Issue17 [Shining Sep 作文组] 8.22

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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: 541          TIME: 1:08:41          DATE: 2006-8-22

Law is a rule of conduct or action established by custom or laid down and enforced by a governing authority. Simply say, the use of law is to instruct people what can do, and what can not do. While the speaker divided laws into two parts: just and unjust, and asserted that everyone should obey just laws and disobey and resist unjust laws, hardly could I totally support the opinion.

Just and unjust, cursorily sorting laws into these two parts is inappropriate. While the same law in the different times, cultures, nations, people have different standards to measure it. For instance, today, the number of tigers is reducing dramatically. To protect tigers, many countries make some laws to forbid hunting wild animals. But in the nineteenth century, hunting wildlife is legitimate in many countries. Even a person who can kill a tiger is respected by people in China. It is unreasonable to protect tigers in that time, because tigers always hurt humans and eat people's livestock in some villages, and the amount of tigers is much more than that of now. So the law of protecting wildlife is unjust in the past, but just in today.

Secondly, the laws should not keep constant. On the contrary, they should be amended with the development of society. Because the world is changing too fast and a lot of new technologies, sciences, values, even ethics emerge every year. People need to change their concepts in many fields. So does law. Lots of new phenomena occur in our high-technology era, such as Internet crime, euthanasia, and clone. There is no law to manage these new-born things, but without the restriction of laws these behaviors are dangerous, so people need laws to face these facts and control these problems. Therefore, it is obvious that mending laws is necessary and essential to people.

However, changing laws too frequently is detrimental. Inconstant laws would make citizens confused, because what was legal they did yesterday is illegal today. For example, during the culture revolution time in China, government altered the laws so frequently that the society was completely disordered. Students did not study; workers did not work; farmer did not cultivate. The whole society joined a uncontrollable situation. After that, China’s economy retrogressed many years. Losing the standard and the foresee-ability of measuring behaviors, the human's world would be jumbled.

Finally, no matter laws are just or unjust, people should obey laws absolutely. Anyone who violates the laws should be punished. Because civilization is based on orders, and laws ensure these orders to be complied. Obeying unjust laws blindly is not a good choice, but disobeying and resisting laws, even unjust laws, is to disdain the authority of laws. The correct way to treat with unjust laws is to request government to amend or delete them, but not reject. After all, without the authority, laws are ineffective.

In a sum, as a crucial element of any society, laws are the guidance for all the citizens to live and work in a right way and also provide them with a stabilized climate. Obeying laws is a basic precondition of a eligible citizen. Progressing with the society, laws would be more reasonable and the world would be more balanced and flourishing.