Edmund Storms wrote:
I suppose it does to someone who believes in the ideal function of government. However, if you examine the actual behavior, you will find that the number of laws always grow in number and complexity.
Some laws, in some areas have grown in number, such as the tax laws. Other bodies of law have contracted. Some have been eliminated, such as the laws regulating telecommunications, trucking, and people's sexual behavior.
Daily life in the past was governed by laws as closely as it is today, although many of those laws were enforced by extra-governmental organizations such as guilds. In 1790, in Pennsylvania, the laws and building codes governing the construction of houses and barns were strict and every bit as specific and confining than they are today. I wish they had been enforced a little more vigilantly. I happen to know about that because I own a barn that was built in 1790 and it did not meet the building codes circa 1790. The guy who repaired it knows those codes well and he said: "whoever built this foundation was probably run out of town on a rail."
The number of laws has also grown because our civilization is more complex than it used to be. We have a large body of law governing the Internet. We did not need it 20 years ago, or back in 1790 for that matter. We have many laws governing medical licensing and procedures such as x-rays and CAT scans that were not necessary in the past. We also have huge bodies of quasi-laws enforced by extra-governmental organizations, such as standards enforced by UL, and peer-review. You are free to build an electric fan that does not meet UL standards. Technically, you are free to offer it for sale. However, no store in the US that will sell it because if it electrocutes someone the store will be sued.
Laws in general are less personally invasive than they used to, as I mentioned in a previous posting. People can now educate their children at home, for example. If you do no think so I suggest you read books, diaries, newspapers and other materials from the past.
- Jed
