People Don't Know What The Law Is 

As humans, it's really convenient for us to assume that we're experts on things that we actually know hardly anything about. If I don't really know anything about how a car's engine works or what goes on under the hood when I hit the brakes, I'll still get through my commute much more safely by being one with the machine and not over analyzing what the pedals and sticks are doing in detail. It's easy to criticize someone for not knowing the ins and outs of every last subject they talk about, but, generally speaking, being a non-expert on a topic can be a perfectly valid way to navigate a lot of fields that we have to deal with, as long as we know that we're not an expert and can defer where it matters to those who are. I don't know in detail how my brakes work, but because I know that I would also therefor never lie down under the vehicle with a wrench and a box cutter and try to make my own custom improvements to the braking system: If I thought there was anything that needed to be addressed with all of that, I would take the vehicle to a mechanic, someone who actually knows what they're doing here.
 
All of that to say... I think Law is a topic where a lot of people are not experts, but actually for some reason assume that they are experts anyways.
 
As a thought experiment, I want us all to try something right now.
 
Name a single law that says a way you can go to prison.
 
Literally, just, without googling it, tell me word for word what any one criminal law is.
 
One thing that doesn't count, that you might have thought of, is, "Freedom of speech." That's not really a law, exactly. It's a right, it's related to law, but, that's not how criminal laws are worded. Another thing that doesn't count is, "It's illegal to kill someone without a reason." Like, of course, yes, that is illegal, but again, that's not how laws are phrased, you don't see congresspeople adding to their state constitutions, "Hereby, it's illegal to kill someone because you felt like it."
 
I think law is an area where we are very prone, maybe even encouraged, to think that we know what we're talking about, but when put to the task of providing any details whatsoever, we realize that we don't know nearly as much as we think we did.
 
We kind of have a sense of it. We know, obviously, that some things are allowed, and other things aren't allowed and can get you fined or put in prison for months or years. But my point here, really, is that if someone can't tell you the nuts and bolts of how laws are actually passed, if someone can't tell you how laws are worded, if someone can't tell you how laws are effected by specific appellate case decisions, if someone can't tell you how laws are enforced by officers and agents with feet on the ground, then it's pretty silly of that person to tell you that law is the basis for right vs wrong.
 
And if someone CAN tell you those things, it's even more silly.
 
"It's illegal!" cries the person in your replies, when you posted about how hot bestiality is.
 
Okay, and?
 
Smoking pot is illegal, in a lot of places. Drinking booze was illegal in the US at one point, as was getting blowjobs. Being trans is still illegal in some states, *today*. Even if greater courts are unlikely to uphold those laws, it's still to all concrete interpretation illegal today depending on where in the USA you live.
 
How does anyone think the law is the same as right vs wrong, exactly?
 
The law is a fine idea, I'm not an anarchist, I think it's good we're not allowed to shoot each other because we feel like it.
 
But, as for the question of "How does anyone think the law is the same as right vs wrong," the answer is indoctrination. We, in the USA, are raised being told that schools are the place where we learn the truth. We are told by schools that the law is good, and how it has a system of checks and balances that makes sure everything that's made a law is fair and perfect.
 
So, growing up as someone who was interested in humans having sex with dogs, I honestly figured that the law would never be a problem to me. I really thought, "If I'm ever arrested for bestiality I'll just appeal it up to the supreme court and the law will change because bestiality isn't wrong." Which is paaaacked with misunderstandings about how the law works. First of all, appellate courts have to just decide to take your case, which unless they already have something to prove is just never going to happen. They've heard it all, and, they're already pretty busy. Second, I was thinking under the assumption that the highest court would come to the truest decision, and that is just not at all realistic to expect or even how the system is set up to operate: I had no idea of how these people are appointed or what their previous decisions were, I had no idea what other laws they had upheld or overruled. They are not prophetic demigods who consider all things with an open mind: Most of them are people who were appointed with an agenda to side with and a party line to uphold, and, bestiality isn't something any of them are going to be particularly eager to stick their neck out for unless you happen to be the president or something. Third, back then I was really thinking, "people will understand, even while I'm a poorly spoken teenager who can't express my feelings well, that my love of animals is more important than anything going on with the food industry which is the most ubiquitous industry imaginable and has billions of dollars and literally everyone else's personal experiences on the line. Breeding animals for commerce will take a back seat to sexing up animals for love once someone finally brings it up."
 
I did not understand how the law worked.
 
I think the majority of people don't, even when we like to think that we do.
 
Someone in your replies, making the point that bestiality is wrong because it's federally illegal, is almost guaranteedly not a lawyer. Not a great thinker of our generations. Not someone who really even knows how the law works, or someone who is even really considering the experiences of you or the animals in your life.
 
To be abundantly clear, I'm not encouraging anyone to go out there and be stupid. Don't go touching an animal's bits on the corner of First and Main, even if I think you should be allowed to, it is still true that you can get in trouble for that.
 
But, by the same token, if you're touching an animal's bits in the privacy of Your and Bedroom, don't feel like you have an obligation to do right by anyone but you and the animal partner involved.
 
 
Article written by Grunge (February 2024) 
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