Harmony: History & Law

Code of Hammurabi,
one of the earliest legal texts

Ancient Egypt, Rome, Greece, Macedonia, Babylon, Inca, Aztec, Indus Valley. Our great ancestors. Renowned for their ferocious tenacity as warriors & a cultural, intellectual & engineering proficiency, which was truly ahead of its time. The other commonality between them is that all these societies had certain norms, rules & regulations that made them civil (although, the definition of what is ‘Civil’ has transformed across time), and distinct from mere expedient barbarianism (and even barbarians had norms for that matter, although they weren’t considered civil back then & even now). 

And these societies flourished & thrived for decades, as long as Mother Nature was benevolent to them, or they were conquered by foreign tyranny, or, they capitulated to their own vices. Point being, the architects & thinkers knew full well the consequences of not having reasonable restrictions, & how detrimental it would prove for THE people, at large. The same principle is employed by the world of today, where globalization & cosmopolitanism is much more prominent than the conventional conservatism of old. But why do I need to look up to history if I want to understand law? And how are they related, assuming there is a relation in the first place? In order to answer that, I’ll have to substitute this behemoth of a question with relatively easier ones.

Q. What is History?

A. In layman’s terms, History is The Past (well, thanks for giving a firm grip of the obvious!). But in more precise, or at least close to precise definition would be, scientific validation of past events, stories, myths & civilizations.

Q. Why is History necessary?

Senatus Populusque Romanus
The phrase refers to the government of
Ancient Roman Republic.

A. The French Revolution, Age of Enlightenment, The Renaissance, The Nazi ideology, The Soviet atrocities, the fruits & viciousness of The Industrial Revolution, The Fall of Roman Empire, The American Civil War, The Fall of Colonialism, Prohibition, & other significant events of the past (if itemized, would make up for a leviathan of a record), all these have a copious lesson to teach us, to carve out a better future, or at least, not let the status quo deteriorate any further.

Not just events, but individuals too, you might learn humility from Socrates or a formidable perspective from the Stoics. Ahimsa from Gandhi or the necessity for action from Bhagat Singh. The list is never ending.

The Past forms the Present, which shapes the Future. It’s essential to understand where you were, in order to know where you are, and articulate where you wish to head to. NOW THAT, is practical. It’s tried & tested. And not only societies, but individuals function like that too. Psychologists recommend their patients to write their past dealings in order to understand their present abyssal suffering.

History provides with context & cause behind each atrocity, reform, necessity, deceiving tyranny, transition of governance, etc. For example, from the horrendous Nazis, you learn to, try not to assume or denote malevolence to a whole group. It gives birth to speculation, from which stereotype & generalization emerge. Now enters a spice of fear, unchecked fear transforms to hate & resentment. And hate finally breaks out into violence, causing 6 million deaths without mercy. This is, but one of the teachings of history, among others.

Q. What is Law?

A. A close to precise definition of law would be, application of codified norms, rules, restrictions & regulation, intended to not let society denigrate & dwell into chaos, & if violated, to carry proportionate consequences. The word, Order, is the closest substitution of Law.

Q. Why is Law Necessary?

A. Another lesson to be learnt from history, is that people, are complex. Immaculately analytical & yet so agreeable. Capable of unimaginable evil but also heavenly good. Therefore, in light of this polar juxtaposition, Law is born.

It places trust in the people to develop a moral conscious, contain the evil inside them & be reasonably rational. The subsequent punishments, are supposed to be perceived as contingencies rather than limitations. Even the essence of those punishments is comeuppance for the convicted, & not a Devil-may-care whim.

The aim of Law, in general, is to let society thrive without the populace gutting each other. To ensure that people fulfil their responsibilities as sovereign individuals by using their rights, so that the overall competence of the whole group is much more optimal than it was before. To not let the pillars of morality crumble.

Without law, there is anarchy & upheaval.

“How would our society be without laws?” How about an example of a hypothetical common household to answer that? A home where there is no boundary, no ethicality. Where the child might be endearing, yet a belligerent demon. Where the parents haven’t articulated their share of duties, therefore festering underlying resentment towards each other. Where the rooms are filthy & shambolic. Where there is no punishment for any member’s wrongs because rules haven’t been established yet. How are you supposed to teach the next generation what is good, if you don’t tell them, what is bad? Not just children, how do YOU, expect to keep yourself sane? 

Now imagine this same scenario, with ten houses, maybe hundreds, maybe thousands. Well, how about a hundred thousand? A million perhaps? Maybe a billion? Lucky for us, human beings crave for association, & soon rules follow.

Q. Why is there a need for society?

A. But why exactly do humans willfully want association with others? What do you mean by Humans, as social animals? Well, Life is hard. So much so, that we haven’t even developed the adequate imagination to fathom its vicissitudes.

