Obeying laws - do you do it because you agree with them or because they simply exist?

JC 2K3

I was thinking about this recently. Partially due to all these drug threads in AH, and partially because I put my feet on the seat opposite me on the Luas on the way into town - my shoes being clean and me feeling I wasn't harming anyone.

So what do you think? Where there isn't a high chance of getting caught, and where you don't agree with a law, would you just break it or would you obey it in the belief that everyone should have to follow every law prescisely?

I suppose it would depend on the law in question for me. If I think a law is stupid I wouldn't be inclined to follow it too closely.

Earthhorse

I obey them because I believe in law and order. If I disagree with a particular law then I should seek to change it, not break it.

Cunny-Funt

Earthhorse wrote: »

I obey them because I believe in law and order. If I disagree with a particular law then I should seek to change it, not break it.

Lies

Timans

I'd obey them because I agree with them.

If I wanted to do something and it didn't infringe on anyone else in any way, I wouldn't really think twice about doing it regardless of whether it was against the law or not.

SV

-because they're there.
That said I do agree with best part of them.

The Master

I will bend or break a law if I believe the law to be outdated or irrelevant

LEIN

Agree with most laws. Some speed limits are silly and i don't obey them.

qz

The Master wrote: »

I will bend or break a law if I believe the law to be outdated or irrelevant

A dangerous belief in the hands of some people?

The Master

qz wrote: »

A dangerous belief in the hands of some people?

Very true

Latchy

There is a difference between breaking a law due to a moral dilemma and breaking the law for the sake of it .To me it's the latter that's the cause of many of todays ill's in this stressful world like ,being a cnut just for the sake of it

Earthhorse

Cunny-Funt wrote: »

Lies

You mean all the posts below mine are lies? Bit harsh of you.

Hellm0

I find certain laws offensive and refuse to acknowledge/obey them.
I find certain laws to be nessecary for the existance of a constructive society, so I obey them.

What makes a law/series of laws fall into one or the other category is a matter of my own opinion's on personal liberty which have evolved over time through my experiances and reading of a wide range of political, psycological and sociological subject matter. I attempt to approach poltics in a pragmatic sense rather than a grand ideological angle, rather to avoid a rigid view than to abandon idealism.

In a way I would look at a law in the same way I would altering the behavior of an ant to change the entire colony. Society is an emergent property of the behavior of human beings, to alter the behavior of all singular humans is to change the very nature of society. Such changes must be made carefully and with much consideration, especially where such laws may pertain to personal freedom's or civil liberties. Of course this is called beaurocracy, however the consolidation of power(when done under the guise of "cutting through the red tape" or protecting the public from terrorism) has never been in the publics best interest but rather should be taken as a sign of tyranny in government.

Riddle101

I pretty much obey the law because i believe in them, and also because i believe in Karma and that i feel that if i did something like rob someone's money or steal someone's mobile, i'd be afraid that Karma would get me back and the same thing could happen to me. However i wouldn't mind doing something like going past the speed limit or trespassing in order to get a football that's gone over a wall or sneaking into a night Club

Run_to_da_hills

There are certain laws in this country that are totally idiotic like the requirement to have a TV license. There is so many new means of recieving TV such as on your PC and your mobile phone.

generalmiaow

where I do obey laws, it's

in general because they exist, and specifically because I agree with them

there are also laws that don't exist, but which I still obey

Flamed Diving

All of us men know a sixteen year old we would bone if the law allowed us.



ADMIT IT.

johnnyskeleton

Learn the rules so you can break them properly.

chalad07

Flamed Diving wrote: »

All of us men know a sixteen year old we would bone if the law allowed us.



ADMIT IT.

Hang on a minute, that's a disgra......oh

(remembers Heromine from Harry Potter)

Conor108

Wasnt there that law that if you detonate a nuclear device in Ireland its a €1000 fine?:D

Kold

I take drugs.

Neamhshuntasach

Nearly all the laws i obey are based on my own morals.

I hate people who follow the law because Government legislature told them to do it.

I recently had a mate argue with me over downloading music and films because it's against the law and that the law should be followed. If they banned sex on Sunday's i wonder if he'd follow that. Or if a law was passed that everyone must fu<k a chicken at least once a month and submit video footage as evidence.

LEIN

Neamhshuntasach wrote: »

Nearly all the laws i obey are based on my own morals.

I hate people who follow the law because Government legislature told them to do it.

I recently had a mate argue with me over downloading music and films because it's against the law and that the law should be followed. If they banned sex on Sunday's i wonder if he'd follow that. Or if a law was passed that everyone must fu<k a chicken at least once a month and submit video footage as evidence.

lol the last bit is the best

connundrum

A lot of laws are very nanny state - esque, and whilst I do tend to follow them I believe that we'd get on just as well without them.

