We watch a show on Paramount Plus, the off-shoot of The Good Wife, sort of. It is The Good Fight, with Christine Baranski, among others.
This season, Mandy Patinkin plays the part of a make-believe judge in his own make-believe court. But the thing is, people agree to the proceedings and rules of the court. Real judgments are handed down, with real fines and outcomes. It has its moments.
Last night, as we watched, someone made a reference to the phrase “Rules were made to be broken.”
Rules were made to be broken.
I really started thinking about this during the show and thereafter. A younger, more rebellious version of myself would have immediately responded, “Hell yes. Rules are made to be broken.”
But an older, slower, and maybe wiser version of myself decided to give this some additional attention.
I believe in thinking for myself, and I know whoever said this had the best intentions of promoting just that. This saying implies that there are times when we should think for ourselves and not obey every rule blindly.
Maybe it is a painted sign that says, “No sitting on the curb.”
Or another sign that reads, “Speed Limit 30.”
What about the one that says, “A joint session of Congress shall assemble on January 6 to count electoral votes that would formalize President-elect.”
Or the laws spelling out state vaccinations requirements for children to attend schools, like polio, rubella, tetanus, hepatitis B, and more.
Most rules are made with a good reason behind them. Someone got hurt somewhere along the line, and the rule is set up to prevent this from happening again. Or maybe another rule is created to keep life’s proceedings running more efficiently.
Every sport has a rule book.
Every school has one too.
And most places of work have rule books. Employee Handbooks, they’re called.
So.
Then.
Does it become dangerous when one person decides the rule is wrong for them? Or when a group of people decides this?
And if one person determines it is okay to break one rule, does it then become okay for everyone to break any rule, anywhere?
It is a very thin line. And an even slipperier slope.
I break the speed limit rules all the time. But I become incensed when I see someone not wearing a mask when the sign on the door says “Mask Required.”
There are people today who would do away without any sort of governing from a government. This, to me, is an absurdity.
We’d have no traffic lights. In very little time, our current roads and bridges would crumble.
There would be no guarantee the food we buy is safe to eat.
Companies could make the air and water as dirty as they like.
There’d be no requirement that children attend school.
Hospitals could operate without any consideration for the patients.
Construction work could be done without guarantees.
It would go on endlessly because there would be no rules.
There are 7.64 billion people on the planet.
If everyone gets to make up their own personal rules, we’d have nothing but chaos.
Should we have any rules at all?
Or, are rules made to be broken?
Are rules made to be kept?
The big ball will keep spinning with or without us. It makes absolutely no difference to the Sun or the Moon.
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“Know the rules well, so you can break them effectively.”
― Dalai Lama XIV
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“Look, that’s why there’s rules, understand? So that you think before you break ’em.”
― Terry Pratchett, Thief of Time
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“We started off trying to set up a small anarchist community, but people wouldn’t obey the rules.”
― Alan Bennett, Getting On
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Rules were made to be broken. Or not?