1.    We need, air, food, water & shelter. While, Nature has been generous to provide the former, the latter three have to be hunted for. You need to kill to eat, or to defend yourself in order to grow vegetation so that you could eat. You need to search for water bodies by carefully & effectively navigating your surroundings. You need to build a home in order to protect yourself from predators, or from the thunder of Zeus. Which we couldn’t simply do all alone. That’s blind & naive optimism.

2.    Now, we all differ in intelligence & traits. Some make up for good tacticians, others make up for brute defenders, while the rest make up for exquisite craftsmen. Not to subside the fact, there are still many distinctions left to be made. A, can craft a weapon. B, gives it to the best person suited according to the plan, & C, as a juggernaut, leaves to hunt. That’s how you filled our bellies to survive.

3.    Out there, is sheer chaos. An uncharted territory. Soon, food & shelter weren’t enough. We wanted to welcome wisdom into our homes. We wanted to be the top dog & live a lavish lifestyle. We wanted to resolve our conflicting interests. So, what did we do? We learnt to cooperate, collaborate & compromise. To share & to receive. Established a system of trade. Formed companionships. Promoted camaraderie. Built a collective to protect against inevitable & yet the invisible threat. To persevere & endure stalwartly.

And soon enough, we realized, that there was still something that was missing in the play. A, feared that B wanted to take him out of the competition. C wanted to protect its property from the stalking avaricious eye of D. Here, is the emergence of a concept, which not yet known, but, in the future, will be referred to as a rule, or law, or whatever similar term one may choose to call it.

There was this realization that, Humans, gifted with, knowledge, consciousness, the best mental faculty, the ability to remember every book ever written, this deftness that can make us glorious benefactors, makes us even more susceptible to greed, prevarications & deception. And, hope that never happens, but if it does, then these rules won’t just be guidelines which direct how to function, but also act as firewalls, to protect us against ourselves. And that is why, one must appreciate the forethought, the perspicacity, of our ancestors, that they decided to restrict themselves, should they ever fail. THAT is true responsibility.

Q. How are History & Law related?

A. Yes, History & Law are indeed related, not intrinsically, but as complementarily.

The first rule made, would’ve taken into consideration the dual potential of homo sapiens, to both, create suffering & ameliorate it. And that couldn’t have possibly happened if we wouldn’t have witnessed our brutality & the amount of pain we inflicted on beings, in the past. It might not be humans, could be animals. It might not be physical hurt, could be emotional, maybe financial.

The point being that there isn’t a single major event, civilization, individual, tablet or papyrus in history that gave birth to the concept of regulation. There might be evidence to the contrary in favor of codified regulation. But, as a concept, the nascent idea, of ethics & responsibility, was certainly molded by our ancestor’s memories of their past.

And these norms, were continuously changing according to the times. They still do now. Why? Because beliefs change. So do values. Because we have a tendency to push ourselves. And thanks to that, we become more rational gradually. Feminism is a good example. Compare how it is prevalent today, to how it was non-existent 300 years back. Although democracy isn’t a new idea, it has revolutionized our perception of how we saw governance, well, 300 years ago.

Precedents

When we talk about history forming laws, we can’t not discuss Precedents. They matter. Of course, they do in law, but also in general.

Precedents are tools to freedom, peace & order itself.

Have people been unified by a set of ideas before? How? Did it have positive or negative consequences? How do you know the initial stages of a totalitarian regime on the rise? Has freedom been curbed under the pretense of higher order before? What made one people willfully oblivious to the suffering of other? How successful has ubiquitous propaganda been as a tool? What tactics were employed by tyrants to distract the populace? How do they mask them now? These questions are answered by precedents. Precedents aren’t just history lessons. But a tool to freedom, peace & order itself. 

In the scope of law, if everyone, interprets the law in a subjective manner, well what does that law mean & imply exactly, let alone how it’ll be enforced. It’ll also cause frowning upon individual responsibility as well. How do you expect, in a democratic governance system, for a collective to be reliant & stable, if the people, themselves are indolent & deceivers? The law will be undermined, & render it impossible to be implemented. You might as well not have that law in the first place, because without a precedent, it doesn’t have a meaning, therefore, no value. And to believe in something that has no value, is to believe, or maybe, live a lie.

Laws form History

Since, we have established in the sections above, that change is inevitable, since it is an inhibited tendency within us. Rationalization gives birth to other issues, which might not be evil intrinsically. These are issues that need to be resolved in order to bring a new, inclusive order. Much like, killing a dragon before distributing its gold with the plebs.

Likewise, Laws are made & amended aptly with relative to such changes, in order to be better equipped against such dragons, which give birth to new precedents. In India, decriminalization of homosexuality & daughter’s right to inherit her father’s property, are good examples, although not enough.

The laws inspired by past precedents, change with contemporaneity to mold the future and subsequently, define the future’s history. And this is a cycle that goes on, shall go on, & MUST go on.