Lawless Law

We here in America have some serious issues. In a country of over 300 million, many of us have never read even a part of our own constitution, know nothing of any of our federal, state, or local laws, and no nothing of the history of legal development in our country.

We love to banter around phrases such as "freedom of speech", "innocent until proven guilty", "right to bear arms", "all men created equal", yet not many of us actually know what those phrases really mean and how they came about.

The reality is that the United States today has a legal system that is too complicated for its own good. As a result, a new form of persecution has arisen in our modern society, one in which those versed in the complicated laws that govern our nation are in a position to twist those laws in such a way that allows them to take advantage of those who don not and many times cannot hope to master the American legal system.

America needs to simplify things. No, not some stupid "9-9-9" or "5-5-5" or "1-1-1" plan, but a truly consolidated set of laws that retains the integrity of what is currently in place.

Enough with the debate over congressional bills that are thousands of pages long. Not even the congressmen can hope to read an entire bill right now and it has resulted in the stalemate that our country finds itself in, one in which diametic disputes over facts have stunted any attempt to right the economic ship of the nation.

Enough with the earmarks, enough with the addition of thousands of corporate exceptions, enough with the complicated legal vocabulary.

Simple, straightforward laws. That is the best way to give the "99%" a chance to take back their country.

If we simplify our legal system, anyone who dedicates his or herself to understanding the law and the needs of their neighbors can run for congress (the development of the lifetime, professional politician is what got us here, as I have argued in the past). Anyone wishing to take up a grievance against their landlord, their boss, or their police chief will have the ability either to take that right to court or the wherewithall to know whom they should consult.

Part of the problem is certainly ignorance. Our country prides itself on being an economic power, a center of innovation, and a bastion of higher education. Yet our children are coming through the ranks unprepared for college, unable to read or do math. Our adults arent much better, 40% being illiterate (and this is far from just immigrants) and many more ill-educated in the history of our own nation despite their blatant willingness to cite such history as justification for their conservative attitudes.

But ignorance is not the entire issue. Sure we need to be a much better educated nation, but we also need to be a nation that makes it possible for its people to understand the legal context in which they are to lead their lives.

Right now, that is simply not the case. If we among the "99%" want "our country" back, this is where we must start.