After living in the United States for many years, what do China people fear most?

"What laws are you afraid of if you are not a thief?" A young man who has just come from China doesn't think so.

Is there anything more terrible than the hardships of that extraordinary era? In China at that time, as long as we grasped the truth, there were several "areas" that should not be touched, so that we could make so-called big mistakes and keep making small mistakes. Who can do anything to me? Can't you mix like a dog? In the family, you can beat your wife, punish your children, be angry with the elderly, have conflicts with your neighbors, and drive away your tenants. In the street, you can scold passers-by, fight in groups, grab the line beautifully, drive too fast and make a hullabaloo about, destroying the city; In the unit, you can support leaders, bump into colleagues, swear words, harass the opposite sex and use public funds; Business can send red envelopes, cheat customers, sell fakes, report false accounts, and evade taxes; After work, you can gamble on mahjong, play with chicks, scare rivals, explore privacy and pirate in buy buy. Outside the suburbs, you can cut down trees, kill animals, pollute sewage sources, throw garbage and play with kindling. For all this, people can get used to it, turn a blind eye, and even regard it as chic. In the United States, all this will bring legal trouble. The lighter is fined, and the heavier is imprisoned!

In the eyes of westerners, the embodiment of law is a blindfolded goddess holding a balance. People can't see what she really looks like. She doesn't know anyone at all. In America, from the president to the homeless, no one is afraid of her. Clinton was involved in the scandal and owed millions of lawyers' fees. Judges, lawyers, policemen and prosecutors who are regarded as legal authorities and respected are more afraid of this goddess who supports them than ordinary people. Isn't it? Many of them were punished by her.

The great philosopher Hegel once said: When an old man and a child say the same motto, the meaning is different. Everyone is afraid of the goddess of law, but the degree of fear is different: some are afraid of the surface, and some are afraid of the inside; Some are afraid of sensibility, others are afraid of rationality; Some are afraid in the mouth, and some are afraid in the bones.

The author studied law in American law school; Teaching philosophy of law in American universities; As a bilingual translator in American courts; Friends in the United States, when they encounter legal crisis, help them find the right way many times and get rid of it smoothly; Still ... although these experiences are not as good as professional lawyers, I still know something about this goddess. And this understanding makes me even more awed and even afraid of her.

China has a saying: He who does nothing wrong is not afraid of ghosts knocking at the door. However, in America, there are ghosts knocking at the door without doing anything wrong. Forgot to wear a seat belt when driving; Drink a small can of beer at the party and drive after drinking; When parking, I accidentally rubbed someone else's car and left inadvertently; Smoking in public places; Touched the face of the neighbor's child; Played a joke on a female colleague she didn't like; Pinched the shoulder of a same-sex colleague; Inadvertently said something wrong to the students; What makes people of other nationalities unhappy; The dog bit someone else; Pedestrians fell in front of your door because the snow was not cleared in time; The child was spanked for not doing his homework; Spouses do not want to have sexual relations, forcibly; Some figures on the tax bill were miscalculated: a plan of our company was inadvertently revealed; Wrote some misleading statements in the email; Say a few words to scare people when you are angry; And ... all these acts, which are not a big deal or even a matter of course in the original culture, may cause legal troubles in the United States, and can even be said to be the trouble of "separation of wives and children, family destruction and death"

The law is a "snake", a cold-blooded and heartless "poisonous snake". It's been watching you, waiting to be bitten. Someone deliberately provoked, of course, deserved it. But some people suffer from ignorance. This is the famous warning of Aristotle, the great ancient Greek philosopher.

Indeed, the real law should have no feelings for anyone, otherwise everyone can't be equal before it. /kloc-in the 0/7th century, the British thinker Hobbes said that human nature is evil, and the relationship between people is like the struggle between wolves. Either I eat you or you eat me. But now no matter who is strong, it will always be eaten by another stronger one, and finally no one can really survive. Therefore, in order to avoid the end of crash and burn, there should be countries and laws. If it infringes the interests of other members, it will pay a corresponding price, that is, legal punishment.

Since modern times, most western countries have believed in Rousseau and others' "social contract theory", that is to say, in order to ensure order and personal rights and avoid the sacrifice caused by chaos and struggle, all social members must entrust an authoritative organ recognized by most people to establish rules and regulations that every member must abide by, and violators will be punished. But in practice, on the one hand, no social contract can satisfy everyone; On the other hand, a contract that only satisfies a few people cannot be called a real social contract, it is only totalitarianism and autocracy. What shall we do? Some people say that even God can't make everyone satisfied and happy. Otherwise, why is there always so much slavery, oppression, killing, war, hunger, disease, environmental pollution and endless natural and man-made disasters in this world? ! Therefore, most western countries believe in bentham and mill's utilitarianism. The most basic principle of this theory is to maximize the happiness of the greatest number of people. This is why the democratic electoral system should be the cornerstone of a modern country. However, this will also bring a problem. The truth is not necessarily in the hands of the majority. How to protect the rights and interests of the minority?

