living without laws

laws aren’t bad… well, some of them are – those that discriminate against minority groups, for example… but for the most part, laws are just a way of keeping society within certain moral boundaries (such as laws against various types of violence, and against certain socially unacceptable behaviours), or regulating and defining “limits”, in the interests of protecting the community (such as laws which determine safe speed limits for different stretches of road, or laws that regulate the costs of goods and services, and guard against monopolisation)…

but laws are arbitrary, for the most part… there is nothing inherently safe about travelling at 50km an hour in a built up area – i mean, it’s probably safer than 60, and not as safe as 40, but regardless of how many experts were consulted, and how scientifically the decision was made, it is ultimately a speed that is decided upon, and enforced, and this (not its “rightness”) is what makes it law…

what about morality laws? what about injunctions against murder, rape, domestic violence – surely these are “right”? well, perhaps they are… but do we need a law to tell us so? by creating the law, we also create a paradox: those who enforce the law are sometimes “required” to use violence, even to inflict mortal wounds, and this is considered acceptable as long as their actions are not deemed to go beyond “reasonable force” – whatever that means? moreover, it would seem that such laws only really apply at home… one nation may invade another, and if the cause is considered just, wholesale slaughter of “enemy” soldiers and civilians (within certain boundaries) is legitimised… so the law, which is based on a moral definition of “right”, has contingencies written into it…

so what are laws? i say they are arbitrary regulations for the purposes of controlling society, commerce, politics, etc. and how they function… and laws are here to stay, i’m afraid… much as i would wish it otherwise, i think we must accept that there is a huge majority of people who “need” laws, as a basis for feeling that the need for justice and security (needs which i don’t dispute) is being met. “and rightly so!” i hear the moralist say, “without laws you just have anarchy!” yes, replies the sojourner with a smile – that is exactly what we’re talk about…

ok, so laws aren’t necessarily bad, but they aren’t good either… they just are… it’s not their existence that i object to, but their effect on the social conscience... conceptions of law and morality are so intermingled, that to break a law is much the same as to commit a sin… on the flip side, we can therefore say that if we haven’t broken any laws, we haven’t sinned, and therefore we are “justified” – we can bend the rules, we can search out loopholes in the law, and squeeze our way back into legitimacy, just as long as we don’t break the law…

abiding by laws doesn’t make us “good” people – it just makes us law abiding… and if the law can’t make us good, why take notice of it at all? why let ourselves be governed by regulations that don’t help contribute to a better society – but justify us, as law abiding citizens, in our lax contribution to society…

and so i advocate anarchy… but not the anarchy of common language: not chaos (as such); not society overturned; not rioting, and bands of brigands warring for control of the streets… rather, it is the anarchy of self-government; of not being dependent on the law; of not letting the law decide and shape the type of society we live in; nor letting laws shape our conceptions of morality… it is an anarchy of social responsibility, to be within (though not by choice), but to largely ignore the regulations that govern those within the system…

living without laws means that we can’t blame anyone but ourselves for the society that we help to create as a result of our actions… and this means considering the outcome of our actions, and if the outcome doesn’t contribute to the kind of society we want to live in, to reconsider the action…

moreover, living without laws means being aware of the needs of others – being aware, and doing something about it! living as though there is no welfare system, nor social workers on the public payroll, whose job it is to assist those that aren’t able to cope just on their own – the “dregs” of society…

so living without laws is a bit more work, it requires being a bit more responsible, it means confronting your fear of smelly, ugly, potentially deranged, and utterly helpless people… it is something that i’m not very good at, at all… but this is what it means to live without laws – and the benefits to society, and to your sense of self-esteem, of security, and of justice, far outweigh the cost…

hooray for anarchy!