Unintended consequences of legislating morality in America

Legislating Morality

Something Learned

The desire to legislate morality is well established in American history. Our forefather's passed legislation to prohibit acts that they felt might induce people to behave in a socially unacceptable manner. The impetus to legislate morality comes from the tension created between an individual's personal liberty and the concern that this liberty may create a licentious quality that would be terrible.

Some laws are necessary for protecting the physical well-being of individuals and their property and the ordinary function of society, however, legislating morality often has unintended consequences. For example the passage of the Eighteenth Amendment in 1919 outlawed the possession and sale of alcohol. Nevertheless, the demand for liquor continued resulting in the criminalization of producers, suppliers and consumers. Police, courts and prisons were overwhelmed with new cases, organized crime increased in power, and corruption among law enforcement officials was extended. The amendment was repealed in 1933.

The video made an interesting distinction between ethics and morality. Charles Willie, professor of education and urban studies at Harvard University, noted that ethics is a property of the group and morality is a property of the individual. One should not cause the violation of the other. The fact that moral causes have become popular among voters has contributed to the propensity of politicians to introduce bills that regulate morals, which historically religious issues. The problem is that legislative bodies are inherently institutions that facilitate compromise, whereas religion deals in absolutes. You cannot compromise on moral issues; this creates confusion and contradictions in the minds of citizens. The video gave an excellent example of the dilemma of the 18-year-old, mature enough to vote and go to war, yet not mature enough to drink alcohol.

Effect on Point-of-View

One of the ideas presented in this video is that laws are a product of negotiation and that morals are consistent. The idea that makes the best sense to me is that the way to change behavior is through education and patience. For example we have more people in prison per capita than any other industrialized country. About half of these are in jail for drug related offenses. The "war on drugs" was declared by President Nixon in 1971, it has had little effect on behavior. Perhaps a better tactic would be to just legalize all drugs, promote education to inform on the consequences of their use, be patient, and wait. If this would have been the tactic in 1971, one can only imagine how the world would be different today.