America has too many laws, and the laws we do have are tedious, overly complex and sometimes not only impossible to understand, but impossible to comply with.
Where and when does it end?
Police say a teenage girl accidentally ran over and killed her 17-year-old brother as the two played around in a Mesa Arizona shopping mall parking lot. The sister had dropped off her brother at Superstition Springs Mall Saturday evening when they started playing around, with the brother jumping in front of the car and the sister slamming on the brakes. Tragically it all ended, when the sister was unable to stop and ran over the brother. He was rushed to a hospital in critical condition and later pronounced dead.
Which of the new or old Laws on the books would have prevented this tragic event?
40,627 new Laws?
January 1st 2010 saw 40,627 new laws on the books in the USA and its overseas territories and protectorates. There must be a law somewhere that prohibits playing with cars in parking lots; there may even be a law somewhere that forbids teenage siblings to play with each other. Maybe there should be one Umbrella Law that dictates You have to be 18 or even 21 to be able to obtain a Driver’s License. It’s not unusual anywhere else in the world today. In a country with about 300 million vehicles on the road, it should be much harder to obtain a driver’s license, and much easier to revoke a driver’s license. No doubt there are some of these laws in place, but to expect from a 16 and 17 year old to behave inside of these laws, is ludicrous. They should be playing on a bicycle or at best a moped and if a mishap occurs the result would likely translate into bruises that can be added to the experience of life, instead of the finality of this tragedy.
Experience is the hardest teacher because she gives the test first and the lessons afterwards. Unfortunately for this young man, he’ll never get to the lesson part.
In the ever growing complexity of our society we are facing ever growing rules and regulations, or Laws as we call them.
January 1st. 2010 was a big milestone in this scary look into the future with the introduction of 40,627 new laws that went into effect throughout the nation and its territories. That is some 800 on average per state in the union, covering as widely diverse topics as texting while driving to mold removal in homes and criminal laws against people who scam other people.
I wholeheartedly agree with a law against texting or even being on a phone while driving, or putting your make up on or shaving. I’ll even support a law against eating or drinking while driving. But you know what? If the government tries to regulate each and everyone of these Not-to-do-while-driving activities, they are not going to change people’s behavior. You can not use your cellphone is certain areas such as school zones, unless you have earphones. That’s crap.¬† They’ll criminalize and penalize it, but it’s not going to prevent the action and only going to increase the confusion. So why not make ONE LAW that prohibits every not relevant action and more while operating a vehicle on the public roads. When operating a vehicle, you will have at least one hand on the steering wheel at all times and you must be fully able (licensed) and capable (not sleepy, not drunk, not intoxicated or drug infested) to operate that vehicle. End of story.
30 years ago may have been more lenient, but today there are so many vehicles on the road that any diversion at any moment can be deadly. There a several thousand new laws on driving vehicles in the package that became law on January 1, 2010.
Here are a couple of reactions from people in the great state of Illinois on the introduction of texting and cellphone laws while driving a vehicle:
‚Ä¢”It’s a very good thing,” said Myra Wyatt, 42, of Lincoln Park. “Just yesterday I was texting in rush-hour traffic, and this new law will definitely make me think twice.”
‚Ä¢ “I don’t think it’ll stop people from texting,” said Ashlei Smith, of Bourbonnais. Smith said that even though she had a car crash in May while texting she did not plan to curb her habit. “It’s just an impulse,” she said.
‚Ä¢ Michaell Capparelli, of Uptown, went a step further, calling the law “ridiculous.” “They are telling you what you can and can’t do in your own car,” the 21-year-old said. “How do they know I can’t multi-task?
Do we really think people will happily adopt and obey these laws?
I have been a numbers man all my life and the realization that modern society requires me to know the Laws I am potentially exposed to, made me try to quantify the time needed to familiarize myself superficially with 40,627 new laws if I would spend 2 minutes per newly introduced law. It would take 81,254 minutes or 1,354 hours or 169  8-hour workdays to know my rights and plights pertaining to these 40,000 plus laws.
