Is the law a cold regulation or a flexible shield that protects our freedoms and rights like water?

Laws are often perceived as rigid and cold regulations, but they are actually an essential part of our lives. Like water, it is flexible and adapts to the times and circumstances, protecting civil liberties and rights while maintaining order in society.

 

We often use the phrase “Let the law take care of it!” to express how unwelcome the law is. Some say that this “resistance to the law” stems from the colonial era, but it’s not just about past historical experiences; it’s also connected to our ancestral teachings that value justice. Laws are hard and strict rules, so in a culture that values emotions and humanity, we naturally feel wary of them, and since they can’t be applied perfectly to every situation, people tend to want to stay away from them to some extent. However, it’s important to remember that laws are not just a means of control, but a tool for maintaining order in human society and protecting each other’s rights.
Freedom of thought, after all, seems to stem from the “freedom of conscience” guaranteed by the law. In this way, the law, despite being something we don’t like, serves as a guarantee for everything we are. In this context, the law can be analogized to water, which is indispensable to our lives.
First of all, water is something that we can’t think of as “do without.” Whether we like it or not, we need to drink water to live, and we use it to generate energy to get through the day through important physiological processes. Law has the same properties as water, and as a social animal, humans can only enjoy freedom through law, which allows them to protect their values, lives, and property. Without law, anarchy would overwhelm human reason, the boundaries of individual freedom would be broken, and individual rights would be violated. This would put people in situations where not only their property but also their lives could be threatened. As such, law is a fundamental basis for maintaining order in an individual’s life, and more importantly, it provides an environment in which members of society can trust and respect each other. In short, law is a means for the weak to stand up to the strong and a tool for citizens to defend their rights.
Second, water is malleable and can change its shape to fill any container and any geography. In other words, water is not rigid and rigid, but flexible and can naturally reshape itself. The same is true of law. By adapting independently to individual societies, it doesn’t regulate the lives of citizens in a rigid way. Laws adapt to the needs of the times and accommodate organic change through “precedents” that are applied differently depending on the motivation, cause, and even expediency of the situation. This allows the law to reflect the diverse needs of citizens and provide just solutions to their problems. The demise of the long-established Australian system is a reflection of lawmakers’ recognition of the importance of equality. These changes in the law are not simply norms that stifle individual freedoms; they are a reflection of the times and the inevitable needs of an evolving society. Although the law cannot please everyone, its changing shape in the great tide of democracy is a testament to the law’s water-like, malleable nature.
Third, while water is sometimes soft and comforting, it can also be threatening in some situations. Anyone who has ever been in the water as a child and nearly drowned will not easily forget the fear of water. Similarly, the law is a means of protection and safety in itself, but it can also be a terrifying instrument of punishment for those who break it. The legalist thinker Han Bizarro argued that the law should be as terrifying as fire to deter people from breaking it, but I believe that the law is not meant to be terrifying; it functions as a safeguard to maintain justice and order. Laws do not strike fear into those who obey them; rather, they serve to protect their rights and freedoms. Those who break the law, however, are held accountable for their actions through appropriate punishment, and are made to be vigilant in order to avoid doing the same wrong again. In this way, the law sets fair but strict standards for people, and it takes a firm stance against wrongdoing. However, it’s important to remember that the ultimate purpose of the law is to ensure civil liberties and maintain a fair social order.
These three qualities of water have been used to describe what I think of as “law” by analogizing law to water. It’s an abstract connection, but I think it’s the right one to paint a picture of law as a whole. If you look at the Chinese character for 法, it contains the character 氵. This reflects the wisdom of the ancients who organized the law by incorporating the properties of water. Law can be understood as something that is fluid, yet must maintain a basic order, and is more about protection than fear, and freedom than control.