TOPIC: ISSUE17 - "There are two types of laws: just and unjust. Every individual in a society has a responsibility to obey just laws and, even more importantly, to disobey and resist unjust laws."
WORDS: 386 TIME: 00:45:00 DATE: 2007/8/20 16:33:58
The author maintains that every individual should obey just laws and resist unjust laws. I tend to agree that each person in a society should obey laws. What is more, the fundamental function of laws is protecting the most individuals’ interests. If a law distracted the purposes, the law should be change.
To begin with, laws are so compulsive that people only responsibility to obey it. Along with the development of human's civilization, people have created all kinds of laws and rules to regulate our behavior. The tax law require people pay the tax to the state and country; the economic law limit the company’s' behavior; criminal laws punish people who commit the murder, rubbing, and so on. We cannot image that without the laws' system, how confused world we will meet.
Furthermore, laws are hard to distinguish with the just laws and unjust laws. The essential function of laws is to strike a balance among competing interests and protect the most people's benefits. For example, a law about the environment, which limits the effluent of metal factory, will make a great damage to the factory. However, because of the effluent affects public's health, which damage the most people's interests, the law is reasonable. In short, the total just laws and unjust laws are not exciting.
Last but not least, laws should change with the society's development. However, sometimes governors do not want to change laws in order to protect their own profits. Just like some empires in feudal society, whose selfish behaviors will arouse people’s resistance. In ancient time, most revolutions are due to governors' endless exploitation. What is more, the history tells us that the laws which betray the public will be resisted by people. Empire Qin is good examples to show my view, the Qin period make its government in china only lasting less than 100 years. Just because lots of laws which deprive people so much that arouse the famous revolution in china.
In sum, I agree that every individual should obey laws. However, the laws cannot distinguish by just laws and unjust laws because the basic function of laws are to strike a balance among competing interests and protect the public's benefits. What is more, along with the development of our society laws should be changed to meet the public’s need.