If I would be a slow reader or reading impaired like 35% of the population, I would just have to take the total year to get acquainted with my country’s new laws and regulations. Frankly I don’t have the time, the money or the inclination where to begin finding them.
40,000 Laws going into effect on one New Year’s Day, makes you wonder how many laws there are on the books in this country.
Climbing into the World Wide Web for answers leads you to Wikipedia where the following is quoted about the US Laws:
The law of the United States consists of many levels of codified and uncodified forms of law, of which the most important is the United States Constitution, the foundation of the federal government of the United States. The Constitution sets out the boundaries of federal law, which consists of constitutional acts of Congress, constitutional treaties ratified by Congress, constitutional regulations promulgated by the executive branch, and case law originating from the federal judiciary.
The Constitution and federal law are the supreme law of the land, thus circumscribing state and territorial laws in the fifty U.S. states and in the territories. In the unique dual-sovereign system of American federalism (actually tripartite when one includes Indian reservations), states are the plenary sovereigns, while the federal sovereign possesses only the limited supreme authority enumerated in the Constitution. Indeed, states may grant their citizens broader rights than the federal Constitution as long as they do not infringe on any federal constitutional rights. Thus, most U.S. law (especially the actual “living law” of contract, tort, criminal, and family law experienced by the majority of citizens on a day-to-day basis) consists primarily of state law, which can and does vary greatly from one state to the next.
America has too many laws, and the laws we do have are tedious, overly complex and sometimes not only impossible to understand, but impossible to comply with. And that brings me to the question: If jurors can’t understand a law well enough to determine if someone broke it, just how do lawmakers expect citizens to understand it enough to obey it?
So if you are you looking for an exact number you’re not going to find it anywhere. My guess? A couple of million or more. Everything we do is governed even though we’re supposed to be the “land of the free” and I wonder if we’re collectively brave enough to change this. Maybe the young man in Arizona would still be alive. Then again maybe not…
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If you need that many laws, there is something fundamentally wrong with the construction of the legal foundation. Implementing laws is one thing, executing is another and subjecting it to validity becomes an altogether other “beast”. Society gets paralyzed beyond comprehension and at a certain point more people will be behind bars than living free. Maybe that is by construction, intended or maybe it is because the foundation is constructed wrong.
The thinking process behind laws is wrong as laws are approached from a micro level, allowing every occurrence and individual to amend them. It is the result of a society that adores the idea of freedom but does not understand the meaning. Western Societies are the product of an Apollonian mind which hopes that by naming and classifying every single aspect separately, we can control and ultimately defeat the unwanted. It's a desperate move to try and control nature and human nature. We see, we identify, we name and we recognize. It's how we live. We do insist that to name something is to control something. Rather than in the Far East were laws are based on harmony of reality and unity with nature.
There is no federal law or regulation or any state law or … An agency shall not state that the fiscal impact is minimal if the fiscal impact is more than two ..
The Center for Media Research has released a study by Vertical Response that shows just where many of these ‘Main Street’ players are going with their online dollars. The big winners: e-mail and social media. With only 3.8% of small business folks NOT planning on using e-mail marketing and with social media carrying the perception of being free (which they so rudely discover it is far from free) this should make some in the banner and search crowd a little wary.
http://www.onlineuniversalwork.com
The Center for Media Research has released a study by Vertical Response that shows just where many of these ‘Main Street’ players are going with their online dollars. The big winners: e-mail and social media. With only 3.8% of small business folks NOT planning on using e-mail marketing and with social media carrying the perception of being free (which they so rudely discover it is far from free) this should make some in the banner and search crowd a little wary.
Just FYI, I linked to your article from Obama is Wrong – Successful People in America Do Not Need Help from the Government
The laws that really matter, are in the Bible.
“The more corrupt the State, the more numerous it’s laws.”- Tacitus
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I argree more people will be behind bars rather than sitting home with their families.
Yes, our society is not designed properly.
There is no thinking process behind laws–opposite is true as word government imply governing. Kinda simple.
