My father was a stickler for obeying the law, a trait he inherited from his equally law-abiding mother. When she was in her 90s she railed against the impending law requiring the wearing of seat belts. Yet when the law finally passed in Oregon, she immediately and routinely fastened her seat belt as the law required, without further complaint. Similarly, my father consistently obeyed the speed limit, seeing obedience to the law as an important civic duty. I follow in my father’s footsteps, partly out of respect and love for his memory, partly perhaps because I too am somehow inclined to be law-abiding.
Anyway, this inclination on my part leads to recurring and uncomfortable internal states of mind. I routinely drive along at the maximum allowable speed. But I realize that in so doing I am interfering seriously with the wishes of the many people inclined to drive faster. As they zoom up behind me—sometimes tailgating—I imagine that they may be trying to get to work on time, rushing to some appointment, or just in the habit of driving faster than either the speed limit or my own inclination. I am part of a minority that actually prefers a slower speed limit; that way I can drive with less total mental concentration.
But I also know I am inconveniencing and irritating others: I am reminded of two men I saw on a big Harley motorcycle a few years ago, driving between Etna and Dryden, NY. Dressed in black leather, they wielded a huge American flag, rippling in the wind above them. They sped around me and my comparatively slow-moving law-abiding vehicle, and aggressively ‘gave me the finger’ as they flew past. Annoying my fellow citizens troubles me (even those as obnoxious as these Hells Angel types were). Yet….not quite enough for me to speed up.
Over and over again, I argue with myself. On the one hand, I am being rude and thoughtless in inconveniencing others; on the other, I see the importance and power of ‘setting a good example’, ‘tipping points’ likely to yield a generally safer driving culture, the sanctity of ‘the Law’ [all thoughts that come in a fairly straight line from my father’s and grandmother’s mouths]…and of course, my own personal inclinations. Sometimes I can pull over and let the cars go by….but rarely.
I do not intend to quit obeying the speed limit. So sadly I must accept that this mild, if persistent, internal conflict is likely to continue to trouble me for the rest of my life….
I can imagine many of those who resist engaging in petty (or grand) corruption in Indonesia or cheating on one’s taxes in the US, suffer similarly enduring, but more difficult dilemmas—-struggling internally between their desire to follow, and thereby reinforce, both the law and society’s smooth, equitable (or, in my own case, safe) functioning, on the one hand; and likely arguments from relatives and friends that ‘everyone else is doing it’, that it’s ‘stupid’ not to take advantage of an opportunity to profit, that one is unlikely to get caught. Bad laws (unjust, inequitable, unenforceable) can further erode our interest in obeying them. I imagine the difficulty of continuing to resist, to obey the law, in a social setting that accepts, even encourages illegal action—the discomforts of my own niggling internal traffic dilemmas multiplied and surely intensified by the possibility of personal profit.
These millions of personal decisions and the resulting societal balance—between obedience to and contravention of the Law—determine the degree to which one lives under the ‘Rule of Law’. So many other practical advantages follow from living in a generally law-abiding world…at least when the laws make sense!