Well, it's been a while. I'm back though. Let's see what's new. Job.
That's it. Okay, now back to your regularly scheduled programming.
Unbelievable amounts of order, space and individuality. That's what struck me upon my return to the states, and now that I have had some time to let those ideas rattle around in my head a bit I feel confident enough to share my findings.
First, order. You must drive on this side of the road, you must pay this much in taxes, you must do this the way the government tells you to. An affront to our individuality? (More on that later) Or a catalyst for creating a modern nation? I'd like to think it was the latter. I'm talking about the order of law. Its use, its function, application, and impact. Law creates an external framework that all citizens have to abide by, it is the manifestation of norms and taboos into a codified set of references. The assumption behind most law seems to be an offshoot of Hobbes Leviathan, where the natural state is chaos and/or anarchy. Every man for himself and the only way to prevent us all from killing each other is to impose some sort of external authority. This authority is the law.
The application of law is supposed to be fair across all gender, ethnicity, and with some exception, age. In reality this application is not always uniformly fair. Some individuals or groups receive favorable outcomes though the law while others must abide by its unfair discrimination. There are exceptions, like any situation, but these exceptions almost prove the rule of law itself. If one tries to disobey the law, swift retribution is almost always close behind. This brings us to impact.
It is in the final impact of the law that we see the full extent of its influence and capabilities. Can you imagine if there were no road rules? Or commerce rules? The law, the government, is the reason why the United States is an economic superpower. The rules created allow business to prosper and foster new industry. The transportation networks, the communication networks, the financial stability, the political stability, all this can be attributed to the order of law. An environment to foster growth, both socially and economically.
Did I mention how much !%@^#! space we have in this country? My Civic is gigantic, the house I live in has huuuuge windows and two yards, a kitchen the size of a bedroom, multiple bathrooms....and this is normal. Okay, you're thinking, so what. Why does it matter?
Well, you ignorant fool (LOL), why do we need so much space? It's borderline wasteful, it IS wasteful. But that's kind of the problem. We have too much space. Our roads, gigantic, our houses, massive, our cars, big. It's probably even worse out here on the West Coast.
Last, individuality. If there is one thing on this planet that is American in all shapes and forms, it is individuality. We prize the individual more than any other concept. The person who goes against the grain, or questions authority is (for the most part) idealized as a visionary.
-END TRANSMISSION-
That's it. Okay, now back to your regularly scheduled programming.
Unbelievable amounts of order, space and individuality. That's what struck me upon my return to the states, and now that I have had some time to let those ideas rattle around in my head a bit I feel confident enough to share my findings.
First, order. You must drive on this side of the road, you must pay this much in taxes, you must do this the way the government tells you to. An affront to our individuality? (More on that later) Or a catalyst for creating a modern nation? I'd like to think it was the latter. I'm talking about the order of law. Its use, its function, application, and impact. Law creates an external framework that all citizens have to abide by, it is the manifestation of norms and taboos into a codified set of references. The assumption behind most law seems to be an offshoot of Hobbes Leviathan, where the natural state is chaos and/or anarchy. Every man for himself and the only way to prevent us all from killing each other is to impose some sort of external authority. This authority is the law.
The application of law is supposed to be fair across all gender, ethnicity, and with some exception, age. In reality this application is not always uniformly fair. Some individuals or groups receive favorable outcomes though the law while others must abide by its unfair discrimination. There are exceptions, like any situation, but these exceptions almost prove the rule of law itself. If one tries to disobey the law, swift retribution is almost always close behind. This brings us to impact.
It is in the final impact of the law that we see the full extent of its influence and capabilities. Can you imagine if there were no road rules? Or commerce rules? The law, the government, is the reason why the United States is an economic superpower. The rules created allow business to prosper and foster new industry. The transportation networks, the communication networks, the financial stability, the political stability, all this can be attributed to the order of law. An environment to foster growth, both socially and economically.
Did I mention how much !%@^#! space we have in this country? My Civic is gigantic, the house I live in has huuuuge windows and two yards, a kitchen the size of a bedroom, multiple bathrooms....and this is normal. Okay, you're thinking, so what. Why does it matter?
Well, you ignorant fool (LOL), why do we need so much space? It's borderline wasteful, it IS wasteful. But that's kind of the problem. We have too much space. Our roads, gigantic, our houses, massive, our cars, big. It's probably even worse out here on the West Coast.
Last, individuality. If there is one thing on this planet that is American in all shapes and forms, it is individuality. We prize the individual more than any other concept. The person who goes against the grain, or questions authority is (for the most part) idealized as a visionary.
-END TRANSMISSION-
No comments:
Post a Comment