[Claim] Many problems of modern society cannot be solved by laws and the legal system. [Reason] Laws cannot change what is in people's hearts or minds.

Laws are not a panacea to the illness of the society. In fact, laws are reflections of human evolution and products of human behavior. Laws are made by the legislative department to ensure the society is on the right track. It is foreseeable that without laws and the legal system, the world would be in complete chaos. However, laws cannot do it all in terms of avoiding and prohibiting bad things from happening. Because every person possesses his freedom to think distinctively and behave differently, certain individuals sometimes would choose to violate the laws. It is morality residing in every person’s heart that prohibit each one doing harm to others and the society.

It is evident that moral values and ethics play roles in controlling human behavior. It is not written in black and white that it is obligatory to help the minors when they are in needs. One would not be fined if he/she does not help guide the blinds to the nearest service stop. One would not be sued if he/she does not call the 911 when seeing a car accident occur. There is no regulation regarding passengers’ behavior, such as shouting or chasing in subway carriages. There is also no rule keeping people from intentionally blocking the driveway, while maybe some countries do. We do not do certain things because we know it would make people around us uncomfortable. We have been taught about dos and donts, so that we ourselves could help the society being harmonious. We have been learning from our parents, teachers, school mates, and even stars appearing on screen. We learn to share with and care for others. The conventional values of morality and ethics are the invisible guidelines that keep us from derailing.

Laws, meanwhile, can solve problems easily by punishing people for doing it. People with low morality get scared away from conducting felonies knowing the possible sentence for life-time in prison. Laws certainly cannot change the way people think, but laws can affect the outcome of people’s behavior. For instance, some motorcyclists would love not to wear their helmets so that they could enjoy the cool wind passing by their faces. But they will not do that because they know the laws are against such behavior for the sake of their lives. Therefore, morality and ethics are of equal importance in keeping our society being harmonious, while laws and the legal system are necessary to curb people’s wrongdoing.