What gives them the right?

I'm not a crazy criminal or anything but I've always wondered what gives police the right to imprison us? Why isn't this a free world? I mean, police have no right to lock me up for stealing (which I havn't). Just thought this one time and just wondered what makes the governments so 'powerful' and why we have to obey them.

^ no flame I understand this is stupid.

 

It's a matter of how the world works. Sure its a free world, but if you're doing things that impair other peoples "freedom" then you get your freedom, but they don't get theres. I.E If you kill someone, You just took away their freedom. Obviously thats an extreme. But there HAS to be limits.

 

Well if everyone in the world suddenly had no moral compass or a good sense of what is right and wrong then we wouldn't have the governments and lawful institutions as we know them.

 

You live under a government that is essentially a business that operates on the threat of force.

Once you realize that we are all simply monkeys and that laws are words on paper your perspective changes a bit.

If you're not going to adhere to the laws set in place then you better not get caught. The rights you *have* can be used to aid you but they only go so far. Laws are generally a good thing and societies wouldn't survive without them. Name me a civilization based on murder, theft, and prejudice.

The question answers itself really.

TLR - We are coerced to act in a certain matter on threat of force.

 

I have actually wondered the same sometimes. I am not sure what gives them the right. But I am happy they have it. I wouldn't want a bunch of criminals running around.

 

the govt has given you the freedom to do as you please as long as it doesn't offend others, it can't be a free world for all of us, what if we both want to occupy the same space?

 

Nobody will ever be completely free, no matter where you live. Period.

 

Even in a perfect free libertarian society people would still be imprisoned.

Libertarian society rules : Everything is legal as long as all parties give consent. If they do not it is not legal.

We live in a far from free world but we do have a lot of freedom. We have rules decided by the collective majority.

 

The alternative is anarchy. Without the government and police there would be nothing stopping me from killing you and taking all of your possessions that I want.

If you look at history over the thousands of years of human existence, it's come from primal tribes slaughtering each other over the rain god, to primitive cities leading conquests, and so forth to where we are today where mankind has finally "united"(inaccurate phrasing in my opinion, but best I can think of at the moment) to form some sort of order.

 

In my opinion it is the most solitary way of confining someone. It's like a lesson almost kind of how they give in-school suspensions in schools, for you to not do it again. They want us to be normal members of society and in some parts of the world they can just kill you.

 

I have to question how you have displayed your question/argument. I'm guessing you are talking about the government/judge/laws right? Because the police are the enforcers (only doing their job), while it's the judge/laws that decide what your punishment is. The two might fall in a similar category but are different.

Anyway, I'll just answer your question. I have two opinions.

1) One is that laws are supposed to be placed to protect everyone else. This includes the poorest of the poor and the richest of the rich; everyone is protected by the same law. This does not mean that every law currently in place is right (I personally believe that marijuana should be legal). This leads to my next point:

2) My second opinion comes from a quote from Thomas Jefferson. It goes as follows:

If you really do think that a law that is currently is in place is bullshit, then disobey it. People for civil rights have exercised this quote before. Take the African-American Civil Rights Movement for example. Some or many of them have broken what was considered the law back in the 1960's such as drinking from a white-man's water fountain. This does not mean that there won't be any consequences though; just remember you are responsible for anything and everything you do.

 

If they did'nt take some peoples freedoms then the world would be a much worse place. I despise the government and it is stupid the things they do especially recently in the us where millionaires are buying prisons to make money. Like the entire law system is just broken but yeah certain peoples freedoms need to be taken. Without government i think everything would fall. You would have no consequences for your actions without one.

 

Lol @ OP. Even in the medieval days they imprisoned thieves and murderers and people who committed treason and so on, like are you for real? And before that, back in the BC days, they most likely just killed those people or banished them from their camps, so be lucky you're just getting arrested.

 

This is likely going to boil down to some political perspectives but in my own personal opinion, although I really dislike the government and police snooping around or detaining citizens without prior justified cause or consent, sometimes situations can call for action of this kind. In addition to that, a lot of these systems that can inconvenience the innocent or those who seek independence from the government, they are enacted to protect us and whether or not you wholeheartedly agree with them, they have saved lives. We choose to live under governments and in these large packs for protection and strength as a whole, for better or for worse the bigger the government the less it is about the individual.

 

The laws of our gov't are why we have police who are public servants to protect us.

 

It's a mindblowing subject, because after a while you realise that the goverment
are still only people with the power to lock other people up.
But it's good that people can be locked up or there would be a lot of trouble.

 

Well without the law enforcement you think the world would be half suttle as it is now? No this world would be total chaos without them.