Laws. Chaos would reign if we did not have them. According to one site, New Mexico has 77 chapters of laws, with each chapter having multiple articles and each article having multiple sections. For example, the chapter on elections has 24 articles; article one under elections has 25 sections.
Would I want to change any of them, one of them? When faced with so much to dig through just for one measly state's laws, I can't imagine how much I'd have to dig through for federal laws. Look at Obamacare. There were so many pages (over 2000) on that one law that none of the representatives and senators read it. At least, that's the rumor.
I couldn't just willy-nilly pick a law to change without knowing the full extent that the change would have on society. Law isn't black and white. There are so many grey areas, and that's why lawyers outnumber physicians in the US.
A site called Legal Reform Now states that as of July 2012, we have "1,143,358 lawyers. And our nation's 192 accredited and often subsidized law schools are graduating 40,000 new lawyers each year as they have consistently for the last 20 years. In a decade we will have 1,500,000 lawyers. A 50% increase."
All that aside, my top reform would be in the direction of welfare. We have got to change the way welfare is used and we need to have some motivation for people getting off welfare. I would make it harder to get welfare to start with. Redistribute the welfare money into jobs, daycare, transportation, birth control, secure housing for the elderly.
I've got strong feelings about entitlement and responsibility. Yet it's not as simplistic as I make it out to be. I wish it didn't have to be so hard. I'm off my soapbox now. Who wants it next?
I had no idea that one law had that many components to it. Nor did I realize that there were so many lawyers in the United States; and that they outnumber physicians. I learn something new each day!
ReplyDeleteI so agree with you about the welfare system. That right there would be a HUGE undertaking.
ReplyDeleteThe political system and the process for changing a law is so involved. That is why I said in my blog post that there is no way I could change a law in one day as President, but that I would pretend I could, lol! ;)
ReplyDeleteYeah, we have all those very important checks and balances in changing the laws. We as individual citizens can stand up for a certain law and work effectively towards change. I changed my headline repeatedly because I realized I do have the power to influence laws as little old me.
ReplyDelete:~)
Here is my post on influencing laws.
It's incredible how such a crucial part of our society seems to be overlooked so often. If we had better/more social assistance programs, we wouldn't need the jails, reform schools, and police power that we have now.
ReplyDeleteThank you as well for your insight into the set-up of the laws; I imagine it's very similar here in Canada...