Why abide the law if there's truly no good reason to?
- Eg at traffic lights (if there’s DEFINITELY nobody around). Traffic lights are there to get people home safely, and to improve the flow of traffic. You don't need to wait unquestioningly for a minute for one to go green in the dead of night after you've stopped and looked around.
Why do people still insist on abiding by them, even in such situations? Is it just out of a habit of general deference to the law that some find themselves unable to apply their own judgement in very selective cases as to the law's usefulness?
Obviously, it's not good to be known as a dodgy person, but, even so, this label rests on the irrationality of those applying it. I'm not saying I'd argue with a policeman who books me for going through a red light when there was no threat of an accident, but I shouldn't have to debate those in a car with me. As a passenger I would only object to a driver who took actual risks.
The Law is not some infallible, infinitely wise doctrine which should not be subject to re-interpretation by citizens. Not to mention all the times where we can get away with doing terrible, but legal things..
Some people have objected that my viewpoint implies that we'll all commit murder whenever we are sure that can get away with it. Wtf? We have a conscience! With good reason, we don't have as bad a conscience if we go through a red light as if we murder somebody.
2 comments:
I suppose the law presumes that a higher authority knows better than we do on certain matters. People are killed all the time going around the gates of railroad tracks or running red lights when they were sure no one was coming.
although, one could argue, they were never sure :)
one has to look very carefully
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