When I was younger I had friends who would righteously step out in front of moving cars at intersections while proclaiming “The law says drivers must yield to pedestrians.”
I knew others who would brake check people who were tailgating them saying, “They’re legally responsible if they hit me.”
It seemed to so obvious to me that the law was not the primary issue here. I didn’t want to be run over by a car at an intersection or rear ended by a speeding vehicle. It didn’t matter who was “right” according to the law – I would still suffer.
My choice was to wait for cars to stop (or drive through the intersection) before stepping in front of them and to move over to let a tailgater pass me as soon as possible.
Laws only work when people follow them.
I often thought how lucky we were in the US to not have terrorist attacks. Before 9/11, they were almost unheard of here. Meanwhile, the news would report regularly on terrorist attacks that were occurring throughout the world in Europe, Africa, Asia and South America.
I’d read about the cartels in Mexico that murdered civilians, judges, military troops and police officers and breathe a sigh of relief that this didn’t happen in the US.
I never thought it was the law that protected us. I suspected it was our social norms that influenced this. After all, terrorism was illegal in all of these countries. And yet, it didn’t happen here.
I read about high rates of drug & gang related crime, shootings and murders in the US in places like Compton, South Chicago, NYC, Miami and even in certain ghettos in my old hometown of Pittsburgh. It surprised me that most of the violent crime seemed to constrain itself to these areas. I used to wonder why these gangbangers didn’t travel to the wealthier neighbors to do carjacking, robbery and general violence.
These crimes were illegal everywhere in the US, yet clearly something was preventing it from happening in most places. I guessed it had something to do with abject poverty, possibly with policing, but also some kind of tacit acceptance of this type of behavior in the the “bad neighborhoods” vs. the “good neighborhoods”.
Clearly, I was making sweeping judgements and basing my assessment of TV, movies, news stories and general ignorance. What can I say, I was young and used to think I knew everything back then. The root causes seem to be more complex to me today.
Even so, I still don’t think it’s the law that makes the difference. It’s something more – norms, values, education, role models, families, hope, expectations, access to guns, peer groups, etc.
The jaywalkers and brake checkers of today are all complaining online. At least half of the country seems to be complaining about the Trump administration breaking the law. They proclaim, “He can’t do that…It’s against the law!”.
Pundits, political opponents and random people on the other side all say this. I understand that feeling of rage. I often disagree with this administration’s actions. At times, I find some of these actions reprehensible.
Sometimes what his administration does is obviously illegal. Usually (often simultaneously), it’s breaking a norm, tradition or precedent that we never expected to be broken.
Once again, I think, “It doesn’t matter what the law says…He’s going to do what he wants. if you’re going to fight him, be prepared for him to attack you with social media, the justice department, lawsuits threats of violence and anything else at his disposal. The courts may someday rule in your favor but it’s going to cost you a lot in terms of safety, legal costs, time, business and more.”
Just like the car barreling through the intersection, the law won’t make you feel better when you get hit.
Still, I think things like crime, corruption, power grabs, violence, grift and fraud ebb and flow. This isn’t the first time I’ve seen it, nor will it be the last. In our country’s history, we have plenty of examples of abuse of power – especially by the wealthy and by politicians.
If things get really bad, there will be revolts, revolution, migration and other social changes long before the laws do anything to address the broader issues. It doesn’t appear that we have reached that point yet.
In the meantime, I’m not stepping in front of a moving car to make a legal argument.
