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Comment by mikeash | Hacker News Reader

Let's say you're in a really big hurry for something, and you park illegally knowing that it's illegal and accepting the chance that you'll get a ticket. When you do in fact get a ticket, you pay it willingly.

Is that morally wrong, in your eyes?

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Sure, let's say that. Let's say I have, for all practical purposes, infinite money. And every single day I park outside your house, in a way that it blocks your parking garage. And I do that illegally, knowing it's illegal, and accepting the chance that I'll get fined, knowing that any fine has absolutely no consequence.

Is that morally wrong, in your eyes?

Uber has been consistently breaking the law (or parking into society's collective parking space, if the metaphor is lost). And your response is that they are wealthy enough right now to do it, so no big deal.

The act of breaking parking law wouldn't be wrong. The act of harassing me would be. I believe the state would agree with me on that, and would escalate beyond simple fines before too long.

In any situation where illegal parking blocks an exit, it is possible to get the car towed. My experience is that the police become very prompt about repeat tow requests. I realize I'm quibbling about the analogy, but there is a big difference between blocking a garage and sitting in a curbspace for too long, and these large companies are only doing the latter.

In general, I expect that most people would find actions that are (in their eyes) most directly tied to inconveniencing others, putting them at risk, etc. are different. I suppose all laws are theoretically about reducing actions that are viewed as harmful to individuals or society as a whole. But clearly some have a more direct linkage to others.

I doubt many people would think feeding a parking meter (which is not allowed in a lot of places) is "wrong" in any material way even though you can get fined for it. Taking a handicapped space, blocking a bus stop, or parking in front of a fire hydrant, on the other hand, would be widely considered as icky behaviors totally irrespective of any difference in fines.

What if parking outside your garage is "not personal, just business"? Because the person has a need to park there?

Pay a fee to the victim?

Are we talking about parking in a spot and not feeding the meter? Or parking in the bus zone, forcing riders to wade out into traffic to board?

Does it matter when it comes to the morality of breaking the law? You might consider the latter action to be morally wrong, but it seems like it would be because of its impact on others, not because it's breaking the law.

There is no inherent morality, positive or negative, in obeying the law; the law is not meant as a moral authority, but a social one. To be consistent in your logic, you would have to argue that helping slaves escape their condition in 1800s America would be morally wrong, as it would be breaking the law.

I think you might have me backwards. I'm arguing that there is no inherent immorality to breaking the law, and that deliberately breaking a law and paying the resulting fines is a reasonable thing to do.

I think choosing to disregard the law also means choosing to disregard why the law exists. Not so easily disentangled.

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