No. 32 - What is law?

It is the law of the land that maintains order and helps to safeguard the rights and will of the citizenry. It is the carefully considered perspective of all sides involved in an issue that goes into the creation of law, and that insures the law will not fail humanity. It is with the regard for mankind and the deep desire to uplift society that laws are created and passed.

While that sounds great I have sadly come to regard “law” as something other than that. We all have countless stories of how the law was used to justify the misdeeds of the past. Even today there is evidence of abuse or misuse of the law. I’m reminded of something a colleague once told me. He and I were talking about law and legality and he said to me: “The problem with our system is that justice IS blind. Maybe if she were to remove her blinders there would be equality in the law”. An interesting point indeed.

I have to wonder what the law is really about. And I have to wonder how it has integrated into our society – for the good or for the bad. And I have to apply these thoughts to how the law applies to the creation of – or destruction of – democracy, as it is understood.

So let’s take a little journey…

Early on we are taught that laws are emplaced to safeguard and protect society. Our system, it is thought, is the best in the world to making sure all peoples of the land have a voice, and everyone is treated fairly. So when some legislator comes up with a novel idea that he/she feels will benefit society it is presented and then processed to somehow become a law, if it is seen to have merit and reflects the will of the people. Once it’s a law the people then adhere to it or suffer the consequences of fines, jail, or prison.

But what is at the core of the effort? Is it truly about finding ways to enlighten, safeguard, or unburden society? Or is there a more sinister motive at play?

When I look at how laws affect the poor, the environment, the disadvantaged, and those who are not in positions of financial or political power, I have to think there is an imbalance in the process that works to under serve these groups.

Fact is, many laws are developed and implemented for the rich and powerful. They protect their financial engines and modes of operation while slowly chipping away at some previously asserted (and established) right of the masses.

Let’s take, for example, the way Bush and his lawmaker pals have justified many of their actions. Let’s consider how they have, time and again, completely overlooked an established law, directive, or policy, to do what they wanted to do. (Think about waterboarding, for instance). Or let’s consider how banks can justify their greed and overly zealous desire to exploit everyone willing to agree to their “legal” policies for the simple purpose of “legally” taking as much of your money as they possible can.

The housing market serves as another example of how the powerful moneylenders use the word of “law” to remove their obligation to act responsibly and deal with their own losses – that were caused by their own predatory lending practices. Now, as it seems, these organizations have turned to the government and our already suffering society to fix the problems their greed cased and sure enough, the government lawmakers have responded. Needless to say, their response will only serve a small minority of those who have fallen victim to adjustable interest rates and the ballooning house market…

But alas I digress (a little, at least).

The ultimate question that should be considered is do laws that are passed reflect the will of the people? As a democracy - which implies our entire system is based upon respect and direct representation of the will of the people - do our lawmakers act accordingly? Or have their actions demonstrated they follow a different master? I believe we should each consider this and come to our own conclusions.

It has been my observation that we have all come to allow our leaders to hide behind the law. We have all forgotten that laws in American ought to reflect the will of the people, and not the will of the powerful – after all, the people have the real power because the people are the lifeblood and heartbeat of the community in the politic equation with the only active voice for truth. And the people possess the intellect and real experience to look at an issue honestly, and decide what needs to be done about it.

I would encourage everyone to keep this in mind when next you hear someone say the law requires him or her to do something in a way that hurts our society. I would ask that you think about it when you are made aware of someone who has clearly violated a social trust for the financial benefit of some corporation or his/her own wallet. And when these situations occur, instead of simply accepting those words as the gospel truth and remaining inactive in your response, we should immediately respond in very clear terms, “Then the law is no good for society and it must be changed!”

After all, what is law if it does a disservice to the masses? In my mind, when this is the case, the law then becomes nothing more than another mental constraint used against us to keep those who benefit from unfair and selfish practices in positions of power, and to keep the masses struggling to have a better existence. It becomes a dynamic link to all the verbal and mental brainwashing we have endured for hundreds of years. And it becomes the very thing we are taught it should not be – part of the problem, and not the solution.