And then there`s the “slippage of rules”: rules are constantly being added and expanded, so that our individual freedom is increasingly restricted. Planning restrictions, safety rules, and risk assessments can add up endlessly and extend their reach far beyond the original intent. The idea was born because I couldn`t imagine that many events would take place if people didn`t follow traffic rules, don`t have tickets for games or shows, or even don`t follow basic rules of politeness. How will people drive safely? How would the University of Minnesota Duluth or anyone else pay the cost of renting a facility? Would the facilities have secure entrances and exits? Would security be a top priority for site managers? Would people want to attend events if they knew others weren`t following the rules? “I`m 20 years old and I feel more and more limited by the rules. From endless signs telling me to “stand up” on escalators or “skateboard forbidden” in public places, to all the unwritten social rules like expecting to move in, buying a house, and starting a family. Do we really need all these rules, why should I follow them and what if we ignored them all? Will, 28, London Some people find it difficult to abide by the laws because they don`t agree with them. Others have difficulty complying with the law because they do not believe the law applies to them. Humans can be quite complicated creatures – we all have very different personalities, different ideas about what is good or bad, and different things we love and love to do. But that`s okay – the difference can be good.
Maybe you like hot dogs while your boyfriend prefers burgers, or maybe you like sci-fi movies, but your beast likes to watch comedies. No harm done – you can enjoy all the things you love. Restrictions on renovating old buildings can be so strict that no renovation is possible and buildings collapse. Environmental assessments of new forests can be so severe that it becomes almost impossible to plant trees. Drug discovery regulations can be so burdensome that a potentially valuable drug is abandoned. The road to hell is paved not only with good intentions, but also with rules that impose those good intentions, regardless of the consequences. These are just a few examples of how society would be harmed without laws. There are many other laws that would also be needed to protect society. It is clear that society needs laws to function properly. Even language is a kind of rule.
We all agree that the word “chair” means something you sit on. If you suddenly decided that you wanted to use the word “jibbertyflibbert” instead of “chair”, things would get confusing – no one would know what you mean! Or imagine you`ve asked someone for a pen and they give you a mouse, or you ask for toast for breakfast and your mom hands you a lawn from the garden. We must all agree on what we mean when we say the words “pen” and “toast”, otherwise it would be quite difficult to understand each other and live together. And if we all agree on something and live by it, it`s kind of a rule. While the lack of government presence is a magnet for many, there are reports of self-defense justice in the form of shootings or arson. While Slab City is often called “The Last Free Place in America,” the name may be more exaggerated than true. Recently, the state of California announced plans to exercise control and ownership of Slab City by trying to sell it — possibly to energy companies. While claiming complete independence, the Imperial County Sheriff`s Department and the Niland Fire Department often provide services to Slab City although they do not receive taxpayer money. “There are unjust laws: should we be content to obey them, or should we strive to change them and obey them until we succeed, or should we break them immediately?” Many norms of everyday life perform exactly the same function as the rules of the game – they tell us what “movements” we can and cannot do. The conventions of “favor” and “thank you” that seem so boring to young children are indeed arbitrary – but the fact that we have such conventions, and perhaps critically, that we agree on what they are, is part of what keeps our social interactions running smoothly.
Martin Luther King Jr.[3] referred to Augustine and Thomas Aquinas in a letter from Birmingham Prison, saying that Jim Crow`s laws were unjust and should be avoided to justify his justification of the goodness of civil disobedience. Anarchists are not against being organized or having people who can and do lead others. But a key thing to understanding anarchy is to understand the difference between a leader and a leader. Anyone can choose to follow someone else and make that person their “leader” – but the moment a person forces someone else to follow them, the person carrying out the coercion becomes a “leader.” And then people have no choice but to follow the laws they make. From a legal point of view, these agreements are legally binding only on the nations or countries that sign them. For those who have not signed the treaties, there are effectively no laws in Antarctica.