Americans take pride in knowing they live in a democratic country that ensures freedom, but how true is this assumption? What exactly is freedom today and how does it affect us? The Webster's English Dictionary defines freedom as "The state of being able to act without hindrance or restraint, liberty of action". The truth of the matter is that America is not a completely free nation. Every year new laws get passed that are intrusions on our daily lives.
One law, which I strongly disagree with, is the smoking ban. A New York resident can no longer smoke in bars, restaurants, offices, or covered outdoor patios. The government should not have the right to tell independent businesses how to operate. Although second hand smoke is harmful, it is my choice to go to a place where smoking is permitted. People go to a bar to relax and have a good time, but now smokers would rather stay home where they don't have to step outside every fifteen minutes. This is causing a huge problem for bar owners as profits are dropping. A bar owner in New York City Claims that the new law "messed with her bars groove, and business is down forty percent" (Haughney, A.03).
Another freedom that has recently been taken away is the ban on hand held cell phone usage in the car. In theory, some accidents are caused by people talking on their cell phones but "statistics are scant regarding cell phone safety" (Kilgannon 14Ll.1). Most people don't normally drive with two hands on the wheel anyway so it shouldn't matter what is in that extra hand. Cell phones are only one distraction from driving, like eating or smoking. That is why it is absurd to single them out as a major problem.
The drinking age is yet another restriction on the American lifestyle. At the age of eighteen, a person has the right to vote, buy cigarettes and go to war but he or she still can't have an alcoholic drink. This is ridiculous; if I am old enough to be tried as an adult in court I should be responsible enough to consume alcohol.
Are we morally obliged to obey unjust laws? Do we have to follow a law regardless of how unfair, unjust, or immoral it may be? ... An unjust law according to Dr. ... How can it be best to sit in the face of an unjust law? ... The time is always right to break an unjust law....
This refers to people that break a law that they think is unjust, that only do this to bring the unjust law to light so everyone can see how unjust the law really is. ... Both authors see the right for change in unjust laws but Thoreau believes that action on a large scale is the right way to go. ... Some people think that if there is an unjust law it is part of the necessary friction if the machine of government. Thoreau says that if you think the law is unjust then let your life be a counter friction to stop the machine. ... Both ways will bring the unjust law or laws to the light of the...
After the law was passed, there began to be a rapid spread of states adopting the Three Strikes law. ... To understand the consequences of Three Strike law, it is important to know the purpose for states adopting the law and particulars about Three Strikes law. ... However, when punishments are disproportionately and unjustly severe you get the exact opposite. ... After the law was passed, there began to be a quick spread of states adopting the Three Strikes law. ... Also, the sentencing guidelines for the Three Strikes law are unjustly and disproportionately severe, which is ruining the lives...
The first leader to write down and codify a set of laws was Hammurabi. ... Hammurabi's code shows us that life in Mesopotamia was very difficult and unjust for the majority of the population (anyone that was not very wealthy). ... This law displays the high standards for a physician in Mesopotamia. ... Class structure as displayed in the laws of Hammurabi make life very difficult and unjust for citizens except the extremely wealthy ones. ... Life in Mesopotamia was very difficult and unjust under The Code of Hammurabi; but they demonstrated the beliefs and values of Mesopotamia. ...
Socrates", Martin Luther King, and Malcolm X's Positions on Law After reading Plato's Crito, Martin Luther King's "Letter from Birmingham Jail", and Malcolm X's "The Bullet or the Ballot", it is clear that all three of these men were attracted to the natural conception of a law, which holds that an unjust law is not really a law. ... Martin Luther King and Malcolm X, on the other hand, define laws in two different categories, either just or unjust. Although, like Socrates, they believed in laws and agreed that they are necessary to avoid anarchy and maintain order, th...
" there are two types of laws: just and unjust. ... Conversely, one has a moral responsibility to disobey unjust laws. ... Augustine that "an unjust law is no law at all."" ... Apathy and half-hearted support in all social cases is just as harmful as creating an unjust law because it decreases morale and adds dead weight to a society. ... An unjust law is a code that is out of harmony with the moral law." ...
The Unjust Radical Reconstruction of the South In 1868 Congress passed The Radical Reconstruction Plan. ... Some states even put specific laws in place to insure that the blacks were restricted to the same laws as before their freedom. ... These laws caused the murder of thousands of blacks between 1865 and 1866. ... In conclusion the Radical Reconstruction was an unjust punishment for almost the entire South. The Federal Government did not have the manpower to enforce its own laws. ...
King also believed that any law that uplifts human personality was just and any law that degrades human personality was unjust. He used this argument to explain why segregation was an unjust law. He states that segregation damages the soul of that one segregated against, thus making it an unjust law. ... Martin Luther King, Jr. claims that the answer lies in the fact that there are two types of laws, just and unjust. How can you classify what laws are just and which are unjust? ...
"Sharia Law is Coming to America,"" is the headline of today's newspaper. ... As law permitted, they crushed his whole arm under a moving truck. ... In particular, the UK has embrace this practice starting this month of March 2014, which means that the demand for this insane unjust law to become authorized is growing like a virus. ... If all 50 states does not ban foreign law, one state will become like the UK. ... Don't lose your freedom; stop Sharia law from coming to America!...
