@spendius,
spendius wrote:
Fido-- If everyone was a "law unto himself" why would he be accountable to any other law?
Surely it would be better if nobody was armed unless what is better for a particular industry is better for the generality.
Our police are unarmed except for small specialised units which might be needed in certain exceptional circumstances.
I gather that there are 280 million guns in private hands in the US. Mistrust, suspicion and paranoia are inevitable.
When people were a law unto themselves they were still accountable to their communities, because ultimately the community had to account for the actions of all of its members... If one person killed another outside of their group it was the whole group that then had to fear revenge, and the other whole group that had the obligation of revenge against them... As the Arabs would say: Our blood has been shed... And if you did not seek revenge, not only a life was taken from you but your honor...
Now, it is thought that the individual acts on his own.... Now, because of the social contract we give up the right to instant justice, which often means the right to any kind of justice for the promise of peace and justice through law... Having peace, those who manage the law often turn it toward injustice and forget that peace depends upon justice... And still we see where communiities like the blacks who have no community control are still held responsible as a group for the actions of a few... I could see it if they had power over their own, but since they are powerless, unable to police their own; why discriminate against them because of a few criminals who most often prey upon them???
Look at us... The West has grown up under the shelter of law, and it is because of constant feud justice that some societies have not progressed... But people need justice and the state should provide for justice and when it does not the people still need justice and suffer the want of it... We do not have feud justice, but instead our injustice spills over every border until the next war is begun with the end of the last... We think we can take our justice from the justice of others when in fact, we only make the pool of injust ice larger... And law in protecting the weak from the strong also makes the whole society weak; and the only advantage is that in prtecting the smart from the dumb it makes the society smarter; but for what; if the smart only use the cover of law to plunder the poor and uneducated which divides and weakens the society in the face of the inevitable international enemies...
Law does not work, and it destroys communities and community controls, until parents cannot dare discipline their children if they cannot afford an attorney... Under law all are seen as individuals having individual responsibility and individual rights, and there is no limit to it... Who does this empower besides lawyers, and who does it make rich but those employed by law ???
In t he county where I live, law is the single largest expense bar none... Ask those people who are beating the **** out of us in education if their children fear their parents, or teachers, or if their parents and teachers must fear them... There was always some sort of law, or understanding among tribal people... Everyone knew the rules... The people themselves enforced the rules, and this fits with a democracy... But, within ones own community a nearly perfect freedom reigned... Now, we are not free, not democratic, and no where can any community rule its own... There is no such thing as a little law... Law, once established must push into every area of human activity until no one can dare open their mouths without consulting an attorney... Not even the attorneys are free of law... Law does not work... Unless the people can master the law they are its servants...