I do realise that a lot of laws are in place and it is your personal responsibility to follow them. That said, I know many folk who don't follow laws unless there is a threat of getting nabbed i.e. I couldn't believe it, but I drove from Lahinch to Dublin on Sunday without passing one check point/speed detector.

At the end of the day we need law, but laws should make sense, and should be enforced for them to be adhered to.

ScumLord

I don't obey any laws. I begrudgingly go along with them under threat of punishment but really inside I'd rather break the law and it's the thought that counts.

pickarooney

I grudgingly obey the laws of thermodynamics and gravity but will not bow to Supply and Demand.

Earthhorse

Neamhshuntasach wrote: »

If they banned sex on Sunday's i wonder if he'd follow that. Or if a law was passed that everyone must fu<k a chicken at least once a month and submit video footage as evidence.

And was your friend won over by your amazingly robust thought experiment?

pickarooney wrote: »

I grudgingly obey the laws of thermodynamics and gravity but will not bow to Supply and Demand.

You will be a rational actor and that's my last word on the matter!

Blazer

I follow my own moral compass on what to obey..
I speed..but I do it safely and never at risk to anyone else..
I only speed , at over 80+mph (100mph max) on dual carriageways and only if there's no traffic on it. One near me is normally low volume traffic at the time I go to work and leave. Normally about 70mph.
Eg.. don't kill, although if anyone ever harmed my family I wouldn't have the slightest hesitation in taking them out. I don't believe in god or fate or any of that crap. You only need to look at what's happening around the world to see this and saying it's god's will is the biggest cop out ever.
Basically treat others as you would like them to treat you (sounds cheesy after the above but it's one of the so called commandments I agree with.

javaboy

Earthhorse wrote: »

And was your friend won over by your amazingly robust thought experiment?

/takes terrapony off foe list

Seachmall

If I see a logic in a law I will try to follow it to the best of my ability regardless if I believe it is right or not. If I can't see logic in a law and nobody gets hurt in the process I'll happily break it.

Laws make the world go round, civil disobedience makes it go forward

Turd Ferguson

As long as it does not effect anybody else then I dont really care about laws.

If someone wants to take drugs or be a whore, why should that be a problem?

pickarooney

Seachmall wrote: »

Laws make the world go round, civil disobedience makes it go forward

Whoah, whoah, I'm not down with this. I think we're just about the right distance from the sun if you don't mind.

Earthhorse

pickarooney wrote: »

Whoah, whoah, I'm not down with this. I think we're just about the right distance from the sun if you don't mind.

*tips hat to pickarooney*

That's the third thing you've posted in the last hour that made me lol.

On the inside.

Piste

I'll break a law if I want to and wont get caught. If my own moral code conflicts with the law then I'll follow my morals if I know I wont get caught.

Earthhorse

javaboy wrote: »

/takes terrapony off foe list

Every time you see this I imagine a Japanese man trying to sell me telephony?

Does that make me racist?

PurpleBerry

No.

My answer to your question is "No".

javaboy

Earthhorse wrote: »

Every time you see this I imagine a Japanese man trying to sell me telephony?

Does that make me racist?

Yes. A softcore racist admittedly.

Neamhshuntasach

Earthhorse wrote: »

And was your friend won over by your amazingly robust thought experiment?

Don't have an answer yet.

But i thought your amazingly robust sense of deduction would have extracted that from the fact i stated that "I wonder".

Earthhorse

Do keep us posted.

*adjusts Deerstalker*

Holsten

I generally agree with most of them... most that make sense.

I will however break and have no respect at all for stupid and outdated rules.

Fighting Irish

I hate them zebra crossings that now have lights at them, i don't care if its a red light, if nobody is crossing or about to cross i will drive straight through

Red Hand

Fighting Irish wrote: »

I hate them zebra crossings that now have lights at them, i don't care if its a red light, if nobody is crossing or about to cross i will drive straight through

You go girl!

Ziggurat

-I obey laws I feel are conducive to the functioning of a civil society.
-I also obey laws I do not agree with out of a real or perceived threat of punishment should I break them.
-I break laws I do not agree with when I feel that there is no threat of punishment.

I would think that applies to many people. I can't imagine even the most anal-retentive bureaucrat obeying every law. Excepting, of course, under the threat of punishment.
It would take a brutal or blatantly unjust law for me to break it even under the threat of punishment.

Sleepy

My own primary moral code is 'do no harm to others'. I'll live this to my own detriment when and where I can.

If I feel a government law is stupid, e.g. prohibition, I'll ignore it if I feel safe that I won't get caught / if I do get caught my prospects in life won't suffer too greatly from it.

So, I'm fairly law-abiding, but primarily because most of our laws are covered by the principle of 'do no harm'.