What is the connection between democracy, laws and equality? Laws are one of the most important aspects of any society. It determines its values and dictate a certain set of principles for general cooperation in society. The creations of laws, lay down a certain set of rules allowing to a Society to evolve and prosper. This frame affects the social order, politics, economy, the educational system and create the local perspective about history.
The creation of laws is attached to human society for many years. It can be find in “the laws hammurabi” (1754 BC), the Egyptian old society (Code of Ur-Nammu 2100 BC), the Jewish (the 10 commitments), Chinese society and many other ancient civilizations. It can be said, that for keeping a certain order in any human collaboration, a set of rules is needed for the sake of promoting easier and better cooperation.
The values of freedom and equality have a direct connection to the concept of laws. The first is a fundamental issue in any step of its creation and the second dictates the hierarchy and power of the law itself. To make it simple, any law diminishes or expand the freedom of a person, group or organisation by default. Even if the specific legislation does not talk about It specifically, in all the cases it will affect the freedom of its subject in a way or another.
Equality from the other side, is more a question of the power of the law itself and its validity. Looking on the manner laws are created, enforced and preserved in a certain society can help us evaluate the status of it social order and structure. The Equality of ALL the people in front of the law are one of the most distinctive difference between and democracy and a dictatorship. Moreover, trusting the law system and its internal integrity is one of the most important factor when it comes to progress.
One of the main reasons places like Amsterdam and Venice has historically prospered in the 13th century, was their law system and enforcement. Cooperation require trust. Equality in front of the law and a fair set of laws, are simplifying the creation of such a trust system. It can be seen also in our days. The reason people are willing to invest in some places, is based on their believe in the set of rules in the local market and in the power of the local government/ management to enforce and keep these rules.
If all that is true, looking on the majority of the countries in the western culture will automatically raise some questions about the validity of their system as a democracy. The system of laws and its reinforcement is far from being enforced equally on all its citizens. The evolution of our law system is more influenced by lobbyist, economical need and local government than by a certain set of philosophy promoting the good of the people. The capacity of an individual ”to protect itself in front of the law” (Which is already absurd) depends more of its economical capacity that its rightfulness.
In case we are searching to start to understand what is wrong in our system and find some constructive ways to re-establish it, this is where we should start. A new era of globalization is evolving, in which the people have more power than ever. This power lay in our new tools of communication and sharing. I believe that the key to create create a better future for our society, the laws, their enforcement and the trust of the people in the equality and fairness of the system is crucial.
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The post A different kind of democracy. Part 1 – Laws and equality appeared first on Back to Ourselves.
