The issue: Is it the law that keeps people honest?

My premise: The law does not keep people honest. If the law kept people honest there would be no lawbreakers. The law is only a guide-line that honest people use to align their lives. Morality and honesty are what keeps people from breaking the law.

The decision of keeping the law or breaking the law is a moral decision made within each person. Example: Two people needing money; an honest person will get a job and earn it while a dishonest person will steal it or find illegal ways to earn massive amounts. There is no law stopping the honest person from doing the same; what stops them are personal morality and honesty.

If the law kept people honest there would be no lawbreakers. The law is only a detouring factor but only to some people. Those that are intent on breaking the law due to want, need or greed are going to break it regardless. If the law was what kept people honest then the very fact the law states, “Don’t rob a bank” would keep them from doing so, we know this is untrue.

In retrospect however, there are those that might break the law except they do not want to pay the consciences of the action. In this instance the law doesn’t keep people from breaking the law however, the price of breaking the law does make them stop. The law is an effective detouring agent for people being dishonest but again it’s not the law keeping people honest but the possible outcome.

Laws are only guide-lines for determining how to distinguish who has broken the law then, it sets them up for the correct punishment. Laws have nothing to do with the morality or honesty of a person therefore, cannot be what keeps a person honest. Only the make-up of each individual can determine if they are honest or not. When a person drinks beyond the limit it (the law) doesn’t keep them from getting in a car and driving just because the law has stated it is against the law. It is the personal decision of each individual person to drive or not to drive.

Morality and honesty are what keeps people from breaking the law; this is why one person that needs money badly will steal and another person in the same shape won’t; it has nothing to do with law. The same can be said for the simplest of rules like speeding. Those that feel it’s alright to speed if they don’t get caught have a different mental outlook on honesty than does the person that chooses to heed the law even if there is not an officer around.

Law is external morality and honesty is internal. The only guiding factor of what is internal in humans is the human his or her self. Therefore the law is not a deciding factor.