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Απο το WordReference Forums > Additional Forums > Cultural Discussions το θεμα συζητησης ειναι Chaotic but free.

Η τοποθετηση του μελους cubaMania αγγιζει τους θεσμους και τα ατομα-μελη μιας κοινωνιας, δινει καινουριες διαστασεις στην σταση των ατομων απεναντι στην εξουσια που ασκειται απο τις αρχες μιας χωρας.

cubaMania
Senior Member Join Date: Feb 2005
Location: Near San Francisco CA USA
Native language: USA/English
Posts: 6,792

Re: Chaotic but free
Hmmm, this is getting more complicated. I do not think that "respect for authorities" is the best basis or the only basis for compliance with rules, laws, regulations, etc. For myself, I only respect the authorities if they respect me and other citizens. I mean that all humans should be treated with respect. (Well, OK, I admit I make an exception for certain despicable human beings.)

What I do have respect for is the rule of law, the constitution of my country, the rights of other people. My tendency to be a law-abiding citizen is not based upon respect for authority, but rather on the Social Contract. We can't each of us live by ourselves on 50 acres of land, we need to live together, so we have banded together and set up a system of laws to make that possible. In a dictatorship or an oppressive non-democratic system of government, respect for authority (or perhaps just fear) may be the basis for complying with laws. But in free societies organized on the principles of the Social Contract, it ideally depends more upon people feeling that they are equal participants in the society, that they each have a voice and an influence in mutual governance, that there is fairness and justice available to all. According to the Social Contract, I obey even those laws I think are silly, and others do the same because, obviously, there can never be 100% agreement on exactly what the laws should be, and we are all trying to cooperate and get along.

We do have in USA a tradition of Civil Disobedience. But this tradition applies only to serious matters where we feel morally obliged to oppose the established laws. It is a last resort when we feel the society has gone seriously wrong and off-track and we are willing to pay the legal price for openly flaunting the law. But that does not apply to the ordinary civil laws such as traffic laws, smoking laws, leash laws, etc. whose purpose is only a matter of oiling the everyday machinery of a functioning society. For those laws, if you disagree with them, the appropriate response is to try to get them changed. We can vote, we can write to our city council members or other representatives, we can campaign, petition, march in the streets, or even run for government office ourselves, but nobody will ever live in a society in which they agree with every single law, rule, and regulation that exists, so always there will be some laws that we don't much like.