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Essay / Analysis of Democracy by John L Anderson - 1190
It talks about how we inherently recognize the laws and norms of society, even when we are not judged by members of society. I agree to some extent with this notion. I agree that confidence is important, but I think it is a concept that tilts our subconscious barrier against doubt. We start by trusting our company because of the laws in force. However, after someone breaks the law and faces consequences, we slowly start to lose faith in the society we unconsciously believed in and doubt arises a little. Consider the example presented by Anderson in his article. He explains that we all know the highway code. If we see a stop sign stopping us, we automatically know that we have to stop, whether there are other cars or not. However, suppose that at a stop sign, a driver does not stop because he knows that it is generally a quiet street and in fact speeds up. A pedestrian, knowing the same rule, assumes that a driver will stop because it is a stop sign. However, the driver, not having slowed down, accidentally hit and killed the pedestrian. Following this accident, our trust in society decreases, but our willingness to follow the rules increases. Even in our own laws. We buy insurance when we drive, not because we think we are bad drivers, but because we think others might be. As important as trust is, we take everything with caution,