Is law necessary?

  In order for humans to live in large groups and be able to survive predators, famine and
drought, they had to invent a system by which the tribe operated somewhat efficiently such that
food and security were adequate to reproduce young in sufficient numbers to offset losses.
Obviously it worked.

The oldest know artifacts of modern man are somewhere around 200,000 years old.  The oldest
expressions of abstract thought like cave art are about 50,000 years old.  Our only clues about
ancient humans in that span of 150,000 show what they made and where they lived.  It is clear,
however, that humans lived in organized groups and hunted large animals for meat, the
necessary provider of sufficient calories to support a large, constantly working brain.  We can
only guess at what kind of rules those tribes practiced then, because here we are almost 7
billion strong.

Geologically, those 150,000 years and about 40,000 years hence showed great swings in
planetary climate.  Throughout the history of the Earth, periods of climatic upheaval show
large extinctions of life followed by periods of high rates of new species formation.  Those
organisms that could survive the shifts in climate and attendant food sources continued their
lines throughout.  Humans are the most adaptive creature we’ve ever seen.  We adapted rapidly
to change both technologically and socially.  Or have we?

It wasn’t until about 10,000 years ago that there is a record of agriculture.  This is followed
quickly by the invention of transmitted language through writing and coincident inventions of
numbers and economy.  It is this combination of "modern" events that produced recorded
history.  Almost from the beginning of written history we see records of laws and wars; wars
being defined as the organized movement of masses of humans against other masses.

This column is too short to fully paint the picture of man’s history, but there are some aching
echoes from our past that we hear today.  With the invention of agriculture and economy, laws
had to be put in place to prevent chaos.  In doing so, one of the basic human traits was held at
bay for the good of the community being supported by those laws: thievery.  Over the last
several millennia the laws have been supreme but thievery and war persist.  Sometimes the two
behaviors of war and theft overlap completely.  New excuses for war emerge for each new war,
but one group seeking to control another group by force is an extension of what must have
been "normal" in human evolution over the last 200,000 years.  If it weren’t we could say that
we just learned to be warriors and thieves after the invention of economy.

So-called primitive cultures provide a window into our unrecorded past.  We see tribal
conflicts and genocides in Africa and Asia.  In the Americas we have seen our own aboriginal
cultures constantly at war over territory, food sources and mates.  It is recorded in just about
every journal from early Euro-American explorers that theft was normal.  The irony of the
Euro-American theft of aboriginal lands is obvious.  Tribes frequently attacked other tribes for
the specific purpose of stealing women and children to raise and include in the gene pool.  It is
clear they knew that too much in-breeding was not healthy to the vigor of the tribe.

 Today’s modern societies are virtually choking on laws, most of which are necessary to
prevent the breakdown of social order.  That order is necessary to feed all the mouths we’ve
managed to create.  We even provide education to some to make new laws and creative ways
to enforce existing ones.

Not all laws are good.  Some laws conflict with each other and an individual human’s rights
allegedly guaranteed by still higher laws.  Most of those conflicting law issues center around
thievery.  Somebody is always trying to figure out ways to take more than their share from
somebody else.  Sound familiar?

We appear to be stuck with this system of laws bumping up against certain inherent and
ingrained flaws in the human psyche; at least they are interpreted as flaws by the evolution of
law.  Then again, maybe our behaviors that require laws to ensure the species’ survival are
more powerful and determining than any laws we can invent.

INTRODUCTION:
Some human beings can be aptly described as weak willed animals. They are easily swayed by
the slightest sight or sniff of power and money. This originates from insatiable greed. Greed that
can sometimes make even the iron willed lose their head. How many stories have we heard since
our childhood where many “heroes” lost their way to the path of glory by being trapped by
greed?

Our one aim in life has always been to find balance and serenity in our lives. A utopian society
envisages a vision where people govern themselves. People trust each other blindly. They
achieve happiness. People set their goals, lead disciplined lives and achieve anything they set
their sights on. They are able to live their lives to the fullest and all the time feeling secure about
it.

This vision, unfortunately, exists in an ideal world which frankly is almost the opposite of
today’s real world. Our realistic society is heterogeneous mixture of all kinds of people, people
who look to disturb the balance of the natural society. It is here that law plays a very important
role in restoring that delicate balance back to the society and making the lives of the people
living together cohesive. It is here that law helps to maintain the morality of the people as
individuals as well as the society as a whole.

WORLD WITHOUT LAW.

Let us imagine a world without any law to punish the wrong doer. Let us assume that the society
has till now lived an honest life without any kind of betrayal. Suppose a person, in greed, steals a
valuable item from his neighbour’s house. He isn’t punished but everyone knows what he has
done. Some naive person, probably a youngster witnesses this and is tempted to steal because he
knows there are no repercussions. This develops into a never-ending chain endangering the very
foundations of the society.

