Quote:
Originally Posted by 4444
but there's also the right and wrong of it... that has to be worth something
if you could kill someone and get away with it, would you? i know this is blowing it out of all proportions, but i know i couldn't live with myself killing someone, just as i can't live with myself in not declaring all income (note - again, i don't pay any more tax... but i sure as hell declare everything)
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right and wrong are subjective.
on my scale killing someone is a lot more wrong than not declaring every single penny of tax.
it's not so black and white.
what's right and wrong maybe worth more to you, than to someone else.
the only way i can explain this easily without going into some long ass philosophical discussion is the very very very nerdy/geeky comparison to dungeons and dragons. oh yes, dungeons and dragons.
the character alignment or whatever it is called.
i'm sure everyone has a pretty basic idea of how that works. if not, you can look it up.
The right and wrong of it, varies from person to person.
laws are not supposed to be absolute.
they're supposed to be a balancing act.
You have a certain law, that has a certain degree of punishment if broken.
the law is strict enough that it scares most people into doing it.
and also people that respect and obey all laws simply through honor of societal "structure" will do it (feel law is "right" thing to do, it is their civil "duty" to fulfil these laws).
the people that disregard law and have the guts to break this law, will be few.
and the people that don't view this law as "right" (or wrong), feel they can do whatever they want (to a degree, some may view tax evasion as a joke, but murder as serious), as long as they are good at hiding it (in fear of punishment). they will be fewer too.
but if you want the law to be absolute... then you're going to have to be a nazi and impose it in a very strict and unpopular fashion. many people will be punished by extreme measures and people will be unhappy. and at the end they'll probably fight back regardless of what the law is because they're so unhappy with how strict the laws are and how tough the enforcement and punishment is.
so it's a balancing act u see.
you may feel "strongly" about it being "Right". but the person next to you might not feel the same way as you. who's right? no one.
but the law is there, if he gets caught, he will have to face punishment. but he's taking the risk to follow what he believes in.
another stupid example would be some low level law, like going above 50km/h or j-walking.
im sure you have done that MANY times.
and you don't feel bad every time you do it. because u simply don't care for those laws... to a certain degree. if there was a cop nearby watching you'd do it through fear of being punished.
but if he wern't there you'd cruise 51.. hell 60.. mayb 65.
jwalk when the street isnt busy (there's less danger to you [selfish reasons]), to save time (also selfish reason).
so do you see now? that small law, you don't really see any right or wrong... yet you're willing to take the risk to break it. if you got caught doing it, you'd probably just feel shitty you got caught and pay the fine... but over time you'd probably do it again (ever get more than 1 speeding ticket?)
just scale it up to tax evasion now. same scenario. some people just don't feel the same way.
scale it up to murder... some people.. just don't feel the same way.
as u can see the more severe, the less people will object. there's no way to catch them all. they make laws to balance, so most people will follow, some will get caught, and some will get away. and they accept that. because that is the best balance they can get.