Anarchism

Laws and Lawlessness

It was a tragedy that simply can’t be explained in simple statements or simplistic thinking, with very young people dead because of one man’s problems with life.  He killed his mother and stole her weapons and did the unthinkable, and the only way that could have been prevented would be a complete restructuring of our constitution and its attendant amendments.  There are limits placed on all the amendments, including those first ten that represent our way of life more directly than anything else ever written, but there has never been a call to eliminate one of those most important ten, and there shouldn’t be now.

Citizens of the United States enjoy a way of life envied by most of the other peoples on the planet because of the structuring of our constitution, the Bill of Rights, and a political system free of most of the problems faced by other countries.  Corruption will exist in any society that is as free as ours, and it’s laws and rules that are supposed to control those that don’t play well with others, but today, laws, rules, ethics are products of yesterday, not holding any meaning today.  When one looks at the deteriorization of our society, the first word that comes to mind is rampant anarchism.

When two thirds of the attorneys smoke pot and snort cocaine with apparent impunity, someone should recognize a serious social problem.  This isn’t a question of whether pot should be legalized, it’s a question of those sworn to uphold the law flaunting the law.  Without the rule of law, there is no society, and those of us of a certain age can remember in civics class an instructor saying over and over, “If you don’t agree with the law, work within the framework of government to change that law.”  Laws are changed through social pressure, through politically active individuals and groups, and through increased knowledge of a subject.

A perfect point of fact, the recent legalization of pot in some communities and states.  The problem being, it is still a federal issue, and in order for that law to be fully realized, there will have to be more political activism.  Not just ignoring the law, flouting the law, denying the law.  That is not the American way, it is lawlessness, anarchism.

We have become a nation of lawbreakers and don’t seem to understand the consequences that is having on so many people.  With a wink or nod, illegal merchandise is transferred from one to another, one or both of whom are sworn to uphold the law.  Joe citizen sees this and says, “good enough for him, good enough for me.”  Cops on Nevada’s highways break the law everyday by intimidating people into letting them do illegal searches, that is, searches without a warrant.  Dogs are trained to “sniff out” drugs by way of a hand movement, thus setting up the warrantless search, and most of the time, guess what?  No drugs.

If those charged with maintaining the peace, upholding the laws of the land won’t, why should John Q. Citizen?  There are controls on the First Amendment, think “don’t yell fire in a crowded theater.”  There are controls on most of the others, and it is possible that some other controls might be needed, but when a vast number of people simply don’t give a damn about law and rule, what would another rule actually mean?

The Justice Department through the ATF sold illegal guns, federal agents died as a direct result of the sales, and the Attorney General is still in office.  The reasons for each of the amendments called our Bill of Rights have been debated for well over two hundred years, and often, it’s the second amendment that seems to be most difficult for many to understand.  It’s one of the strongest reasons that our shores have not been invaded, and it’s one of the strongest reasons our government actually responds to our wishes, most of the time.  Our government is our people, and our people are letting themselves down by way of losing the concept of a society determined by the rule of law.