Hacker News: Criticizes cab companies for using laws to keep Uber out, then criticizes cabbies for not following the letter of the law with respect to unprofitable fares.
Which is it: Do we celebrate breaking laws? Complying with them? Or do we pick and choose the laws we respect?
I think the point is that both situations are worse for the customer. The regulations which supposedly protect the customer (like cabs being required to take any fare) aren't followed, but the regulations that harm the customer (like trying to ban Uber and other competitors) are followed.
Outright, total slavery used to be the law in most countries. If and when one hastens the removal of an immoral law by celebrating its breach, and this is accomplished without trading something even more dear to you in the process, do it!
How does one decide which laws are moral and which aren't? The fundamental purpose of any proper law is to protect every individual's right to use his mind to sustain his own life. Any law or regulation that interferes with that right, no matter how desirable the intended outcome may appear to some, is morally and practically wrong.
Which is it: Do we celebrate breaking laws? Complying with them? Or do we pick and choose the laws we respect?