A notable example is the approach to soft drugs in the Netherlands. Despite being illegal, the public prosecutor has chosen not to enforce the law. To the point that many if not most think they’re legal.
This situation presents a complex issue to me: it involves a small group of individuals (the prosecutor’s office) effectively deciding to disregard the broader democratic process and the will of the voters. When such things happen, I believe they should be rare, pragmatic and temporary.
What’s your view on the matter?
The rules of my building are an interesting toy model of this. Technically I’m supposed to have carpets everywhere (I don’t and no one else whose unit I’ve been in does) and even painting a room a different color requires board approval and a bunch of fees. In practice, many rules are not enforced against people who don’t make trouble. A neighbor of mine even has a dog - not exactly a subtle violation. I suspect that all those rules are a response to the fact that it is legally really hard to evict someone. You can’t just say “He’s an asshole and all his neighbors hate him.” But if fact if he’s breaking a whole lot of rules (just like everyone else) then you can decide to make an issue of it in his case.
We’re seeing this happen on a national scale with people like Lisa Cook now. She refuses to leave her job so Trump is threatening to have her criminally charged with mortgage fraud. Pretty much no one is ever criminally charged with mortgage fraud, but if the feds look closely at anyone’s life then they will certainly find an error on a mortgage application or one of other countless possible crimes.
This is a core component of a corrupt system. Everyone needs dirt on everyone else to feel secure that they can screw you if you ever try to run against the grain.
Just look back at any of the police who get criminally charged. One of the charges against the cop will likely be “theft of state funds” or similar language. This means the cop stole overtime, which is so common as to be universal.
Another common example is tax-evasion under a dictatorship. Everyone in the ruling class does it, but run afoul of the regime, and off to jail you go.
I’ve never considered people view the law like that before, and it explains so much. That is how the justice system works!
Thank you
Yes this happens alot. That is also how my HOA’s rules were explained to me. Laws are often a farce – just a distraction from the raw use (abuse) of power.