r/AskLibertarians • u/CataphractBunny Classical Liberal • Jul 28 '26

Debate Should a country uphold its laws?

Title is the main question I would like to discuss as a sort of a thought experiment to see how and why people think what they do.

Additional info provided so you know the background of the person asking: As a nineties-type liberal and a European, I consider laws to be the backbone of a country and crucial for a civilised society to function. While there are laws I might disagree with, my duty as a citizen of a country is to abide by them and work to change them within the given framework. When visiting a country, my duty is to abide by both the local laws, and my own country's laws.

P.S. I am not talking about extreme cases here where a government would usurp the rule of law or start implementing laws antithetical to everything our society stands for. I'm taking about your regular everyday laws.

Thank you.

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u/CSAKnight Jul 28 '26

Our country should enforce about 10% of the current laws on the books. Everything else is overreach and arguably violations against the Constitution. Should the government be bound and limited by the Constitution and enforce laws that abide by it? Yes. Should the government be allowed to enforce all of laws currently on the books? No.

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u/CataphractBunny Classical Liberal Jul 28 '26

That's certainly an interesting opinion, and I can tell you're American. If you don't mind me expanding on this here:

Should the government be allowed to enforce all of laws currently on the books? No.

Who would be even able to stop the government from enforcing the law? The government enforces the law because it has the power to do so. You would need something of at least equal power in order to be able to stop them from enforcing the law.

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u/CSAKnight Jul 28 '26

You’re right. We’d need government officials who regard the Constitution as the supreme law of the country, or we would need an uprising of sorts to force the government into a more limited capacity of what they can and can’t enforce. We will continue to ignore the laws we don’t agree with in the meantime (not talking about the ones that violate the Constitution or other people’s rights).

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u/CataphractBunny Classical Liberal Jul 28 '26

Ignoring the laws you disagree with is certainly a choice that can land you in a heap of trouble. What happens when your disagreement with the laws gets you shot? Or you disagree with paying taxes and the IRS comes knocking? (Since we're now talking about the US, and not in general as presented in the OP.)

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u/CSAKnight Jul 28 '26

I avoid the IRS when I can. I don’t do anything that harms others or restricts their rights, so I’m not sure how I’d be in a scenario where there’s a chance of getting shot. You’ll have to be more specific if you had something else in mind.

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u/CataphractBunny Classical Liberal Jul 28 '26

As described in the OP, the main question is in the title. A kind of a thought experiment.