All these statutes, codes, and laws because we cannot follow 10 simple commandments. Happy demonocracy America.
Yes tommylee it is the intentions of our so called government to incarcerate the population as the politicians want the planet for themselves.The facts that the police are as wrong as we are does not help anything and if they ever see that all they are doing is protecting their own genocide via aerosols in our atmosphere, poison in the water and food that their own so called loved ones consume. It should be no surprise that it is only because they are brainwashed and will never admit to it, Here is a good reason not to follow in their foot steps.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ViUtjA1ImQc&feature=share
We only need one law. Don’t hurt people or take their stuff. It really is that simple.
heard years ago there were around 1.5 million laws in America,wake up or soon there will be a law against that , America he who gives up freedom for security is worthy of neither,the problem is spiritual,and deals with relationships,relationship to true law which is impossible to change otherwise would no longer be true,and made effuctal by love ,einstine said “relativity belongs to the field of physics,not morality” thus really only one law is necessary for peace ,purpose
and prosperity, ” To love you neighbor as yourself” yet this requires a divine revelation,thus humility as in What do you have that you did not receive,thus be still an establish a relationship with the father Who waits for your enlightenment,thus growing into : let us make man in our image after our likeness,giving soverign will your only
desiring transforming intimacy with ud
true possession,likewise there (Their ,They’re) is only One Good and that being is not us,but desires into me see ,intimacy with us
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How do we as fix the corruption and rewrite (or destroy) the laws of the very system that rules our lives and makes us blind to the truth of what is really going on in our world. How do we fix it??? Please….. someone give me an answer.
There are three effects on society by having this many laws, effect number one polarization of economy, effect number two, break down of human social structure where everything should be politically correct. Effect three, Creating a ponzy skim of lawyers,goverment entities and other morons ( plaintiff / defendants) to suck money away from good honest hard working folks from a system which we all know and love…. <<<< umm bit of sarcasm there if you couldn't detected it. In conclusion they should just reduce number of laws as they possibly can and make it clear so that even a dumb ass can interpret them easily. I would be highly impressed if they brought it down to about a 10000 laws by the end of this year. If not run, the end is near..lol
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Think about this & let’s discuss this idea.. “The jurisprudence of our 100,000 plus laws are based on the cornerstone of the “12” they are trying to enforce.
It is said, The wise discuss ideas. The mediocre talk about things. The unwise talk about other people.
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Do Unto Others As U Would Have Done To U…….There Problem Solved…With Common Sense…….That’s A Nations Best Defense… DUH…make no law God does not give you..least it will suppress & oppress..
That’s All Truth 2 Address……. 4 Success…D U H….
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The Bible condones rape and slavery, idiot.
I see….so airplanes can fly wherever they want and radio stations can broadcast on any frequency they want, and who needs traffic lights?
You’re making a flawed assumption. Don’t fret, it’s one of the most common ones in politics. You’re assuming that without government, and its iron fist, there would be no order in those areas.
There’s no logical basis to support that assumption, and there are millions of examples of non government generated organization.
Imagine if you will, that the old common law rule of property ownership was still enforced, and that you owned the air above your home, to include rights to fly through it. Walk that dog for a bit, and it’s not too hard to see a large co op, started to procure, and in so doing, regulate over flight rights for aviation. The regulation would still happen, just like it does on private roads, but government wouldn’t be involved in anything more than property rights enforcement.
No it does not, you fucking moron. But keep parroting your retarded Liberal garbage. It’s amusing to watch robots like you spout all the standard lines of BS. Maybe if you repeat it enough times, the sheeple who haven’t read the Bible will believe it !
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And being human, and breaking some of those laws- that don’t end in someone’s death- should not be held against an adult for the rest of their GD lives. It’s gotten ridiculous!!!!
How about, wait for it……UNDERSTANDING….that we’re all human, and FORGIVING people, because we know that we’re all human.
How about, wait for it……UNDERSTANDING….that we’re all human, and FORGIVING each other- and moving on!
I guess you skipped the old testament.
there are countries with no traffic lights