If you were given the chance, would you change the laws of your country?

[Vulcan 3,255]

So yeah, Say you were suddenly given Pseudo-Dictatorial status and you get the chance to change any laws in your country, no questions asked. 

 

Would you change anything? If so, what would you change?

[CT-1138 3,182]

A larger separation between Church and state would solve a majority of issues, including education (which would in turn solve another bunch of issues). 

[Anneal 2,197]

Oh, there is quite some laws I would change, like the National Defense Authorization Act or Anti-Drug Abuse Act and some things I would add, like paid sick leave and paid vacation days.

 

But at the same time it's supposed to be hard to pass laws for a reason. You can't just let your opinions take over just because you think it is morally right. I see some people on the site, especially on the liberal end, love to push for things like higher minimum wage or gun control yet give no reason other than "it's morally right". Meanwhile anyone who's not part of the left wing is either regressive or morally wrong.

[Quinch 1,120]

My initial thought was hell yes.

 

Then I remembered, it wouldn't make a difference - my country's problem isn't the laws, but their oh-so-selective application.

[Vulcan 3,255]

 

 

My initial thought was hell yes.   Then I remembered, it wouldn't make a difference - my country's problem isn't the laws, but their oh-so-selective application.

 

The application? How so?

 

 

 

 

paid sick leave and paid vacation days

 

I never knew the US had no paid vacation days o_o

[Scrubbed user 3,416]

Put those gun laws in place, and enact term limits for senators and congressmen, both state and federal levels. I would also do something about the voting system so that the vote of the people would actually matter.

[Steel Accord 6,660]

Hell NO! I would like some laws to change, but just writing new laws into being according to my whims would itself be a betrayal of the very principals I want the country to hold itself to.

[captainborgue 343]

I never knew the US had no paid vacation days o_o

 

It's up to the employer to give their employees vacation days, sick leave, maternity, etc. The U.S. mandates only that- in the event of a major incident, such as severe injury or childbirth, the employer must give the employee up to 120 days of unpaid leave.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

As for the question posed: no point. Doesn't matter how "beneficial" a dictatorship is. There will always be social strata, there will always be the haves and have-nots. It's endemic to the biology of the species. Any changes would be temporary at best.

[Snow Frostflame 3,568]

Yes, there are somethings that need changing... I'd make things I don't think should be illegal, legal like laws that limit us to how much ammo we can have, or what guns we can buy (With some obvious exceptions). I'd make the stand your ground law a nationwide thing. I'd also change up how we execute criminals. Everyone who gets a death sentence will be executed via firing squad by city's SWAT team. Five bullets are much cheaper than cyanide, plus it is more humane to shoot someone killing them instantly, than watching them slowly die of poison.

 

I think some people would agree with me on these laws, nothing too major just a few tweak. I could probably think of more things that need changing, but I'm too tired to keep thinking, and should really go to bed...

[Denim&Venöm 19,288]

Obviously no matter what laws I put in place, someone will oppose them. It's a power struggle. One group will want to see their way. So, I'll just do what I think is right. 

 

-Gun ownership and fire arms training are mandatory. If you are a citizen in America, it's your obligation to protect yourself and to fight crime. Let's see how many burglaries and assaults there are when everyone is armed. 

 

-Residents of all U.S. territories & protectorates are now legal citizens an their representatives will have a say in congress. 

 

-Disband the draft. 

 

-Lessen drug sentencing and enforce mandatory rehabilitation & detox. 

 

-Make negotiation & deescalation take a bigger focus in police training, as well as regular fitness exams. 

 

-Make hunting illegal, outside of species deemed overpopulated, such as deer, where overpopulation damages the environment. 

 

-Make gay marriage legal through a constitutional amendment, instead of the means used now. 

 

-Disband all political parties. A candidate must run based off their own ideals. Not those of a group. 

 

-The nation will count the votes of both the electoral college and the people. If they agree, we have one president. If not, we have a president for the people, and a prime minster from the college, each working as joint heads of state.

 

-For both the house and the senate, if an idea is proposed, it will not be rejected or dismissed unless a better idea can be proposed. 

 

-Double the hours of maternity leave, for both moms and dads. 

 

-Give criminals a choice between a long term sentence or the death penalty. 

 

-If it's the latter, then give them a choice of how they want to die. 

 

-Members of the military are to be compensated with a livable wage. 

 

-Return the currency to the gold/silver/copper standard. Make the money worth something. 

 

-Update the copyright laws for modern usage. 

 

-Create a separate police and legal court system for government employee's and heads of state. Much as how those in the military fall under different jurisdictions, so shall politicians

 

-Legalize marijuana.

 

-Introduce a point system for those her purchase liquor and marijuana. A three strikes rule for offenses pertaining to each depending upon the severity of each substance related crime. Severe crimes will earn multiple strikes. You get three strikes, you are banned from ever purchasing alcohol/ weed ever again and must attended mandatory rehab. All other drugs are still off limits.

