Why obey the rules?

During my visit abroad, I met several children from China who were studying abroad. A child failed the exam because he often played truant. I asked, "Is it necessary to rebuild the pass?" The child proudly said, "I'm not that stupid if others want to rebuild." He told me that the school's rule is that students who fail the exam can make up the exam within a certain period of time if a doctor proves that the student is ill during the exam. The make-up exam papers are basically the same as the original questions, only about 20% of the questions are different. "I can ask the students who have finished the exam to tell me the questions, so that I can get at least 60 points." "How can I get a doctor's certificate?" "Go to Chinatown to find Dr. China and give him a small gift." Looking at his clear, bright and proud eyes, I felt sad. The school system must be fully demonstrated, and its premise is that every student who fails the exam is an honest man, giving honest people a chance to remedy, which is one of the rationality of the education system. This system has been applied fairly and effectively in this world famous school with a history of one hundred years for many years, but it has actually failed here in China. There are many such examples. From TOEFL scores to personal transcripts, to personal data, to notarization in the name of the country, those rules based on honesty have been completely fooled by our compatriots. Because this kind of behavior is often found, many countries have taken strict precautions against China people. For example, some universities have to add more standards when enrolling China students, so as to ensure that the admitted students are "genuine". In the master's program of Harvard Law School, China students were asked to write letters of recommendation in Chinese, preferably handwritten, because they found that most of the English letters of recommendation written in the most sincere and beautiful language came from the referees themselves. People's disrespect for the rules has damaged the credibility of our country. The relationship between obeying rules and honesty is very philosophical. Rules constrain people's behavior, which is the abstraction of the corresponding natural behavior of society. Abstract rules of conduct have some symbolic features, just like traffic lights on the road. When rules are applied to social reality, if the reality is false or distorted, the meaning of rules no longer exists. To put this meaning in reverse, all acts of evading the rules, from falsely issuing VAT invoices to selling fake goods, are false. In this sense, the premise of a country ruled by law is an honest society. Without honest society, a country ruled by law is the moon in the water and the flower in the mirror. Then, how should the design of a legal system make people honest and consciously abide by the rules? The most effective mechanism to get rid of moral preaching and ensure that the rules are observed is interest adjustment. Human society needs rules, because rules are a necessary condition for maintaining society. In a certain space, if there is only one person, rules are unnecessary. If there is one more person, some simple rules are necessary. For example, how two people do not interfere with each other, and further, how to coordinate with each other. Unfortunately, society is made up of many people who must share natural, social, political and power resources according to rules. Therefore, the birth of rules and human society, according to natural jurists, is to ensure that human beings will not be destroyed in mutual competition. After the country came into being, the rules formulated by the dominant forces in society won the strong support of the country, but compliance with the rules mainly depends on the inner respect of the members of society, provided that compliance with the rules brings benefits to everyone. For example, the formation of the framework of the rule of law in modern western society provides sufficient freedom and development space for individuals, and people abide by the rules and at the same time obtain the greatest interests of individuals within the scope of the rule of law. Why people don't obey the rules, or under what conditions, the answer is simple. If people do not follow the rules can bring benefits, then people must not follow the rules. Tax evasion is typical, as is buying and selling fake academic qualifications. The most terrible thing for a society is to form a chain that breaks the rules. Under the action of this chain, the behavior of breaking the rules is recognized and protected to the maximum extent. For example, fake academic qualifications can meet the promotion conditions, provided that the department responsible for promotion recognizes fake academic qualifications. Obeying the rules is interest-driven, and so is disobeying the rules. Therefore, from the perspective of system design, the most effective means to force people to abide by the rules is to use the interest mechanism to make their losses greater than their expectations of gains. However, such a simple problem is much more complicated in our society. China is the hometown of Confucianism. Confucian culture pays attention to ceremony. The core of etiquette is that different social classes abide by different codes of conduct. The so-called "Jun Jun, minister, father, son", don't be intimate, this is extremely noble and cheap. Everyone gets his best interests by obeying different rules, so the society forms a harmonious whole. The nobleness and meanness of individuals are often