Why Can’t Laws Work Perfectly All the Time?
They should, shouldn’t they?
Occasionally my wife and children go on weekend trips for a sports tournament, and I stay home by myself. Typically, they call to let me know they arrived. Then they ask how I’m doing. Most times I jokingly say that all the toilet seats are up and I’m drinking straight from the milk carton.
But one time it dawned on me. When everyone is in the house, why do I have to leave the toilet seats down, and why can’t I drink milk straight from the carton any time I want to? Why do I have to live by those rules even though I didn’t choose them? In fact, there are two sets of rules. One set when I’m by myself, and another set when I’m not.
Which got me thinking about laws in general and how they are used in society. I realized that laws are a function of humans having to interact and cooperate with one another. Now, I have a law degree, but I don’t practice law anymore (I’m a “recovering” attorney). However, I thought I’d put my legal education to some use.
So I dove into the philosophy of law. And as I got deeper and deeper I discovered that no one really knows exactly how laws function or even what laws really are.
