▶ Your Answer :
In the modern society, it is debatable whether
laws can completely solve societal problems. I agree with the claim that it is
impossible to solve many societal problems with laws and the legal system.
However, I disagree with the reason that it is because laws cannot change
people’s thoughts and behaviors.
Granted, there are some societal-ills that
were solved by legal enforcement. President Abraham Lincoln claimed Emancipation
Proclaim. It banned slavery in the Confederate states and requested the states
to let the slaves free from the slave owners. As a result, the thirteen
Confederate states had to free the slaves and slavery became outlawed in all
states in the United States. Emancipation Proclaim eliminated the problem of
infringement upon basic human rights by abolishing slavery. Therefore, it is
possible to solve societal problems though laws.
However, solving many problems in our human
society has become more difficult in the advent of globalization. Human
trafficking is trade of human being for the purpose of sexual slavery or forced
labor. Although the United Nation and many international organizations have
taken great measures to halt human trafficking, it is difficult to prosecute
the miscreants because they trade humans from nation to nation and each nation
implements different laws. Furthermore, since the crime is perpetrated in the
global scale, it is an arduous process to catch ones involve in human trafficking.
The international laws cannot solve violation of human rights. Hence, many
problems cannot be solved by law when it is an international issue.
Although laws cannot solve issues in
society, it is possible that laws can change minds of people. Many countries
maintain capital punishment. In most cases, when people murder others, they are
executed. This could be an effective law that people are reluctant to kill other
people even when they are mired in a frustrating situation that leads them to
become impulsive. It is because they clearly understand the consequence-death
penalty. Capital punishment indeed, changes the mind and eliminates the desire
to commit murder. Thus, people’s minds and behaviors can be influenced by laws and
the legal system.
In conclusion, even though laws cannot
solve all social and moral issues, they can change ones’ minds and behaviors
since they are aware of consequences of their misdemeanor. Therefore, effective
and fair law enforcement is indispensable to maintain sound spirits and
demeanor of people who belong to the society.
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