Quote:
Originally Posted by mogui
Someone, I forget who, once said that in a democracy it is the citizen's responsibility to break those laws with which he disagrees. Granted, it is an extreme position.
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Although I do not live in a democracy (I live in a republic), I - and I believe everyone else - find a certain agreement in this concept. In the US's history, slavery has been legal and serving alcoholic beverages has been illegal. Both of these laws were blatantly violated and have since been repealed/changed.
Even in a true democracy,
must we be restricted by laws with which we disagree? Normally we accept the ones we consider bad because the good ones out weigh the bad, at least for us. Whether we think a law is good or bad is a very relative thing depending on our status in our society. Thus as you say, mogui, it is a product of the affluent. The affluent may not mean strictly monetary affluence but might be those with an affluence of customs, concepts, prestige, societal position, etc. This often changes as one grows older and becomes more established in their society - i.e. has invested more into the society's morality and laws or, stated another way, has become more affluent.
Bottom line is you have to live with yourself so your own morality always counts strongly regardless of where your morality originated - from parents teaching, religious concepts, or some innate since of right & wrong (assuming such can be innate). But we all live in some sort of society which also imposes its morality on us to some extent.
So do what
you think is right and don't get caught by your neighbors.