Ignoring The Law

When the government tries to enact and enforce laws which do not have the general support of the citizens in the American democracy, it breeds disrespect for the government and also disrespect for the concept of rule-of-law. The “prohibition” laws of the early twentieth century which made possession or consumption of alcoholic beverages illegal is an example. When people start making the conscious decision to intentionally disregard a particular law, it easily spreads in their own minds to other laws. A civilized society simply cannot function properly when everyone is free to decide on their own whether they will obey speed limit laws, stop signs and red lights, taxation laws, marijuana and other drug laws, etc.

Equally, when a law is enacted by the people's representatives, and then the government decides to just disregard the wishes of the citizens of this democracy, it breeds contempt among the people for the entire concept of representative democracy. One example of this is the immigration law. The people's legislators have enacted various legislation which is intended to stop immigrants from coming into the country illegally, or entering on a tourist visa then choosing to overstay, get a job, have children, and put down roots. Existing legislation should prevent this, but the federal government chooses to not enforce much of the immigration legislation; even though they appear incapable of enforcing these laws, the federal government won't let the individual states help enforce this legislation either.

When you get both the citizens of a so called democracy and the government both ignoring laws, one soon sees a growing contempt for the entire concept of rule-of-law. The results of this are disastrous. Just look at what is happening in Mexico.

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