related to what kind of rules to adjust. Therefore, although China is an ancient civilization with a long history, it is also the country with the earliest written law in the world. Developed rules have set an example for other Asian countries, but it is a hidden desire of China people not to follow the rules, or to follow rules different from others. The realization of this desire can bring unique feelings, even if it can't bring benefits. Even today, once some people can get benefits by disobeying or breaking the rules, they are not only secretly pleased, but also unspeakable. More importantly, in our historical documents and cultural heritage, examples of rulemakers playing with rules are used to prove wisdom, and evading the law is the most important living method. In the west, Socrates' story of drinking wine himself is used to prove his respect for the rules, while in China, what he sees is pedantry. The story we are proud of is that Cao Cao's strict military laws, but he can "cut his hair", which not only shows the majesty of the law, but also opens the French Open. Only China people have this unique skill. In the history of China, there is always a rule in wars, big and small. Winners always win with "wisdom", and "wisdom" is cunning. The so-called "all is fair in war" is true. The two armies are at war, and there is no discipline at all. In contrast, wars in western history, especially those in the era of cold weapons, pay special attention to rules. There are strict rules on how to fight drums, how to deploy, how to attack, how to ring the golden bell and retreat. Both sides must abide by it. Even the handling of contradictions between individuals shows different attitudes towards the rules. In the case of irreconcilable contradictions, China's traditional culture pays attention to "a hundred battles in one day", intrigue, killing people without seeing blood. The west pays attention to dueling. Two people with deadly weapons openly kill each other for profit or reputation. Before a duel, they should take an oath to show that they don't have to plot to stab people in the back. Watching the duel scenes in foreign movies, there is always a side that supports you. I hope he is smart enough to turn around and shoot at each other after 49 steps, but he only took 50 steps according to the rules. After a moment's hesitation, he was killed by the other side. My favorite poet Pushkin died in a duel with a French baron, which used to be a knot in my heart: how could this genius be so stupid? Once I laughed with my colleagues, and we agreed. It seems that we are all influenced by the traditional culture of China. In the history of China's civilization, there are different opinions on various theories of governing the country, but it is consistent to emphasize "skill" over "law". The evaluation of characters also shows this tendency, that is, those who speak rules lose, those who don't speak rules succeed, and those who succeed are princes and thieves. Under the guidance of this culture, generations of people have been planning how to be above or outside the rules since childhood. As a result, time has entered 2 1 century, and building a country ruled by law has long been a general plan for governing the country. However, what we see is not obeying the rules of the game, but treating the rules as a game: people with more than three people will be blocked in line, and "running a red light" will become experience and beautiful talk. For ordinary people who have no chance to get spiritual and material satisfaction from rich people's games, such as tax evasion, disrupting queues or traffic order, although it can not bring obvious benefits, it can at least satisfy a kind of psychology. This may be one of the reasons why violations are common. The China student mentioned at the beginning, in a society that generally abides by the rules, his cunning may also give him a temporary benefit, that is, he passed the exam without making efforts, which is undoubtedly unfair to other students who study hard. The founder of the system would not have thought that someone would break this rule in this way. But if he continues to do so in the next step, the school will inevitably find something fishy, waiting for him to be expelled from school or even leave the country within a time limit. A student with such a record can't survive in a society ruled by law that stresses credibility, and his life track has changed. Suppose the school is too stupid to find out, and the result is even worse for him. First of all, he will hit a wall in the job search because he can't even answer the simplest questions asked by the examiner. Soon people will find out that he is an inferior student, and the reason why his report card is inconsistent with reality will be revealed to the world. Time is playing tricks to escape, and he may not even have a chance to turn over a new leaf. I must have shivered at this time and decided to make it clear to him. I told him, son, respecting and obeying the rules is an education, a etiquette, a culture and an essential character of a modern person. Without such a character, you will not be able to survive in society. If you don't follow the rules, you lose credibility. This is something more important than life. Have you heard about the efforts of enterprises in Wenzhou and Shantou to rebuild their reputation and the difficulties they face? Compared with the long-term losses, the temporary benefits that can be obtained by not following the rules are huge and even irreversible, whether it is an individual or an enterprise. He nodded blankly.