Laws are defined as, set of rules and regulations laid down by the government of a country. Laws make the society, as well as, humans disciplined and regulated. Needless to mention, that laws are not constraints or compulsions on an individual, they are made from the societal point of view, so as to ensure the well being of all citizens of a country.
There are basically two kinds of laws that a government can enforce, of which, the first one being the rigid laws. Rigid laws, as one may ascertain, are enforced by the government forcefully, so as to achieve the targets as fast as possible. Rigidity of laws is always helpful in the short run, as they regularize a society much faster. But in the long run, rigid laws tend to deteriorate and face many problems. When rigid laws are framed, they can control the ‘then’ citizens, but the newer generation of citizens would surely oppose the rigid laws. E.g. one of the rigid laws that were enforced in Singapore in early 90’s was, to ban chewing gums. The law was enforced to make the island cleaner. The rigidity of laws did show their effect, and as one can see that, Singapore today is a well maintained, neat and clean island, and also is a hub for many tourists. But, if one gives a closer look at the rigid laws again, the people there have become annoyed, and the government there, is in a state of dilemma, because if the lawmakers make the laws more strict, it will lead to an armed rebellion by the denizens, but if the laws are made a bit flexible, then people will be free to do things which they could not do earlier, and therefore, the condition of Singapore worsen in either of the cases.
The second kind of laws that can be enforced by the government, are the flexible laws. These laws on the other hand, are helpful in the long run. Although, they are a bit difficult to enforce in the beginning, but as time passes, denizens understand the viability of laws. E.g. countries like the USA and the UK have enforced laws that are flexible and can be modified according to the prevailing situations and conditions. Thus, people do not feel constraint in doing most of the things. Additionally, in certain cases the laws have to be rigid, e.g. in case of criminal offences or corruption charges, if the laws are not rigid, the convicted person would not get required punishment for committing an offence, which would further encourage him to offend the laws.
Hence, in summary, flexible laws tend to be more successful in the long run, but a rigidity of laws in certain cases has to be enforced. Thus, an appropriate proportion between rigidity and flexibility of laws has to be maintained by the government. This not only helps the government to do its job efficiently, but even helps the citizens to lead a prosperous, yet a disciplined life.
TOEFL listening discussions: A conversation between a student and a campus patrolman