Little Hawk;
I find most of your contributions here straightforward common sense with the exception of "commonly agreed-upon laws".
Laws are made by a priveleged few on our behalf and they stay on the statute book until they are removed, again, on our behalf.
We have no say whatever in their making or repealing, apart from by referendum (far more common in Ireland than in the UK) - or have I missed something?
Not that I am advocating democratic lawmaking; most people I know would happily take their cue from the scabloids and revert to the neanderthal practice of capital punishment, given the choice (evidence enough of that here) - god save us all from returning to those dark days.
Jim Carroll