A society deadened by a smothering network of laws while finding

Hear the stern warning of Robert Bork: “A society deadened by a smothering network of laws while finding release in moral chaos is not likely to be either happy or stable.” These words are like a trumpet sounding from the walls of a crumbling city. They remind us that neither laws without virtue nor freedom without discipline can preserve a people. When the state multiplies its rules without nurturing moral strength, it builds cages for bodies but leaves souls wandering in darkness. And when men seek liberty not in righteousness but in indulgence, they unravel the very bonds that hold a society together.

The ancients saw this danger clearly. Plato warned that a city that loses virtue will drown in laws, for when people cannot govern themselves, endless decrees are written to restrain them. Yet such decrees bring no true order, for without inner restraint, citizens will always find ways to twist, break, or evade them. Thus, as Bork declares, a smothering network of laws cannot replace moral responsibility. Laws may bind actions, but only virtue can guide the heart.

History gives us sobering examples. In the waning years of Rome, emperors and senators sought to preserve order through countless edicts and punishments. Yet beneath the weight of these laws, the Roman people indulged in corruption, decadence, and moral decay. Gladiatorial bloodshed and excess became their release, while civic duty withered. Rome did not fall because of invading barbarians alone—it fell because it was already hollow within. Its moral chaos and legal excess left it brittle, unable to endure.

In contrast, consider the story of the American Founding. The Constitution was written not as an all-encompassing cage of rules, but as a framework that assumed a virtuous citizenry. John Adams himself declared that the Constitution was made “only for a moral and religious people” and would be wholly inadequate for any other. The Founders knew that if freedom was not guided by virtue, liberty would collapse into anarchy, and anarchy into tyranny. Thus, Bork’s warning is the echo of ancient and modern wisdom alike: true freedom requires both law and morality, balanced in harmony.

The meaning is clear. If society seeks happiness and stability, it must not rely only on external chains of legislation. Nor can it abandon all restraint in the name of freedom. Happiness is not found in indulgence; stability is not found in bureaucracy. Both are born when law protects, but virtue directs; when justice is upheld, but conscience guides; when men live not only by fear of punishment, but by the strength of inner discipline.

The lesson for us, O listener, is to cultivate virtue within ourselves and demand it of our society. Do not wait for laws to force goodness upon you—practice honesty, discipline, and compassion as duties of your own soul. At the same time, resist the call to indulgence that masquerades as liberty, for freedom without restraint becomes slavery to desire. Let your life be ordered from within, and in so doing, you strengthen the fabric of the society around you.

Therefore, let Bork’s words stand as both warning and guide: “A society deadened by a smothering network of laws while finding release in moral chaos is not likely to be either happy or stable.” The stability of nations is not secured by lawmakers alone, nor is joy secured by pleasure without boundaries. True strength and lasting peace come only when virtue breathes within the hearts of the people, and law stands as its guardian, not its replacement.

And so, O children of tomorrow, remember this: a society without morality builds its own ruin, and a people that trusts only in laws lives already as prisoners. Guard virtue, live justly, and let law and morality walk hand in hand, for therein lies both the happiness and stability of mankind.