There are dangers in a dependency on laws and their use as our sole standard of behavior. In the maze of rules, the element of judgment is eliminated. Nicholas Leeson, a British trader, sat before a computer and generated highly leveraged stock deals that led to the bankruptcy of Barings Bank, a legendary institution in international trade that had financed the Napoleonic wars. His focus on the legality of these instruments produced a block on the ethical concerns of their risk and the exposure of some individuals' life savings to complete dissolution. As the U.S. government struggles to write and establish complex guidelines on sexual harassment, the problem with the issue in the workplace escalates.
Codified law is strained, complicated, and often ineffective.
Simple manners could solve many issues. An apology is effective but not given for fear of liability. In the twisted maze of codes, our virtue is lost. Codified law no longer has as its basis God-given or natural law. The very mention of the existence of universal principles of moral standards in the form of natural law incites ridicule and cries of bigotry.