The Rule of Law

Howdy. How many people in our country actually believe in the rule of law?

When I get in my Jeep to go to work, I set the cruise control at the speed limit for wherever I am. I have noticed for years that, unless I am in an area where there are frequent speed traps, I get passed a lot, sometimes by people going 20 or 30 mph over the limit.

It occurs to me that all of these people (including me, sometimes) have fallen into the thinking that breaking the law is OK as long as you don't get caught.

This is operating at the maturity level of a child. Threat of punishment is the only deterent, and it only works if the threat is immediate and current.

What we should be doing instead is to live within the law whenever morally possible. We should do this because we live in a country where rule of law is the framework by which we are protected from each other and the government, and we should support this as something we need and want. It's our laws, and we should obey them. It follows that we should also be actively involved in controlling our government, as well, just out of self defense.

-Pop