DISCUSSION THREAD -- September 2021 -- 75-Word Writing Challenge

Hadn't really noticed, to be honest. Anyhow, the theme is RULES, which isn't exactly the same thing as LAWS.
People tend to dislike rules and feel they are only there to be bend a little to fit your personal situation more comfortably.
Also, stories about ignoring or bending the rules are more... entertaining than stories about the Goodness of Laws. You won't win a challenge with stories about decent, law-abiding citizens! ;)

I had intended to end this post with a remark that so far no good idea for a story had aroused my muse, but writing this was apparently the tickle it needed... It might even make @Parson happy.
 
Elckerlyc said:
Hadn't really noticed, to be honest. Anyhow, the theme is RULES, which isn't exactly the same thing as LAWS.
People tend to dislike rules and feel they are only there to be bend a little to fit your personal situation more comfortably.
Also, stories about ignoring or bending the rules are more... entertaining than stories about the Goodness of Laws. You won't win a challenge with stories about decent, law-abiding citizens! ;)

I had intended to end this post with a remark that so far no good idea for a story had aroused my muse, but writing this was apparently the tickle it needed... It might even make @Parson happy.
Click to expand...
Good point about rules vs. laws. My point is that most people feel as if rules/laws are bad. It seems that when we find a dumb rule or law (and they are not hard to find) we assume that all the rules/laws are the same, when in fact the vast majority of the rules have good and important reasons. How would you like to live in an area with no traffic laws, where everyone drove when, where, and how they felt like it? Any advanced human civilization is extremely dependent on rules/laws being almost universally obeyed.

As to this contest; I think you are right that stories about ignoring or bending rules are more "entertaining," because we like to highlight the unusual. But I do think that this comes at a cost. For example, a favorite home decorating plaque has the phrase: "Life Is Not Measured By the Number of Breaths We Take, But By the Moments That Take Our Breath Away." Now I find a great deal of truth in that, but I can't shake the feeling that by repeating this and trying to live our life by it, we find that we have undervalued the wonder and pure joy that comes from living each day which does not have one of those kind of moments in them. --- So I'd like to see some stories that lift up what a joy it is to follow the rules and how that makes life good and fulfilling.

Is that what you have in mind?
 
@Artoriarius .... A Perfectly Vicious Little Circle .... Sometimes the "Prime Directive" isn't so prime after all.

@StilLearning .... Off to a bad start .... Those who are new never really understand the rules.
 
Parson said:
But I do think that this comes at a cost. For example, a favorite home decorating plaque has the phrase: "Life Is Not Measured By the Number of Breaths We Take, But By the Moments That Take Our Breath Away." Now I find a great deal of truth in that, but I can't shake the feeling that by repeating this and trying to live our life by it, we find that we have undervalued the wonder and pure joy that comes from living each day which does not have one of those kind of moments in them. --- So I'd like to see some stories that lift up what a joy it is to follow the rules and how that makes life good and fulfilling.

Is that what you have in mind?
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I like that phrase! And agree about what you said about undervaluing the simple, small things that make life good and enjoyable by not living in a lawless state.
Was it what I had in mind? Well, more or less. With a twist.

PS
You are the recipient of my 1000th post. Isn't it wonderful?
 
Parson said:
Is it only me, or is anyone else feeling a definite lack of stories which show laws to be a good thing?
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I suspect that people view laws from a personal perspective foremost vs the wider impact they make to communities or society at large. How many laws come to mind that register a positive emotion immediately? Yay for 40 km/h in school zones! Now when you reflect on them, sure you can see the positives of many but you don't have to think for too long for examples of laws you viscerally feel negative about! No shirt, no shoes, no service? The tyranny!
 
