Two laws

What if the nation where you lived in carried two laws?

One law applies to the people regarded as the elite group.  These people are separated based on either their gender, race, religion, royalty or something else.  There is a code of conduct that is expected of them, but they have privileges that allow them to conduct themselves differently from everybody else.

The other law applies to everybody else.  Everybody must abide by this law or else be punished, unless they are a part of the "elite" group.

The elite group may not be criticised or corrected by anybody else, other than other members of the elite group.  Otherwise, the offender would be accused of insolence.

Do you think this is fair?  Do you think this is tolerable?

I think that maybe, if the differences between the two are few and minor, then perhaps I could live with that.  Eg. British royalty.  But I am not sure I can, if the rules were greatly different or if they were oppressive.  That is why I am bothered as I read of Egypt.  I understand that some people live in such circumstances, and I wish life were easier in those places.

Eg. the understanding that Muslims have more rights than non-Muslims, that men have more rights than women, and that owners have more rights than slaves imply that Christian girls may be kidnapped, sold as slaves, forced to marry, raped and forced to convert.  I don't think that is fair.  Do you?  I think laws should force people to be kinder than this.

Applying this "twin-headed cultural hydra" in another way, a Christian teacher was shot last week, for reprimanding a Muslim student who was smoking.  If smoking is against the school rules, than the Christian teacher was acting within his area of responsibility and his rights.  But his was taken as insolence, since he should have been submissive and not think he has the power to correct a Muslim.

What if the laws changed such that we can't correct our own children because of the rights given to them?  Would not the country go crazy?

I understand that the Hindu caste had such a system in the old days.  I understand that such culture exists in many parts of the world.  I just wonder, coming from my culture - how I would live if God sent me to such places.

In your opinion, are such systems fair?  Just?  Right?  Can we accept culture in whatever form it comes in, and treat every culture as okay and tolerable?  Or do some need to change?  What do you think?

The future of public services

What will happen to public services in years to come?  Will we still enjoy the "free" facilities that our taxes pay for?  Or will everything be so commercialised and "user-pays" that there becomes nothing to enjoy in the future?

Gone are the days when University courses were free.  In fact, tertiary education is big, international business nowadays.  In fact, there is talk that University fees will go up in price in order to fund education for primary and secondary school children.

Public libraries are something that I have enjoyed, but apparently, the facilities are not there in every country I have lived in.  Now, in this age of e-books and broadband internet being available almost everywhere, will public libraries still be useful in the future?  I appreciate that libraries are useful for more purposes than just the books, but the people who run and fund these facilities may not.

I heard the other day the proposal that people be charged for using the parks; ie. if they take a dog for a walk or go for a jog or something.  I heard that the city councils have rejected the idea, but do you think it might happen someday in the future?

Parking is still free at some times in some places, but no longer in the streets of the big cities anymore, it seems.  Then, as the statistics say that more people are using these streets, there has been talk of reducing the free parking faciltiies.  Even shopping complexes do not all have 3-hour free parking nowadays.

As the trend changes, what other facilities do you think might disappear?  Will you miss these facilties?

What if you have to pay the police if you use their services?  Would that mean that criminals can pay the police so that they don't get caught?  Would the same principle apply to judges and law courts?

As it is, the fire services are asking for money from the insurance companies and the property taxes in order to pay for their services.

What do you think might change?  Do you like the prospect of such user-pay services?