At least, not in the same way that you and I do. There is a whole quantum physics thing you could invoke, but let's not get too crazy. It's the 4th of July, and I'm an American. Let's talk about politics! Hopefully this will be the last time I have to do this and I can go back to being a normal girl that drinks Boba tea and charges her phone, but for today, however briefly, I am Senator Tsweetheart. Court is now in session, and I am the law! 1
“Theresa, you are fucking idiot,” I hear you say. “The fuck you mean ‘laws don't exist’? Congress just passed a law yesterday!” I hear you. It’s a bit of a confusing idea, so let me explain. You’re totally right that laws, in the sense of like, the group of people that write them down and the text of the law on the piece of paper and like, the ceremony and procedure that we go thru when we pass them, all that shit does exist. It literally exists, just like you and I do. However, I would like to argue that all that “theatrical” stuff isn't really “the law.” That's just stuff we do to convince ourselves the law is “legitimate” and that we “have” to obey it.
Have you ever run a red light? Crossed a street outside the crosswalk? Driven 60 when the speed limit is 50 mph? If so, you have broken the law. If we are all bound by laws, then how was that possible? How was it possible for you to do something illegal? I know I have done things that are illegal. How did I do that? Am I not afraid of getting o-rrested? Well, a little bit, but for the most part, no. Why? Cuz I'm no one. I'm a white girl in Portland. The cops in Portland have far more homeless and minorities to worry about than me. So yeah! Sometimes, when no one else is around, I’ll do some shit I’m not supposed to do. The most important part is that I never tell anyone about it, and when I do, I always make sure to retain the plausible deniability of artistic expression. But, if I am being honest, most of the time when I “break” the law, I’m not even trying to really break the law. I usually don’t know about it or its an accident of some kind. There are very few times where I am intentionally doing some shit I know is breaking the law, but I don’t get in trouble for that. Most of the time I get in trouble for things that are literally legal, like when I do something that makes my girlfriend mad.2
There just aren’t enough cops in Portland to have them on every street corner 24/7, watching me when I don’t come to a complete and full stop at a stop sign. To be clear, most of the time when I follow the law it’s incidental as well. It’s just what I do. I pay for my nachos at 7/11 not because I “believe deeply” in the implied contract of the transaction, but because it almost doesn’t occur to me to not do that. I am in the habit of grabbing the 7/11 nachos, paying for them at the register, and THEN going over to the toppings bar to put jalops on. If, for some reason, that habit fails me, I also know in the back of my mind that if I don’t pay for the nachos before going to the topping bar, the cashier might get mad at me. He might yell at me, maybe even threaten to call the cops. I don’t really like those guys (cops) if I am being totally honest (they are scary.) I’m not really trying to “hang out” with them all the time, you know? Idk. Maybe the cashier at 7/11 wouldn’t actually escalate to calling the cops immediately, but idk, I don’t really know him like that. I don’t trust him. So even if I really thought I was entitled to the 7/11 nachos and shouldn’t have to pay for them, I probably still would. It’s easier that way.3
What’s the implication of this? Well, what I am trying to get you to see is that “following the law” is a choice you make. Sure, it might not be a fair choice (ie, between going about your day and getting o-rrested) but it’s a choice nonetheless. Most of the time it doesn’t really feel like a choice, tho. For instance, when I am out here not committing murder, I’m not doing that because I don’t want to “violate the law.” I just don’t really want to murder anyone, tbqh. Sure, I’ll joke about it from time to time, but I’m literally playing. Like, I don’t even like violence! It gives me the “ick.” So am I really “obeying the law” or is it just that “the law” and my natural inclinations are in agreement? Cuz let’s be honest - if you really did wanna kill somebody, would the law really stop you? Seems like lots of people kill each other all the time. The law is merely the justification used to punish the violator after the fact. It’s almost as if laws don’t really “prevent” crime, but rather they incentivize us to not commit them.
So when someone says “I can’t do that, that’s illegal” when you want them to do something, what they are really doing is using “the law” as a justification to explain their actions (or lack thereof). When someone says “You can’t do that, that’s illegal,” what they are really doing is using the law to justify their behavior towards you. Sure, maybe there are more deeply held conviction underneath, but if so, then why wouldn’t they just say that? Why not appeal to mutual humanity? Why not express their discomfort to you on a person-to-person level?4 Cuz they don’t know if you care about them like that! But they do know (ie. “believe”) that you care about “the law,” (or you ought to care.)5 They do know (ie. “believe”) that onlookers and bystanders and cops care about “the law.” They do know (ie. believe) that “the law” is something bigger than you and themselves and everybody watching, and they invoke it to remind you that you are doing something more than just “hurting someone.” Fuck human beings, amirite? You are breaking a sacred bond. You are violating the law. We all know what happens to law-breakers, right?
I would argue that this sense of a “sacred bond” or mystical force that is greater than ourselves and compels us to “abide” is what people really mean when they invoke “the law.” Only problem is that that literally doesn’t exist (as evidenced by the fact that you have broken the law.) In this sense, laws “exist” (in terms of their ability to regulate your behavior) only in the moment they are enforced. This enforcement can happen literally (ie police or technology) or thru social pressures that lead you to adjust your own behavior. You aren’t really thinking about Congress or about the text on the paper. You, as a single human being, do not know all the laws. You don't “validate” every action you take by scanning thru all the laws in the U.S. Code and making sure you aren't about to violate one. Instead, you assume a priori that you aren't going to break any laws and if you do? C’est la vie! Hell, even if you know you are about to break the law, you may very well just do it anyway. We are all cops in our own right, and we walk around exerting social pressure on people to behave in a certain way. I am incentivized to behave in accordance with the law in front of you, because you could call the cops on me.6 However, it's also possible that you could be a “chiller” and that I might know you are a “chiller” and therefore I would “trust” that you would not “narc” on me. That might lead me to feel comfortable violating the law in front of you. So here is my question to you: does the law exist in this space?
This is why “black markets” and “underground spaces” are so interesting/”dangerous”, cuz the subjects within them don't seem to be regulated by the same forces as the rest of us.7 This is also why “cultural norms” and privilege are important, because people often find themselves in the company of people they can’t trust. If you live in a neighborhood with a lot of cops, you might not be able to run a red light or cross the street not at a crosswalk. Doing that might kill you. Have you ever thought about that? What would it be like to live in a place where doing what “felt right” might bring you into contact with the police? Might get you killed? Do you know what that feels like?
I sure don’t xD
Really trying to give my civics teacher a heart attack with this one.
Thankfully my girlfriend is brown so if she called the cops on me they might arrest her xD
It’s worth noting here that there are alot of different authorities being conflated here. The rules of the 7/11 are not “laws” in the way that the U.S. constitution is “law.”
There is a whole thing here about the relationship between the nation and faith and morality and the law but you can go read about that shit on your own time.
This distinction between “you DO believe” and “you OUGHT to believe” is the difference between a “positive” judgement and a “normative” one, if you have ever heard of that before.
To be clear, that isn’t always a good thing, right? Like, I kind of think it should be “the law” that you have to put your blinker on before changing lanes. If everybody uses their turn signal like that, then driving become much safer. What I don’t think is that every lane change without a signal indication should result in incarceration or even a ticket. I agree with the laws, but not with the way that we enforce them. In a sense, I kind of believe that sometimes you should be allowed to break the law.