Laws are established to sustain people, order, and safety in society. Without rules and the legal system, the community will be chaotic and destructive, full of immoral behaviors and crimes. The author claims that most of the problems of modern society cannot be resolved by laws and the legal system because laws cannot alter people's thoughts and minds. However, this is not always the case. While I agree that laws and the legal system cannot solve many problems, I disagree with the reason mentioned above.
Granted, laws and the legal system can solve a few problems. As regulations provide a guideline to the public, people can abstain from conducting illicit actions, which ensures fewer ethical problems in our society. When slavery was pervasive, people's resistance and movements to outlaw slavery were not effective. However, Abraham Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation to declare the freedom of all enslaved people in the Confederate States of America. Later, the 13th amendment in the United States Constitution officially abolished slavery in America. In these cases, ethical and racial discrimination issues have decreased. Thus, laws and the legal system can fix several moral problems.
However, laws and the legal system cannot wholly eradicate many societal problems. Because many issues are complex and have arisen for a long time, it is impossible to resolve most of the issues by law. With the advent of the rapid development of computers and the internet in modern society, people from different walks of life and backgrounds can readily access the same information. People spend enormous time surfing the internet these days, so many have become the victims of anonymous defamation, libel, and slander. Nevertheless, such problems cannot be legislated by the legal system. Although laws are enacted and punish people who infringe upon laws, it does not ensure that these people will not commit offenses again. Still, many people disregard the legal system and violate laws despite harsh punishments. Therefore, the author's claim that laws can solve most societal problems is reasonable.
Although laws cannot resolve many problems occurred in society, laws can still reduce issues and minimize the harmful effects. Thus, rules can alter people's hearts and motivation. Take Enron Scandal, for example. The American energy corporation, Enron, and an accounting company, Arthur Anderson, used accounting loopholes and poor financial reports and contrived to hide Enron's billions in debt from the previous failed projects. Once their defrauding was revealed, several executives at Enron were sentenced to prison, and Arthur Anderson lost their license to audit and eventually closed the firm. In addition, the Sarbanes-Oxley Act was implemented to increase penalties for fabricating, destroying, and altering finical records. Even though this law cannot completely solve the further problems, people in the future would hesitate to commit further similar violations.
In conclusion, many problems of modern society cannot be entirely solved by laws; however, stating that the rules cannot change people's minds undermines the authority of the legal system. At worst, people would be able to consider the negative results of their illegal actions, and at best, people will restrain from such behaviors. Both cases will guarantee a decrease in crime rates in our modern society.