I FEEL OUR marijuana laws are counterproductive. And I can’t understand why you can’t cover your hair for an ID photo. But . . .
This is a nation of laws.
If it is the law, it is the law. If I break the law I accept the risk of being broken by it. Even if you unknowingly break the law, it often makes little difference. Ignorance of the law is no excuse. Because law itself is ignorant.
The iconic statue of Lady Justice has her eyes covered. Justice is imagined to be blind. English dramatist George Chapman calls the law an ass. “Ere he shall lose an eye for such a trifle . . . For doing deeds of nature! I’m ashamed. The law is such an ass.”
The law has a reputation for being rigid, stubborn and stupidly inflexible, like a donkey. Donkeys must be led by capable persons. It is best to learn to ride the law rather than being ridden by it. If you learn to ride the law well, you can learn to make it do subtle tricks or perform grand feats. Then you will be called a lawyer.
The rule of law is really the rule of lawyers. This is inevitable in a nation of laws. It presents a problem.
John Adams, one of the founding fathers of the United States of America, popularised the statement, “A government of laws, not of men.” The intent was for the law to be applied evenly, equally, fairly and without discrimination. Easier said than done.
Justice may be blind, but it must be administered. The administrators in most instances are not blind. Their eyes are open and looking in diverse directions. In a democracy, the line of sight of the lawmakers is meant to be drawn by the people. “A government of the people, for the people, by the people,” is the ideal presented by Abraham Lincoln in his Gettysburg speech.
Of course by “The people” he meant a particular group. It took a long time to expand that definition. Even with the definition expanded, it has been argued that a true democracy has never existed. In practice, democracy has always been, to varying degrees, “of a small group of people, by a small group of people, for a small group of people.”
What changes over time are the benefits, freedoms and opportunities that spill over, under the law, to persons outside of the ruling group. The hope is the ruling group will faithfully represent the will and interest of the people and run a representative democracy.
People will respect the law and the lawmakers as long as they feel truly represented by it and them. The benefits of a law-abiding lifestyle must be seen as greater than those of a law-breaking lifestyle. Highlighting the rewards for following the law is just as important as emphasising punishments for breaking it.
Under a totalitarian regime like Islamic State, the benefit of keeping the law is keeping your head. Under a democracy the benefit is, as the Americans phrase it, the right to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness; access to “the Good Life”.
A true democracy is kept stable not by law, but by freedoms, rights and opportunities. The goal is fewer laws and restrictions, not more. The law is simply a tool to protect these benefits. As Jesus says in Mark 2:27, the Sabbath was made for man and not man for the Sabbath.
Clever dictators, politicians, Scribes and Pharisees would like us to believe that we are made to serve the law. This is so we will unknowingly be working in the service and interest of the lawmakers. Aspiring absolute rulers find clever ways to sneak totalitarian systems through the back door of democracy.
They will try to convince us that we do not have the right nor freedom to challenge the law. The truth is, we have a responsibility to question and challenge the law. We have a list of celebrated law breakers who teach us this. Jesus, the early Christians, Bussa, Martin Luther King, the instigators of the French and American revolutions; they were all called criminals at one point. History has absolved them.
Talk of responsibility must accompany talk about freedoms and rights. The more rights and freedoms a people have, the greater levels of responsibility they need to demonstrate, if all hell is not to break loose. Your sense of responsibility is largely a product of your socialisation and education.
Human beings are unique animals. We have the widest range of possible expression. A dog will behave like a dog whether raised by humans or cows. A human socialised and educated by dogs will bark and run around on all fours. A government concerned with promoting democracy will ensure that its citizens have access to the best possible education and socialisation, so that they will be capable and responsible participants in the shaping of laws.
A tyrannical government is not concerned with whether or not its subjects are responsible, only that they are obedient. Obedience does not require a sense of responsibility. Fear will suffice. Better than fear is the blind acceptance of law as the ultimate power. Willing submission to law/lawmakers is less likely to lead to social unrest than forced submission.
This is a form of exploitative peace. The people feel too tired, powerless or ignorant to challenge possibly ignorant laws. It may be that the democracy is immature.
As we approach our 50th anniversary of Independence, may Barbados mature gracefully as a democracy and Barbadians enjoy greater levels of freedom, as we grow into a greater sense of responsibility. May we step up our own participation in governance and encourage the responsible challenge of laws that may be less than beneficial.
Adrian Green is a creative communications specialist. Email Adriangreen14@gmail.com