Bren G said:
I suspect that people view laws from a personal perspective foremost vs the wider impact they make to communities or society at large. How many laws come to mind that register a positive emotion immediately? Yay for 40 km/h in school zones! Now when you reflect on them, sure you can see the positives of many but you don't have to think for too long for examples of laws you viscerally feel negative about! No shirt, no shoes, no service? The tyranny!
Click to expand...
Hm, now that's a thought I hadn't thought. I often do look at laws from a societal point of view. Your example of school zones is right on the money. I don't like slowing down, but I would hate to be responsible for hitting a child while declaring myself free of the tyranny of arbitrary speed limits. So I slow down and try to tamp down my stinking thinking: "I don't have to slow down. After all, aren't I one of the best drivers around?"
 
Parson said:
Hm, now that's a thought I hadn't thought. I often do look at laws from a societal point of view. Your example of school zones is right on the money. I don't like slowing down, but I would hate to be responsible for hitting a child while declaring myself free of the tyranny of arbitrary speed limits. So I slow down and try to tamp down my stinking thinking: "I don't have to slow down. After all, aren't I one of the best drivers around?"
Click to expand...
I think it's always tempting to look at rules personally - I know a few people who are genuinely convinced they're in the top 1% of drivers and ergo different rules should apply to them. In the case of laws that're applied to millions there will always be some individuals that benefit, and some that are inconvenienced by them, and it's tempting to see them as aimed at certain people. Sometimes they may be - there's no hard and fast rule I think, it's a judgement call every time. Sometimes they may be aimed to have a societal impact by way of targeting certain people (tax/tax breaks for the rich, more/less licencing for gun owners etc).
That said... during the Covid pandemic I've been bemused by the number of people, without any breathing problems or claustrophobia, who see wearing a face mask while shopping as a tyrannical law, an insult to their freedoms, sometimes calling it on par with the badges the Nazis forced minorities to wear identifying their 'crimes', and to be resisted at every opportunity. To me it's bit of cloth, and might help vulnerable people around me feel safer, if nothing else. What has especially struck me is that while not every angry mask-rebel is convinced they're in the top 1% of drivers, everyone I know who thinks they're in the top 1% of drivers is a vocal, angry, mask-rebel.
 
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@mosaix .... Your Witness .... There is justice. There is the law. There are lawyers. And somehow they can live together in close proximity and yet all miss one another.

@David Evil Overlord .... Lore & Order .... Everything is legal when you live by the law of TV ratings.

@BT Jones .... You can have any (evil empire) colour you like, as long as its black... (or red... or sort-of purplish...) .... when the laws of physics are silenced the sounds and colors of space come through in blockbuster fashion.

@JS Wiig .... Rules to Live By .... Not all rules are created equal even when they are all true. Sometimes the Golden Rule is the best rule.

@Peter V .... Keep Off the Grass .... Breaking rules can be catastrophic for all involved.

@Luiglin .... Dragged Up .... Some rules are nothing but nonsense when seen in context.


***** Okay, when did the muse get lose? And these are really original stories!!! Thanks for the opportunity of reading them.
 
Artoriarius: Regulations can get in the way of effectiveness.

StilLearning: Who will rule the rulers?

Elckerlyc: Everything starts somewhere.

johnnyjet: The many may not be wiser than the one.

mosaix: There are always ways to get around the system.

David Evil Overlord: Never confuse the cause and the effect.

BT Jones: It is difficult to be completely original in pop culture.

JS Wiig: Sometimes empathy outweighs self-interest.

Peter V: Some restrictions are for your own protection.

Luiglin: Something can be both arbitrary and critical.
 
Mm, possibly dodgy entry this month.

Oh well, time will tell.

@Parson

Oh dear, oh dear dear me. Forgive :)
 
@TheEndIsNigh .... Fork Handles .... Both rules and rulers can be broken when you stop and think about it.

@Dan Jones .... Pinching An Inch .... Parson suspects that he's missing something important, but it's clear the answer is not 42, but 76.

@Daysman .... Unnatural Heuristics .... Sometimes good enough is anything but good enough. It might be more than horrible enough.
 
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