J. D. Stewart

A Lawless People: Cynicism and America's System of Laws J. D. Stewart First edition

Lawlessness is associated with criminals, jails and prisons with a lifestyle in which one seeks to find one's fortune by taking from others. But the laws are broken everyday by those who do not serve time in jail. For we are a lawless people, you and I. That does not mean that we have overtly purloined from our neighbors or robbed a bank. Yet when the odds are in our favor and when the overt acts of law breaking are not likely to be found out, and therefore not prosecuted, we disregard the law as a suggestion and not in our best interest. Furthermore, we push the limits of legality from our tax reporting to our breaking the speed limit. We are always at the edge of lawlessnes for we are a lawless people. How shall we become lawful, to meet our daily duties with dutiful allegiance to the rules which are there to guide our thoughts and actions out of consideration of laws and our concern for others who should expect our compliance to rules and conditions that guide our behavior.