 

-Ban smoking in public or public establishments. People shouldn't have to suffer the consequences of second or third hand smoke.

 

-Adjust the U.S. grading scale for public schools. 60-69% being an F is ridiculous.  Failure at half is more reasonable. 

 

-Encourage that more every day skills are taught in schools. 

 

-Make schools less like prisons and treat kids like they were intelligent beings. 

 

-Harsher animal abuse punishments.

 

-Raise the legal age of smoking, drinking and weed using to 25, the age of when the brain will stop developing. 

 

-Make topless nudity for women legal. If guys can be topless in public, so can women. 

 

-And while not a law, begin construction of insulating the U.S. electrical grid from EMP damage, either from a nuclear detonation or a solar flare event.  

[Anneal 2,197]

I never knew the US had no paid vacation days o_o

 

Guaranteed vacation days, that is. Around one fifth of U.S. workers don't get them, which is a bit concerning. They should get ten paid vacation days, and a few paid holidays. At the same time though, most Americans who do get paid vacation apparently don't put them to use at all. There are a multitude of reasons you can argue for that: WW2 (most of these paid vacation laws were passed post-WW2 in Europe to replenish the population and rebuild, while the U.S. had no problems), business lobbying, American cultural values (we look towards what we aspire to be, we value small businesses, and we're more government skeptic than most countries), and the weakening of labor union power. 

 

But other than a few laws, I'm not willing to throw my opinion into what I think is "right" for me. The point of being a democracy is not respecting who conforms to your opinion, but respecting who doesn't and looking from their perspective. As much as you love the flag, you also have to love the protester that's burning the flag. So as much as I may want to throw in random liberal or conservative laws, I won't do that. 

Edited July 16, 2016 by Sealand

[Brony Number 42 10,072]

Eliminate gun laws and restore people's right to self defense. Laws on paper don't scare criminals, but the business end of a 40 S&W does.

[ARagY 1,152]

Well recently we passed some really dumb surveillance law . Dumb because the costs of doing so and storing data and because it won't be implemented fully, like a lot of other ones based around the media. 

 

Other than that, I don't know. I feel like some things I'd desire would just encourage separatism and I don't want that. Law is lenient enough in many cases but it seems way blown out of proportion in translated media for outside consumption. Besides, laws won't fix opinions and world views, and that is the most important thing to change for a successful future anywhere generally, to constantly rethink after each action and examine things that may be outdated and no longer apply to public life. 

[Buckbuck 45]

Only if it was for the better good. But of course the people need to have a say in it, it would be undemocratic to not include them atleast. But if it is for the best of a country then absolutely.

[<REDACTED> 7]

Put me with a Dictorial-Status and you're looking at WWIII, so yeah.

Other than that it would probably be stricter gun laws, not sure honestly...

[Oblivion 20,270]

Yes, I would get rid all these red tape laws on pretty much everything! 

[Lucky Bolt 35,085]

There are definitely a few laws I would change if I could. 

Edited January 7, 2020 by Lucky Bolt

[Splashee 28,566]

Yes, I would. But I wonder if I would do it for me, or for the benefits of everyone?

[EpicEnergy 23,224]

Given the opportunity, I would most certainly change some laws in my country.

[Partialgeek514 5,011]

I don't really like changing laws without the approval of the democracy, but a few things I'd be in favor of would be giving more power to the provinces (I'm Canadian), reform the senate so that senators are appointed by provincial governments instead of the prime minister, make sure religious freedom is better protected without infringing on other rights, and banning abortion (with some exceptions).

[Early Sunsets 2,107]

There are definitely a few, but I've never been big into politics, so I'd have to do some research before actually deciding to change anything. I feel like schools are one of the most neglected things in America. A lot of schools have next to no funding, aren't teaching what we need to know in the modern world, and basically don't give a rat's ass about the mental state of the students or their behavior. Teachers should be legally obligated to step in if there's bullying, and there should be a way to deal with said bullies that doesn't involve detention or suspension, since those don't solve the problem.

Also gun laws. Banning guns won't do anything to help; in fact, gun restrictions only hurt citizens. The second amendment is in place as a way to defend ourselves from tyrannical governments, and when we can't do that anymore, we'll eventually get a situation like Hong Kong. Plus, it's not like gun laws prevent criminals from obtaining guns, or from modifying unrestricted guns. They're criminals. They're not exactly worried about following the law. All that does is take guns out of the hands of innocent people, who are then unable to defend themselves. As has happened so many times, if there's a shooter in a public place and there's nobody who can fight back, they basically have free reign in the few minutes until the police show up, or longer in some rural areas. Each passing second in a situation like that is potentially another one or two people dead or injured, especially in crowds.