Another example might be a survival situation. A group of people are stranded on an island with
twenty days of food and water. They know that a rescue team will reach them on the twenty first
day. They carefully divide the food such that they get the necessary nourishments by the time
they are rescued. A person, out of greed for more, sneaks quietly and consumes two days of food
meant for the whole group. When the group discovers what has happened they confront the
person who cunningly reasons with the group that there was no rule or law which forbade eating
more. As the group consisted of educated men and women, both young and old, they knew his
reasoning was correct and they could not do anything to get the food back. As a result, they
starved for two whole days during which a few old people fell ill and could not make it.

Absence of law provides an opportunity to go against the general foundation of the society. It
goes against one’s conscience. The fear of punishment is absent which contributes to the
growing confidence of the wrong-doer that he or she can get away with anything. This disturbs
the balance of our civilized society encouraging more and more people to take to this habit.

WHY IS LAW ESSENTIAL?

Law is essential in the society. Law is there to guide the society towards happiness without
bloodshed and in peace and harmony. Law helps us to restrain ourselves in times of great thirst
for more money or power. It curbs our greed reminding us that there is someone or rather
something out there ready to punish us if necessary. It helps to restore the balance in the society
and bring justice to the victimized. The greatest thing about law is that all are equal before it. No
man is rich or poor in the eyes of the law. No man is more powerful than the other in the eyes of
the law. Law helps to regulate the behaviour of the people. It prevents us from descending into
anarchy.

Law is dynamic. It is constantly adapting to the changing times so as to close all the loopholes
that may be left due to human error. Our Preamble states the ideals of JUSTICE, LIBERTY,
SOVEREIGNITY, FRATERNITY and EQUALITY which constitute the basic foundation of
Our Constitution. However, without law these ideals will be constantly shattered. There will be
nothing to protect these ideals.

In a world where ‘survival of the fittest’ is prevalent, and looking at the size of human population
we can say only one thing. Law is needed for survival. We cannot go against each other as it will
definitely lead to destruction. Law plants an element of fear which may prevents in killing of
fellow human beings. It gives each one his or her own share, what they deserve.

Laws tell us what to expect as consequences as a result of our actions. It makes us look before
we leap. It is there to protect and to destroy. It restricts people who get carried away due to the
freedom given to them by the absence of law if this is the case. They know one abuse of the law
will affect them economically, mentally and physically. Some exceptions may be found but this
is applicable for the majority.

LAW OF NATURE.
Mother Nature herself follows many rules and laws which help in the sustainability of this world
and the life which flourishes on it in abundance. Every living organism, from the tiny unicellular
amoeba to the biggest animal the blue whale follows a set of laws to survive.

Let us take the examples of honey bees. They follow the orders of the queen bee and visit
hundreds and thousands of flowers to carry the process of pollination which helps in
reproduction of these plants. They have to follow a set of rules or laws which will help in this
important process. If one of them breaks the law, they are ordered to leave the bee hive. They
cannot join another hive nor can they return. It is as good as giving them a life sentence. This
life-threatening situation helps to keep the honey bees in check and brings order into the hive.

Same can be said for the birds which migrate every winter or summer depending upon their
pattern. They have to follow a set of rules or laws which will help them navigate their way. One
abuse of these laws can lead to cases extreme to death.

LAW IN CIVILIZED SOCIETY.

Our modern society has become quite educated and the main question that arises from them is
that who has the authority to form these laws which imposes a restriction on their lives. They
question and debate upon the authority that makes these laws and rightly so. Once they are
satisfied with the authority they know that their lives are secure and they are free to concentrate
on their aims and dreams in life. Law is there to attempt to balance the needs of individuals
against the needs of the majority. We accept responsibilities, we renounce some of our freedoms
(not kill others, not harm others, not steal from other members of the society) to receive in return
the benefits of society (not being kill by others, not being harm by others, not being robbed by
other members of the society).

Law helps in removal of social stigmas such as dowry and untouchability. For example, in Our
Constitution, Article 17 abolishes untouchability and even though it still exists today, the number
of cases has comparatively gone down a lot. This is just one example that law can have in a
society which is not perfect, a society where human beings fight, abuse and kill their own
species. This is how law helps in protection of the underprivileged.

CONCLUSION.
It can be implied by common sense that law helps us to survive as a society and it is convenient.
Convenient is comfortable and humans look for comfort above all things apart from happiness.
Also law helps in getting rid of the social barriers that exist in our society. Through law we
survive yet thrive. Hence law is necessary in a society.