You can’t have community standards, without government laws.
America used to have very rigid, very strict, community standards.
Sure you can. And community standards used to be higher before government stepped in. Remember when schools could actually punish kids? Like sitting them in corners or the hall? Not anymore. Government says it hurts their little feelings.
Remember when parents actually had authority? Kids now only have to call the state if Mom and Dad make them mad and it's off to jail for disciplining the kiddies. The accusation doesn't even have to be true. Government has taken away parental authority and replaced it with THEIR "authority". And you want to give them MORE?!
Not as strict as it is today. Everything's illegal these days, outside of abortion and gay stuff.
Back in my dad's day, if he got caught partying late at night and was picked up by the cops, he would get sent back to grandma who would lay down the law in house. As long as there isn't abuse (by which I refer to beatings), that's how it should be. Dad's now in his 60's and is one of the most stand up folks you'd ever meet.
I'm in my 30's. In my youth, it depended on the cop what would happen. If my young cousins or in some cases, my cousin's kid gets picked up, law enforcement's is going to ruin their lives with convictions, fines, possible jailtime, and records that affect employment and their future. All for what, getting drunk before 21? Smoking a joint? Even the major stuff. What do addicts need? Jail or treatment?
We have more laws than ever, but our community standards are fading.
Where a community HAS standards, there would be no need for such a law. Store owners wouldn’t stock it, children wouldn’t want it, and parents wouldn’t allow its purchase.
America’s very rigid and strict community standards were enforced through community shame - not law.
Law cannot make one moral. If a Saudi Arabian doesn’t drink in Saudi Arabia it is because there is no alcohol available. If the same guy doesn’t drink in America it is because he is obeying his religious restriction on drinking.