Dr. Martin Hash Podcast

The foundation of modern democratic States is Rule of Law, which is the legal principle that someone cannot be punished for doing something that is not prohibited by law; in Latin “Nulla poena sine lege,” “no penalty without a law,” because like most things legal, it was codified into Roman Law. However, law is not treated the same from one nation to the next; in fact, in legal circles, a humorous sophism has emerged:

In England, "everything which is not forbidden is allowed;" in Germany, "everything which is not allowed is forbidden;" in France, "everything is allowed even if it is forbidden;" and Russia where "everything is forbidden, even that which is expressly allowed;” while in North Korea, "everything that is not forbidden is compulsory."

Truth underlies that stereotype because laws are either reflections of societies or societies are reflections of laws, it's difficult to say; people have to want to abide by laws for them to work. Unfortunately, scofflaws undermine all laws, and a law that is not enforced makes it difficult to enforce all laws. There is a delicate balance by those who would like to prohibit things for their own selfish reasons versus those who would exploit the freedom of no supervision for their own selfish reasons; let it swing too far one way and anarchy results, and too far the other and America ends up as a punch line in a limerick.