, and regulations in a society

SolitaryRoad.com

Website owner:  James Miller

[ Home ] [ Up ] [ Info ] [ Mail ]

Why are laws, rules, and regulations and their strict enforcement so very important in a society? The answer comes down to the basic nature of man and the nature of reality. In a dog-eat-dog, survival-of-the-fittest type situation such as man often finds himself in he will lie, cheat, steal, and murder for his own interests. And with a basic nature strongly inclined toward moral depravity he will engage in fornication, adultery, incest, rape, and other moral crimes without conscience or restraint. Without laws that are strictly enforced a society would degenerate into an ugly hellhole of lying, cheating, stealing, extortion, rape, murder and violence. This fact is confirmed by some of our modern day societies (such as one can find in some countries in Central and South America). See Crime and violence in Latin America. It is also confirmed in Genesis 6 of the Bible:

Gen 6:1 And it came to pass, when men began to multiply on the face of the earth, and daughters were born unto them,

2 That the sons of God saw the daughters of men that they were fair; and they took them wives of all which they chose.

3 And the Lord said, My spirit shall not always strive with man, for that he also is flesh: yet his days shall be an hundred and twenty years.

4 There were giants in the earth in those days; and also after that, when the sons of God came in unto the daughters of men, and they bare children to them, the same became mighty men which were of old, men of renown.

5 And God saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually.

6 And it repented the Lord that he had made man on the earth, and it grieved him at his heart.

7 And the Lord said, I will destroy man whom I have created from the face of the earth; both man, and beast, and the creeping thing, and the fowls of the air; for it repenteth me that I have made them.

..................................

11 The earth also was corrupt before God, and the earth was filled with violence.

12 And God looked upon the earth, and, behold, it was corrupt; for all flesh had corrupted his way upon the earth.

13 And God said unto Noah, The end of all flesh is come before me; for the earth is filled with violence through them; and, behold, I will destroy them with the earth.

14 Make thee an ark of gopher wood; rooms shalt thou make in the ark, and shalt pitch it within and without with pitch.

The early civilizations of man that grew up in places like Mesopotamia and Egypt soon learned of the necessity for laws and their strict enforcement for the general good of man. It was obvious that man had to be restrained by law in regard to conduct. God did not give the Israelites the Ten Commandments without reason. “Thou shall not steal. Thou shall not murder. Thou shall not commit adultery.” And the penalties for breaking these laws were very severe. Usually death.

Modern man has learned of the importance of laws and regulations in regard to many things.

Take traffic laws. What would driving be like without traffic laws with everyone doing whatever he wished? Cities pass laws requiring that dogs be restrained. Would one want a situation where dogs could run free, possibly biting and even killing people? Take food safety. Without rigidly enforced food safety laws hundreds of thousands might be sickened by some mass produced tainted meat. Take environmental laws. Without strictly enforced laws and regulations our rivers would degenerate into lifeless streams of sewage and our air would become unbreathable. One simply cannot depend on people (or corporations) to do the right thing — especially when money is involved — and when there are fierce competitors who will cut corners to get an edge over you. That is just a simple fact. For money man will do about anything.

Modern man has created park systems and enacted laws in regard to hunting and fishing. Why? Before the coming of the White man the skies of America became dark from the millions upon millions of game birds that crossed the country on great yearly migrations. Unrestricted hunting and habitat destruction has changed the situation so dramatically that laws have been necessary to prevent the extinction of many species. Millions upon millions of bison once roamed the west. Hunters shot them by the millions, often just taking their hide. Now we have just a few protected buffalo in a few reservations. They nearly became extinct. The same thing has happened with many whales and game fish. They have been fished nearly to extinction. Regulation and laws have been needed to protect them from extinction. Salmon used to swim up our rivers by the millions. Now the salmon runs are a tiny fraction of what they once were. Without laws to protect them man would cut down all of the giant sequoias and redwoods and they would become an extinct species. Would we like that?

I am a believer in reason and common sense. Reason and common sense should always rule and not some dogma or ideology. I am skeptical of dogmatism and ideologues. Many conservatives preach a dogma of small government and minimum regulation. It is true that many people lack judgment and good sense and overdo it with regard to regulation. A society can make too many laws and bad laws. It can over-regulate. Thus, as always, one needs to listen to all of the pros and cons before forming an opinion. What is needed is the right laws and the right balance. Government should be as small as possible but large enough to do the things a government should do. Enforcing laws and regulations requires a fair amount of government. And there may be some things that government can do better than private enterprise.

19 Feb 2021