4 ms·
It isn't obeyed or enforced and, therefore, is not the law. I won't read it as there is no point in doing so because it is not the law.
by terminalshort 7mo ago
It isn't obeyed or enforced and, therefore, is not the law. I won't read it as there is no point in doing so because it is not the law.
- vrganj 7mo agoBy that incredibly circular definition, laws don't exist. All it takes is ignoring them and then they disappear! That's obviously not how things work. If you don't obey the law, you are a criminal. That's the whole point of laws.
- terminalshort 7mo agoThat's exactly correct. Laws are not a physical entity and therefore their existence is predicated entirely on collective agreement.
- vrganj 7mo agoSo if you and I agree laws don't matter, we can go rob a bank together and it's all good?
- terminalshort 7mo agoIf you and I, the president, congress, and the judiciary agree, then yes, and that's kind of the situation regarding the laws around starting a war.
- vrganj 7mo agoWhy only these local institutions? What makes those special?
- terminalshort 7mo agoThey have the power to enforce laws
- vrganj 7mo agoSo do the mall cop and the ICC. Why does this arbitrary level in-between matter?
- terminalshort 7mo agoThe mall cop much more so than the ICC
- vrganj 7mo agoThat sure is an attitude that explains why US soft power (and with that, Empire) has been crumbling at an unprecedented rate. You might not care about the rules, but the rest of the world takes notice. This is how you break a world order carefully designed to further your own interests.
- hackinthebochs 7mo agoA law defines the nature of collective action in response to certain violations. Words on paper themselves are impotent. If there is no potential for enforcement, i.e. there is no counterfactual state of collective action, there is no law.