Breaking The Law Is Unfair Essay

Breaking the law is unfair simply because we have a duty to “obey the law, it is built into citizenship” (Walton, 2107) and breaking the law would cause dysfunction among society. For instance, the social contract theory explains how the authority to rule is granted to the government by the people who make a contract with the government. Each side has obligations which must be met for the contract to be valid. Furthermore, almost everyone reaps the benefits of living in a state where there is social welfare people willingly accept the help from the government. By doing so, citizens unintentionally agree to follow the laws set in place. This ideology is clearly demonstrated by Socrates when facing execution. He declined the help from his followers,

However, a social contract is not possible, since all states by their nature impose this upon third parties that have not agreed to it, or alter its terms without permission. Additionally, there is no clear way to redress breaches of such agreements, when one party, by its nature, is the power monopoly, except by intervention from another state, that leaves them at equal disadvantage. Nevertheless, those in power break the law and suffer no consequences, this is unfair when an ‘ordinary’ person was to do something minor in the same situation as them they would have to suffer the consequences. Since crimes were attempts to gain personal advantage by force or fraud they could easily be committed by the rich and powerful they could certainly involve force or fraud and they could undoubtedly be committed without punishment by the state. For instance, “Joseph Wells, founder and chair of the Association of Certified Fraud Examiners, pointed out that while " Michael Milken's illegal earnings in the late 1980s amounted to over $1 billion, he served less than two years in a federal