"...if your only reason for supporting a law is the Constitution, or because Congress said so, you are officially stupid."

Opinion Vs. Stupidity | Scott Adams Blog: "During an American election cycle you will see a lot of “opinions” that looks like this: “The Constitution clearly gives us the right to do X. Therefore, that’s the way it should be.” That sounds like an opinion, right?  But it really isn’t.  Here’s why. The Founders wisely made it hard to change the Constitution, but they did give us the tools to do it. And we have changed it in the past, e.g. slavery. So it is stupid to hold the opinion that we should do what the Constitution says, no matter what, when the authors of the document had no such intention. And common sense tells us that society ALWAYS changes over time. The Founders knew situations change (they were revolutionaries after all) and sometimes people get better ideas...

 We have a similar situation with laws passed by Congress. Look at the debate about illegal immigrants. You hear a lot of people arguing that the law-breakers must be deported because they broke a law, and we are a land of laws. On a conceptual level, a nation must have laws in order to function. But again, the Constitution explains in great detail how to change laws. They change all the time. Change is the normal condition. If you think illegal aliens need to leave because it is the law, that’s not an opinion. That’s stupidity, because we can change the laws any way we want. All that matters is what we want, and what makes sense, not what has already been written down somewhere. Let’s make wise decisions first, then force the laws to agree with us.  Americans aren’t rule-followers. It isn’t in our DNA. We are revolutionaries. We are entrepreneurs. Often we are total assholes. But I sure hope we never become a nation of obedient rule-followers. The only laws I plan to respect, now or ever, are the ones that make sense to me and are a net positive for humans. That feels American to me. You won’t see me obeying any laws because someone I have never met decided it would be a good idea.  I literally feel offended when anyone suggests that my life should be guided by the wisdom and fairness of dead slave owners...

The nature of capitalism is that innovation often requires breaking some sort of law or social convention. A few years ago I blogged that a company like Uber was not possible because taxis had legal monopolies. Then Uber decided to ignore all of those laws, or change them. And in so doing they are on track to be the largest company in the world. I identify with Uber, not dead patriots that pooped in holes and raped slaves hundreds of years ago. I’m sure the Founders were awesome when viewed in the context of their day, but maybe we need to update our heroes every few centuries to avoid this kind of awkwardness...

As a citizen of the United States, if your only reason for supporting a law is the Constitution, or because Congress said so, you are officially stupid. But if you obey laws that make sense, and violate the ones that don’t, you are as American as the Founders of the country and our illegal immigrants. Here’s a little thought experiment for you. I will describe two groups of people and you can decide which ones to deport: 1. Hard-working people who took huge risks to live in America so their children could have better lives. 2. People who believe all rules should be obeyed, even if the rules are senseless and inhumane. I’d like to deport that second group, just to improve the average."