📘 Part 3: Laws and Regulations

This episode's vocabulary

Infamous (adj.) - famous for something considered bad.

Severe (adj.) - causing very great pain, difficulty, worry, damage, etc.; very serious.

Mandatory (adj.) - something that is mandatory must be done, or is demanded by law.

Mutual (adj.) - (of two or more people or groups) feeling the same emotion, or doing the same thing to or for each other.

Sensible (adj.) - based on or acting on good judgment and practical ideas or understanding.

Consistent (adj.) - always behaving or happening in a similar, especially positive, way.

To promote (verb) - to encourage people to like, buy, use, do, or support something.

Altercation (noun) - a loud argument or disagreement.

To embroil (verb) - to cause someone to become involved in an argument or a difficult situation.

To penalize (verb) - to punish someone, esp. for breaking the law or a rule.

Carefree (adj.) - having no problems or not being worried about anything.

To obey (verb) - to act according to what you have been asked or ordered to do by someone in authority, or to behave according to a rule, law, or instruction.

To toe the line -  to do what you are ordered or expected to do.

Justification (noun) - a good reason or explanation for something.

Cut it (idiom) -

To repeal (verb) - if a government repeals a law, it causes that law no longer to have any legal force.

Blasphemy (noun) - something that you say or do that shows you do not respect God or a religion.

Tax code (noun) - in the US, the rules of the tax system.

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Questions and Answers

M: Rory, Rory, Rory. Are you all ready? Ready Rory.

R: I'm ready to regulate my answers in the appropriate manner.

M: Cool. So, are there laws about education in your country?

R: Oh, there are lots. Russia has a rather infamous propaganda law whereby if you even slightly mention that gay people are human beings deserving of equal rights, then there are rather severe consequences. By contrast, in Scotland there are laws which do the opposite of this. Both countries have mandatory education requirements for students.

M: What kinds of rules do schools in your country have?

R: Um, I think they have similar rules to elsewhere regarding mutual respect, a sensible dress code, and standards of behavior. I don't think there's anything uniquely Scottish or Russian, to be honest.

M: Do you think students should have a say in what school rules to have?

R: Well, they already do. They can choose to follow them or no. In the same way that they choose to accept the consequences of not following them. Just because you don't get to make the rules doesn't mean you don't have a say.

M: What can teachers do to make students obey the rules?

R: By having clear and consistent systems of rewards and consequences for students. They can also lead by example, and be supported by the school, and promoting them.

M: What should parents do to educate children about laws?

R: Well, it helps to have a relevant example. So if there's something in the news or popular culture or debate at the time, then they can explain what is going on in relation to that. Maybe reading to them at an appropriate level also helps.

M: Do you think that parents should teach children about laws? Or it's the responsibility of like teachers or friends or like this police officer?

R: Why can't it be shared? Because the thing about laws at least in, well, all of the countries I've been to is that there are hundreds of them, and you can't know absolutely everything. So maybe if there are specific cases, then some people are better placed to answer these questions than others. That's why you have lawyers because the law is complicated and huge.

M: So children first learn about laws from their parents, right? Or at school?

R: Well, it would be difficult to say specifically, but I mean, like, I would imagine most children discover the fact that laws exist from their parents, and then they get a more formal education in the process of how this works at school.

M: Let's talk about police officers. What qualities should a police officer have?

R: Oh, probably attention to detail and a good knowledge of the rules, in addition to physical and moral fitness would be ideal. Well, indeed, it should be a priority if they're to do their job effectively.

M: Do you think both men and women can be police officers?

R: Probably not in a country where the police are not armed with firearms. No. And the reason for this is simple. Like in a physical altercation men are stronger than women. And in mixed-sex police environments, male police officers will have to protect not only themselves but support their female colleagues as well. Of course, if you have a gun that levels the playing field rather effectively in that regard, but if you don't have one, then really it should be men doing this mainly.

M: Do you think that there are many female police officers in your country?

R: I don't know. I don't know what the quotas are. But there are female police officers for sure. And they have the same training as their male colleagues, but they're not armed. And that is a problem.

M: Do you think the police officers are paid too much?

R: Well, probably if anything, they aren't paid enough, which is why they're always embroiled in corruption and scandal in many countries. We don't really have this problem in Scotland, but it used to be quite a serious problem in Russia as well. I don't know if it's still a problem now, but it still comes up from time to time.

M: Why do some people prefer to be a lawyer?

R: Well, many reasons. I mean, foremost, it's a respectable job as as the salary that comes with it in many cases, and it can be a platform for potential politicians. Like I think Bill and Hillary Clinton were, they started as lawyers, for example. Didn't they?

M: Let's talk about some rules. So do you think that people should be penalized when they use mobile phones while driving?

R: Oh, absolutely yes. It's so irresponsible to be on the phone and not paying attention to the road especially with people around you while you're in a machine moving at dozens of miles an hour. So they should be punished for being so carefree with the lives of other people.

M: Any other rules that you would like to implement in your country or in your hometown?

R: No, I can only think of laws that shouldn't exist.

M: Do you think people in your country obey the law all the time?

R: That's a bit of an odd question. Like, of course, they don't. I don't know of any like utopian nation where they do. The reason we have laws in the first place is because people everywhere struggled to toe the line and the laws outline the consequences of what will come with failing to do so.

M: But do you think obeying the law all the time is always a good thing?

R: Well, probably something like 95-97% of the time, it's okay to follow the rules. But some rules are silly, like, well, if we talk about laws regarding Russian education, for example. So because things like sex and drug education are so bad in this country, and it's illegal for you to talk about certain things with children, that actually makes problems worse. So sometimes breaking the law is actually really important to make sure that people don't hurt themselves. But that's, that's like a really specific case. Most laws are designed to help people.

M: So sometimes it's okay to break some rules and laws?

R: In the cause of like, help making sure that there's a good outcome for lots of people, yes. But you can't just break the rules, because you feel like it or because it's got to personally benefit you. There has to be some reasonable justification. And because I wanted to get some kind of benefit from it doesn't quite cut it with me.

M: It's good for me, so I'm gonna break this law. And what do you think in the future? Are there gonna be more restrictions, more laws and rules?

R: Oh, yeah. Like they can't help themselves. This is the problem with governments, they never repeal laws. Like, really. I think we repealed the blasphemy law in Scotland. And then we wrote like, 25 more rules to do two similar things at the same time. So it's like they can't help themselves. They're obsessed with writing laws and fixing things. America's tax code is something like three books long. It's crazy.

M: Thank you, Rory, for your lovely answers.

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