Ok. Right now, right here. Ok? Exactly at this moment I shall attempt to explain why I loathe certain laws. Not because I want to complain or because I watch Fox (we don't get Fox up here), but because some laws empower the wrong sort of folk.
I understand why, for exampe, we want to ban smoking - however wrongheaded it be. To say nothing of erasing civil liberties by discriminatig against a certain segment of the population - but it should not happen a scenario where one set of people can snitch on another.
In effect, the law unwittingly creates a two-tiered component where one person has more power over another.
Yes. I know: "It's the law!" However, I never consented to it nor do I see much merit in it.
For an example, check out how five miserable middling individuals decided it appropriate to call and snitch on the Cincinnati Reds for smoking cigars after reaching the playoffs for the first time in 15 years.
The majority of people are willing to make exceptions or just deal with it. Yet, the law favors the few who are willing to make things messy.
Closer to home, it's this reason why I loathe Quebec language laws. Not because I don't believe Quebec has a right to protect its language but because it discriminates on an individual level.
Again, like in the case of cigar smoking (which I freely and happily dabble in), the majority of Quebecers are reasonable when they're confronted in a situation where English is predominant or prevails. All it takes is one person to spoil this peaceful existence. In essence, by legislating and tolerating a language police, we give power to the lowest common denominator in our society who can proxy levy fines on other citizens. Do we really want that?
It's interesting. We often hear "the people voted such and such a government ergo we consent to any laws they enact." That doesn't apply in Quebec because for a smally minority of people, they would never consent to laws enacted by the Parti-Quebecois. Democracy has its limits and this is where we meet that pesky "tyranny of the majority" problem.
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If they could, they would. Thanks to SE.
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