Walter E. Williams on Declining Morals and Declining Respect for Law

Summary

Walter E. Williams discusses the decline of morals and declining respect for law. Reasonable, responsible, and law abiding citizens will slowly gain contempt for law as more and more arbitrary rules and regulations are imposed upon them, slowly inching away from freedom itself. Lumping trivial infractions with major law violations and labeling both offenders as criminals leads to a demoralizing fracture of our moral compass. Our general sense of “doing the right thing” is slowly strained as government imposes a tighter and tighter grip on freedom. What used to be taught by families, parents, and community as good and honest behavior becomes trampled upon as government grows larger. What should be common-sense right-from-wrong behavior becomes slowly dictated by the state instead of by family, experience, interaction, etc.