SPIRIT OF LAW

Technology changes, human characters stay on….

Hostage taking, collateral killings, exemplary terror - all these instruments of maintaining social balance of power are known since millennia. They existed before first written law appeared. And fulfilled the function well- that is , effectively and convincingly.

So, why our ancestors bothered to write and codify any laws at all? Anyhow, legal systems were created independently in nearly all cultures , worldwide. And their spirit was similar: killing, stealing, cheating , spying - bad. Working, church-going, paying bills, family-making - good. Even most bloody rulers , when writing the laws , tried to protect simple human values: life, peace, cohabitation. Why?

Perhaps some evolutionary traits, perhaps biology...Frankly - it is secondary why. But the fact remains.

Observing, how in recent 20 years the human civilization turned a full circle and returned to the roots of brute force is a strange experience. Technology, fear, self-preservation... Reasons are simple , and the same as before millennia - everyone wants to live, especially when life is endangered.

The gordian knot of remote -action technologies and the way they shaped human society is perhaps more difficult to disentangle than nuclear arms race. The "black" science has so far advanced , that even bright but civilian scientists are not able to understand the extent of this progress.What to say then about shop assistants, taxi drivers, hair-dressers - all these people who go to polls every 4 years or so to elect their president or parlament, deeply believing in own free , democratic choice. Even some ministers believe it...

Per analogiam - sooner or later , some legal framework shall spontaneously emerge from present chaos. The question is only - when? And how many innocent lives , how much human culture gets still lost , before the spirit of law prevails?