on legality, morality, and what their disconnect means for our world

written august 2025

The law isn’t looking good right now. The executive branch is led by a felon, known celebrity criminals are sitting on newly built enabling thrones of covered-up evidence, and due process is a concept of the past. Problem is, though, none of that holds weight if you don’t believe in the law.

Here’s the premise: legality and morality are not connected the way they should be. Stitched into the law are some of the ugliest things humans can do to one another; slavery, whether by that name or after falling through the cracks of a lazy amendment, is a prime example. So, too, are health insurance, proxy wars, and price tags on baby formula. The list goes on.

In an ideal world, every law is ethically correct and agreed upon as such by every member of that society. But another part of the premise is that morality evolves. Minds change, and with them, societies’ minds. This process, though, happens in pieces. Take feminism, for example. There was a time during which the vast majority of people believed women should not have the right to vote. We no longer live in that time, but still there are people who maintain that belief. Society’s mind changing is not a perfect science. It doesn’t blossom like a titration, sudden and all-encompassing; there are always stragglers, dissenters, those who do not believe in the change. And so, in this manner at least, that ideal society is not a possibility. There is no law that every person can agree on.

So if law and what’s right aren’t synonymous, and if there is no legal framework that satisfies everyone, how do we create a world in which laws make sense to follow?

The way our current society approaches this problem is law enforcement and a justice system, also known as police & courts. Depending on the rule you break, you lose money, time, freedom, your life, or a few of the above. But we all know it’s not that simple. Police officers and judges are inevitably biased, bail exists, and the prison industrial complex ensures a connection between justice and profit that was born unforgivable. Clearly, what we’ve got going isn’t effective.

The most straightforward alternative is transparency and education. Make clear the justifications for the rules, teach our people why the justifications make sense, and then there is no logical choice but to follow them. The only issue with this idea is the fact that someone is doing the teaching. Some governmental force would control the curriculum, leading to an almost worse worst-case scenario where the government has even more direct channels of propaganda.

Another alternative is the honor system. No law enforcement, no courts, just a faith in the good hearts of the people. This one would be a dream if it worked, but until we can craft a society that does not have the structural motivations for crime that it does now, simple trust is not enough.

What we are left with is merely the sentiment to make an effort. I live by the principle that even though there is no ethical consumption under capitalism, there are still degrees of ethicality. If I absolutely need a harmful product, I can at least spend my money with a company that doesn’t fund genocide or homophobia. The same principle applies here. Even though there is no law that satisfies everybody, there are still degrees of satisfaction. We can work to rewrite the framework, to revise our rules closer to that ideal. Like a limit in calculus, we must strive for it even if it is out of reach.

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PS - It’s worth mentioning that all of this doesn’t even touch on how capitalism ensures that the wealthy have a monopoly on morality. The law says it’s a crime to strangle someone on the street, but the law doesn’t mind if a corporation kills them by denying their health insurance claim. The end goal does not have capitalism at the helm. But it is always vital to be better within the system even as we work to dismantle it, the same way one can oppose tipping culture in favor of living wages and still tip their waiter. Take a breath, do your best. A better world is possible.