When Crime is not a Crime

“Corruption is nature’s way of restoring our faith in democracy.”

~ Peter Ustinov

            Almost in all societies, laws are set in place as a guideline in ensuring that justice is met. The issue to which is brought upon us is whether laws are a fundamental aspect of society or a restriction of one’s freedom. To activists who view their personal identity with great concerns, certain laws are deterred and viewed as violations of their human rights. As for the group who strive for social security and a peaceful lifestyle, laws are looked upon as a necessity to maintaining order. Similarly, I believe that these principles and regulations are what establishes and forms a democratic and freedom based community. To some extent, this universal set of custom within a country acts as a system of organization levels in which society is operated on. Only through achieving order can the rate of criminal activities can be dealt with and reduced. By abating crimes, a new sense of privileges and civil rights are being promoted to law abiding citizens. Therefore, by examining organization, crime, and civil rights, it becomes evidently clear that laws are a key point in stabilizing a society which essentially, protects people from harming one another.

            Laws are equivalent to a collection of adaptive decisions and compose accumulatively into a definition of an organized civilization. Especially in a developed nation, laws must be enforced to ensure that the nation is progressing and functioning smoothly. The constitution of Canada for instance, properly outlines the different levels of government so that conflictions between parties, and power struggles are prevented. One of the reason lies within the notion that only through a stable government can the citizens inhabit in true democracy and freedom. The forefathers of Canada had foreseen the corruption of power struggle; hence, a set of basic rules were established to maintain order. Alongside to political stability is economic support. In most countries, it is a law for citizens to pay taxes. In North America, we are required to pay taxes so that money is invested towards infrastructures as well as preventing money stagnancy. All in all, laws play a significant role in maintaining organization within a country.

            Not only does a nation operate smoothly with the existence of laws, but it also protects its citizens from crime and unjustifiable offences. In the article “When is a crime not a crime?” for example, depicts arguments for both human rights interferences, and the argument that laws protect individuals from victimizing themselves. The article is essentially broke down to sections revolving around drugs, suicide, vagrancy, and drunkenness. With drug crimes, there is the crime of trafficking, and on the other hand, possession. These drugs often would lead to an urge to suicide. According to the Canadian Criminal Code, committing suicide is an offence punishable on summary conviction. In this case, one party might say that suicide is one’s own decision because the body belongs to their own. On the other hand, suicide is viewed morally corrupted and is a bad image for society. One major factor that lead up to suicide, drug abuse, and alcoholism is the state of vagrancy. It is obvious that society consists of the rich and of the poor, so to what extent is vagrancy justified as a “crime without a victim?” According to my belief on this issue of crime, the justification of a situation being a crime or not is never justifiable. However, if the society as a whole were to accept stricter terms regarding the law despite arguments for a violation of human rights, society would in fact be able to self-develop which in return, manufacture fewer criminals and fewer crimes. Indeed, according to my perspective, crime can be reduced with a stronger grasp and specified terms regarding the law.

            Last but not least, the notion of dehumanization has been around for a long time however, laws are able to keep all people including authority figures from corruption as well. At the heart of the argument, laws not only protect citizens from crime, but also from the corruption of their own government. A written and sealed document is rarely seen unraveled and changed because it is common sense that these scripts play a significant role in facilitating the country. In other words, laws are able to promote civil rights which technically embodies an individual’s human and civil rights. By understanding this concept, the argument for more freedom regarding human rights is unjustifiable since it is included within the law system. To further expand on this explanation, not only are we protected under the law, but we also maintain our identities and individualism. Essentially, we are double benefited by law in a sense that we do have rights, we are protected from crime and corruption, and we are able to maintain our self-identity. Surely, laws are beneficial for all aspects within a society.

            Therefore, by examining levels of organizations, reduction to crime, and embodiment of rights, laws depict a large scaled value such that we must abide to it in order to achieve a democratic state. It provides a clear statement underlining our political stability, which then magnifies in justice to stopping crime, and till the end, promotes rights for the common people. Without rules or laws, our democratic system would eventually deteriorate into absolute monarchy. With the loss of freedom, our roots of anglosaxon and catholic background would be corrupt and disappear. Similar to what Peter Ustinov prophesized, through corruption we understand democracy. Let us hope that we are in no state to experience devastation because we are a developed society and should be able to prevent disasters before it hits, before it’s too late.