However, what are the people's most basic rights? Western political thinkers put forward two points: one is the definition of property rights, and the other is the definition of human rights. British thinker Locke put forward the property right, that is, "private property is sacred and inviolable". Later, more thinkers put forward theories about the definition of human rights, such as the right to vote, freedom of speech, freedom of assembly, freedom of association, freedom of strike, equality before the law and so on. The definition of all people's rights should ultimately be regulated in the form of law. In other words, only by legalization can people's rights and interests be realized in a tangible and fixed form.

Buddhist scriptures divide the causes of suffering in the world into two types: one is greed and the other is ignorance. There are two ways to get rid of it: one is compassion and the other is wisdom. Similarly, there are two reasons for the punishment of the goddess of law: greed or ignorance. Being punished for the former can be said to be culpable of punishment, but being punished for the latter is too wrong. However, in fact, in the United States, breaking the law because of ignorance is by no means a reason for impunity. Not only that, but the irony is that in the United States, you must never listen to the will of the Buddha and be merciful at will; You can't learn from Lei Feng and do good things everywhere.

An old man fell in the street, don't help him, or you will be responsible; If there is a car accident, don't touch the injured person, maybe you will make the situation worse; If someone is drowning, don't use mouth-to-mouth breathing to rescue him, either you are afraid of "AIDS" or the other person has "AIDS"; Don't interrupt to help if there is something wrong with your neighbor's house, so as to avoid misunderstanding; Without a professional license, even if it is free, don't treat others or treat them; Don't be enthusiastic about helping people look after their children; Don't interfere in other people's private affairs; When someone is in trouble, you'd better not make a move except calling the police. And ... all of the above, if you have a lawsuit in the United States, it is by no means alarmist.

In the United States, everyone has the weapon of law, everything is bound by law, there are legal traps everywhere, and there are always legal tragedies. You have to be afraid of the law.

Many years ago, when I was studying the American Constitution at the University of Chicago Law School, Madison, one of the founders of the United States, left a deep impression more than 200 years ago: "We need a constitution because of the weakness of human nature; And we can realize the constitution because of the advantages of human nature. " In other words, we can use the law to limit the evil of human nature, and we can also use the goodness of human nature to form a society ruled by law.

The United States is a capitalist country ruled by law. The magic of law covers all macro and micro fields and penetrates into every cell and pore of the social body. As a French thinker said, all aspects of American social life and personal life can ultimately be attributed to some kind of legal problem. "We'll see. See you in court! " This is an American favorite sentence. Between father and son, husband and wife, brothers, friends, colleagues, teachers and students, lovers, employers and employees ... there are countless "rooms", which may become sworn enemies in court in a flash. Don't say trivial things. Even in the American presidential election in 2000, the final outcome of Gore and Bush was decided by the court, wasn't it? !

The law itself should be just. However, its material carrier is a legislator, law enforcer and interpreter composed of flesh and blood, so it will naturally tilt towards the mainstream society. But to be fair, to a certain extent, many legal troubles encountered by Chinese as a disadvantaged group in the United States come from the weakness of their own culture, and even some inferiority of their own nation.

Some people say that China people are fond of gambling by nature. Gambling on horses, cards, cars, football and political backers all end up on the word "money". However, if you bet on the law, you are bound to lose the game. The author has some research and experience on the legal thoughts and systems of China and the United States, and often tries to decipher some basic "prototypes" of Chinese in the United States for breaking the law, breaking the law or being victimized or implicated from a large number of cases by means of "password interpretation", which is not so much to rise to the height of society as to finally return to the individual and return to the living individual responsible for his actions. I hope this kind of interpretation, this kind of deciphering and this kind of reduction can inspire readers.

Just as this book was published in Fu Zi, the biggest and most painful disaster in American history happened, which was caused by terrorist activities. The damage caused by this disaster to the people of this country, especially to the soul, is incalculable. It will inevitably lead to great changes in American social life, system and values, and of course it will also lead to corresponding changes in laws and regulations, such as the laws and regulations on the right to declare war, the role of the army, the laws and regulations on war, the laws and regulations on security, the laws and regulations on intelligence, the laws and regulations on anti-terrorism, the laws and regulations on immigration, the laws and regulations on aviation, the laws and regulations on search and arrest, the laws and regulations on civil rights and all previous laws and regulations against racial discrimination, etc., which will all be greatly affected. These influences may even cause some kind of "crisis" in the American Constitution itself. We need to do further observation and research on this.

Some experts pointed out that after such a terrible terrorist attack, it is hard to imagine that law enforcement officers can ban racial background in order to stop terrorist acts, just like today's laws; It is hard to imagine that federal or local judges can still prevent law enforcement officers from taking decisive raids based on ethnic background; It is hard to imagine that courts at all levels can refuse to give Congress and other legislative departments more power to let intelligence agencies monitor those who attempt to plan the next attack more closely; It is hard to imagine that law enforcement officers are not allowed to detain suspects for weeks or months before they have evidence of conviction.

Avoiding "American robbery" is the intention of this book!

Introduction to my book Robbery in the United States: A Real Contest between Chinese and American Laws (China Workers Publishing House, 2002).