Law as a Medium

In the early 60's, Marshall Mcluhan emerged as being one of the great philosophers of the media age. Today's usage of the term "media" comes from him as well as some now familiar phrases like: "global village" and "age of information". Mcluhan was different from other critics of the media which focused primarily on content. Marshall went a great leap ahead by looking at ways in which a particular medium changes our relationships and our way of seeing the world. For example, he deemed the light bulb as a "medium without a message" but it has changed the way we live drastically. Take a quick look at the things we can now do and take for granted that were not possible before its invention.

What we will do today is take his general idea and apply it to something else - Law. Is law a medium? Yes, it is. Law is a medium of behavior. Those who love and obey laws will modify their behaviors to adhere to them. Every relationship is life will be affected. In this case we are going to look at a specific set of laws, two of them actually. The first is arguably the greatest set of laws ever proposed; recorded by none other than Moses in the Ten Commandments. A list of the Ten will not be enumerated here, but you can find them in Exodus 20.

Let's ask: What kind of behavior is elicited by adherence to the Ten? What would we expect such a person to be like?

He would be someone who loved God and who would set aside a special day of worship every week to show that love. He would be steadfast, not susceptible to the whims of false belief. He would give due honor to his parents, as his life is a continuance of theirs, and show fidelity toward his wife. He would honor friend and acquaintance by telling the truth. He has respect for other people's property and does not harbor secret whims to take what is not his.

Just think of what it would be like to live in a society of such people. The benefits would be enormous. Relationships would be based on mutual respect. Business would be conducted along the same lines. Little extra energy would have to be spent in worry and mistrust. Partners could sleep easy at night and not have to wonder if their capitol might disappear at any moment. It would foster great confidence that the deals they had forged would be strong. Note too that these ten laws did not just apply within the boundaries of Jewish society. Everyone was to be treated exactly the same way.

And what of a society which does not adhere to the Ten? (This includes those who wilfully ignore the Law.) One would expect the opposite to become true. There would be no love for God. Worship would be degraded to superstition and rote obedience. Parents would no longer be revered. Truth would go out the window along with fidelity. Family relationships would suffer. Business partnerships would be strained from mistrust. The other party might be just playing you to get ahead. Or they may simply murder you and take what they want.

No benefits can come from a society that does not have a good set of laws. The impetus for making a better life for yourself and your family would be nil. Why strive when the risks are so high? Why attempt to achieve when what you've worked hard for with your energy, intelligence and time might at any moment be taken away?

It is true that laws can be a good thing. There is no better set that the Ten Commandments. they are the foundation for the laws of the United States: the mark of a great people, the Jews, and a great nation, Israel.

At this point we should note that there are still many in the U.S. - even among those who would not define themselves as religious - who obey at least some of the Ten on principle. These are individuals whose word is their bond and their handshake is better than a contract signed in a room full of lawyers.

Let's make a few general observations about law before we continue. If laws are a medium of behavior it might seem better to have more laws rather than fewer, because then behavior would be more closely controlled. This is incorrect. At some point there are diminishing returns. More laws would mean that fewer people would even know them in their entirety. Also, the possibility of contradictory laws would be increased. This would encourage duplicity and decit. Or, laws not deemed important or rarely enforced would simply be ignored. It is better to have fewer and more clear laws than more of them.

The United States has its own "Ten Commandments". These are enumerated in the Bill of Rights of our Constitution. One need only look at them for a moment to see that they are not laws for citizens of our great country. Rather they are laws mediating the behavior of our Federal Government.

Under these laws, what kind of government can we expect to have? Our government would allow its citizens to speak their mind verbally and in print. They could practice their Christian beliefs in any way they chose. They could peacefully assemble. They can defend their lives and property by owning guns. Their own property would not be violated by the government unnecessarily. It cannot be seized wtihout due process. The government could not force them to house troops. Further, this same government would protect their right to a fair trial, in public, with an impartial jury. Excessive punishments would not be meted out. Lastly, those powers not granted specifically to the Federal Government would be settled by the States, or the people.

For most of our history these laws have worked very well. But we can also see that today our government has vastly overstepped the boundaries granted them by law. This is especially true of our present administration and the majority of our representatives. Again, what happens when laws are wilfully ignored? The opposite of them becomes true.

We've already seen the illegal takeover by the government of one of our major car manufacturers and about a hundred other companies. Several of our major industries are under what are called "Czars". These are unelected officials who bear no direct responsibility to those they rule over. They were simply appointed. Right now health care legislation is being considered that will (illegally) hand over some 15 percent of our gross national product to the Federal Government.

We have seen the result of this behavior. Our economy is in shambles and losing jobs every day. There is currently a disincentive to start new business in the face of higher taxes and stifling regulation. The confidence of our citizens in the Federal Government is at an all time low.

The question is: If our representatives so easily ignore some of our laws, what is to stop them from ignoring them all? Unfortunately both parties are at fault for this situation. And to say that abuse of power began with the present administration is misguided even though the pace of abuse is accelerating. And now the solution is not be so easy. It will begin when we as citizens get so fed up with this activity that we will come out and use another, perfectly legal and time-honored method for changing behavior. And vote them out of office.