2009年2月10日星期二

法律


身處在一個社會,無論大家想或是不想,都要遵守法律。除非你真的不知有關法律而犯法,例如你不知道帶超過60支煙返港入境係犯法,否則你就算係犯法,都會知道自己係犯緊法,例如亂丟垃圾或者唔跟紅綠燈過馬路。

講到法律,我今日過馬路時諗到一樣嘢。

交通燈的存在,其中一個很重要的原因是以最低的成本,規管道路使用者,包括駕駛者及行人使用道路的時間,同時亦保障道路使用者的安全。使用交通燈能保障安全,大前提是大家都遵守燈號。

不過,是否遵照燈號過馬路,就肯定不會被車撞倒呢?
另外,若不遵照燈號過馬路,是否肯定會被車撞倒呢?

若你是有眼有耳有判斷力的話,當沒有車駛來時過馬路而被執法者撿控,這又是否合理呢?
若交通燈壞了,長期都亮紅燈,大家又會否依法而不過馬路,直至燈號變回正常?法例又有沒有對此作出定義?

法律有沒有解釋到,為何要信任燈號而不相信自己的眼和耳?
若是自己的腦袋有問題,紅燈也會看成綠燈;或者會以為紅燈才應該過馬路?

但若腦袋沒有問題的話,那人肯定比燈更可靠,因為你有交通燈沒有的能力,就是能判別車是停還是正衝過來,而交通燈只一直在「默守成規」地於不同時間亮起不同的燈號。





當然,我不認同一個沒有法律的社會,只是強調法律很膚淺,不能解決社會所有問題。

好多人以為法律可以規管好多問題,或者將法律同道德扣上關係。當社會出現道德問題,班議員就經常話要立法、修法、加強執法等等……事實上,又係唔係咁就得呢?


再講,法律規管了一夫一妻,但這並不代表你不能在有夫或有妻下擁有多一個或多個情人,只是法例不容許你有注冊超過一個合法的妻子或丈夫。

大家都會明白,法律不能這樣寫:「市民同一時間只能愛上一個人。」我更相信法律不會這樣寫:「市民不能在與配偶發生性行為時,在腦海幻想另一個他/她愛的人。」

(蒙眼的女神,看來還意味法律是存在盲點的)

2009年2月8日星期日

Sociology

If you were to randomly ask 100 people in the US, "why do couples marry?" it is a safe bet that at least 90 of them would reply, "People marry because they fall in love."

Most of us find it hard it imagine a marriage being happy without love; for the same reason, when people fall in love, we expect them to think about marriage.

But is the decision about whom to marry really just a matter of personal feelings? There is plenty of evidence to show that if love is the key to marriage, Cupid's arrow is carefully aimed by the society around us.

Society has many "rules" about whom we should and should not marry. In all states but Massachusetts, the law rules out half the population, banning people from marrying someone of the same sex, even if a couple is deeply in love. But there are other rules as well. Sociologists have found that people, especially when they are young, are very likely to marry someone close in age, and people of all ages typically marry others in the same racial category, of similar social class background, with about the same level of education, and with the same degree of physical attractiveness. People end up making choices about whom to marry, but society narrows the field long before they do.


Sociology - John J. Macionis 12th Edition