Developed Legal System

Max Johnson

9/10/17

Essay 1

When one looks at the abundance of advancements that stem from society’s progress, It’s easy to overlook some of the advantages that come from more primitive civilizations. There are several aspects of the more family oriented, hunter/gatherer environment of these ancient societies that many would see as more sensible than their modern day counterparts.

The first of these several examples is the complete lack of a developed legal system. While a legal system in many ways helps to organize and control a society, there are some potential advantages to its absence. One of these advantages could be the absence of unfair or biased laws. In many modern civilizations, it is recognized that some laws are in place not so much to protect the people, but rather to protect certain people or political affiliations. In ancient societies such laws and the problems they may cause are absent. Another advantage is the lack of division due to politics. In modern society many powerful people can take advantage of their position, and abuse their power for personal or professional gain. This problem is absent from earlier civilizations due to many having a more family based, survival oriented mentality. While these advantages are apparent, there are several different facets to the absence of a legal system.

As mentioned in the last paragraph, a legal system leads to division of the people. In most societies today, politics lead to several different classes of people, developing full caste systems in more extreme cases. In primitive societies people were nearly all on equal terms due to different values and skills required for survival. Instead of more capitalistic ideals, many early societies would turn to more spiritual and physical characteristics to establish power. This lead to more widespread equality due to the simplicity of life.

Looking at some disadvantages of modern societies we can see the advantages early civilizations hold over their modern counterparts. Many of these problems stem from the larger populations. One such example is the easily spread diseases in modern environments due to population and often tight quarters. While developments in technology have made many diseases manageable, the easy spread is still an issue. In primitive societies with lower population this problem was much more manageable. Another issue that large populations create is pollution. Early societies would use much less advanced technologies, and as a result they would have much less environmental impact. In the modern age, we are facing a major issue regarding pollution from emissions and landfill. A third major disadvantage of living in modern societies, more specifically urban areas with higher populations, is a higher rate of crime. This is particularly advantageous to early societies because of the danger that criminals can cause the rest of the populace. Many crimes today such as murder, theft, etc. have direct negative impacts on those they are directed at, and It’s because of this that we can see why less developed societies had an advantage. One final advantage of having low populations is more representation within a society. More people were able to have their opinions directly heard by an authority figure, and as a result more people felt important in their community.

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