Issue 17

xusichuangUID: 2653998

17"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."

Law, body of official rules and regulations, generally found in constitutions, legislations, judicial opinions and the like, that is used to govern a society and to control the behavior of its members in order to maintain a stable society. Basically, I do not agree with the author’s opinion that laws can be classified as just laws and unjust laws. Moreover, s/he’s proclamation that everyone should disobey unjust laws is misleading.
Laws are relative in the way that just laws are just for some people while unjust for the other. In may occasions, it is illegal for a chemical factory to omitting gases generated from producing process, because it will cause air pollution and great harm to the residents nearby. It seems clause such as this is just, however, this regulation will directly reduce the factory’s profit. In a competitive society, it will lay off workers to shrink its size. This will cause unemployment and for the people unemployed, this regulation is unfair. Usually, it is unreachable to maintain the condition that all people involved get a satisfactory answer, so the law’s role is to make the judgment that can benefit the majority at the cost of sacrificing minority’s welfare. In the case above, because of the law, the nearby residents’ interests are protected although it might be unfair to the factory owner and the worker. Thus, it is unreasonable to simply classify law into just or unjust.
What’ more, there is not a law that is universally just or unjust. Law derives from the society which it governed. Some laws interrelate with religion, history and cultural. Abortion, for example, is considered illegal in many countries. However, in those nations whose cultural rule is that human right started when one was born, it will be in the mothers’ will to abort her embryo or not.
The author’s second proclamation that each individual in the society has responsibility to disobey and resist unjust laws is also not meticulous. Admittedly, in the human course, for some unjust laws such as laws and regulations by British Crown that greatly impede the development of American colonies, it is the people’s right and duty to abolish them. However, in some occasions, the rebellion of unjust laws will cause greater injustice. Consider a worker who is working in a pharmaceutical factory which product abortion medicine but the worker is against abortion. He may, according his belief, change the ingredient of the medicine. However, this will lead to greater unjust because the medicine could be inefficient or even deadly.




To sum up, the author’s opinion is fallacious. Firstly, laws are complicated entity that can not be divided into two parts. Secondly, in some occasions the rebellion of unjust law will cause greater injustice sometimes even social instability.