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Environment
The sanctity of Kyoto
The rule of law, and respect for contract law in particular, is what defines our civilization.
By F H Bushor
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We're told that our economy runs on oil, but there's a more plentiful resource we rarely acknowledge. Its name is “irony,” and we are blessed with an apparently endless supply of it.
One example constantly laid out by the right is that our civilization is of a higher standard than others because of its system of laws. Especially appealing to law-loving minds are those rules of law-enforcing ownership of property and the sanctity of contracts. When you sign on the dotted line in this country, for example, you can be sure the ghosts of a great many Western thinkers, along with a righteous chorus of smaller minds, are harmoniously singing the joys of responsibility and accountability inherent in it. It would not be far-fetched to imagine that each time a contract is signed, a Fraser Institute intern gets his wings.
Why we say we’re morally superior
Contract law is often cited as part of the very bedrock of what makes us so "morally superior" to other countries. Our system of laws and their recognition of the sanctity of contracts empowers our righteousness to the point even of militarily occupying other countries in order to give them the things that we take for granted, like the ability to freely sign a contract with the understanding that its obligations and boundaries will be recognized and upheld.
And then there's Kyoto.
Kyoto is a spectacular example of a deeper irony that runs throughout our society, though in this case the word "irony" is insufficient to capture the depths its definition can take.
This particular form of irony should probably be named something else altogether, like “hypocrisy.”
When presented with hypocrisies, it's often educational to bring them closer to home to understand their "footprint." So try this: Go out and apply for a bank loan. Tell the bank you're "committed" and "morally res-ponsible" because such obligations are indicators of your respect of all that is good and right and indicative of your highly grounded, ethically impervious, way of life.
Change of mind?
Call the banker the day after and explain that, unfortunately, you've decided that the obligations you signed on for are too painful, endanger your standard of living, and that you are reconsidering the repayment terms.
Of course, the banks would seek any and all means to reclaim that money or deny the loan and, no doubt, would file damaging reports to forestall any credit you might ever hope to gain again.
Most people would agree that the bank would have every right to do this, since the signatory committed, and is obliged, to meet the requirements and obligations contained in the contract.
This is how our society works.
In essence, one’s freedom of action is specifically limited by a contract which, unless proven otherwise, is assumed to have been signed in good faith and with sound mind.
After that, re-negotiation starts the game of infinite rhetoric and billable hours, and accordingly, lawyers are called—a fine time for respectful persons to take leave.
Contracts are critical to our social, economic and environmental way of life. And Kyoto is a contract signed by the duly appointed officers of the government of Canada. To renegotiate it, or to tear it up now, would violate the sanctity of contract law.
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