Friday 15 May 2015

Mandating Social Decency

Social decency is something that cannot be mandated. It certainly should be cultivated — for it benefits the greater good in a utilitarian way, but more importantly simply because it is a desirable trait in and of itself — but forcing people by law to be "socially decent" is paradoxical. Genuine tolerance or acceptance can't be bred by making people afraid of behaving offensively.