Does Humanity Need Rules and Laws to Live Peacefully?

I was watching a Netflix Show set in rural courts in India. It is based on true events, well, loosely. Like in one of the episodes, a robber masquerades as a judge for months before he is caught. In one episode, there is a conversation between two characters in which one asks the other, ‘You have to be 25 years old before you can drink in major cities, but only 18 to vote.’ The other one replies - ‘See, it makes sense - you have to be very careful how you make your drink - even a bit here, and there can have an impact. Whereas who you vote for and whether you vote or not does really make much difference.’

When I heard that, it made perfect sense to me in India. India is a democratic country of 1.4 billion people, and literacy levels are not that high. And in some ways, the country runs itself regardless of who is in power. Yes, they have some impact, but for the most part, the country has learned to survive. It reminds me a bit of British Telecom - when I had just joined as a new MBA hire, there was a re-org, which in a company with ninety thousand people is common. And one of my colleagues who had been in the company for a long time said, ‘See, these leaders come and go, but we stick around and keep doing what we have to do.’ I was not sure what he meant, but then, as I worked, I experienced what he said. Sometimes the leaders are so far removed that the changes they make very rarely get percolated down. Sometimes good leaders do make fundamental changes, don’t get me wrong - but it is complex.

The point I am making here is that sometimes what happens on the ground and how it is supposed to happen are two different things. Like, there is a story where a customer representative won an annual award for customer service years in a row - the metric was duration to answer a customer call and repeat callers. Somebody finally did a study to see how he was winning the award - turns out he was so rude that the customers hung up and never called back. In this scenario, it is tricky because the metric’s intent is really good. But if there is a system, people will game the system. So, what do you do? Remove drinking age or buckle down on voting - make them watch videos on various candidates, make sure they vote, according to Lao Tzu, who wrote the book Tao Te Ching. He says that the more laws and orders are made prominent, the more thieves and robbers there will be.

I guess another way of looking at it is people will live up to your expectations - if you trust that they will rise to the guidelines instead of dictates, then that’s what they will do. But it requires trust and wisdom on the leader’s part. Some people, no matter what you do, will never rise to the expectation, and in some cases, clear rules are needed. It is tricky - it does not matter what the voting or drinking age is - what matters is the mindset of the country, leaders and the people. It is a collective journey - they shape their world, and if done right, the drinking age does not matter.

What we need is a different level of thinking that encourages each of us to make the right decision, be responsible for our actions, and take ownership—no questions to leave you with this time—just something to ponder.