The one conclusion I draw from this is that lawyers and their illegitimate offspring, politicians, have made the world far more complex, frustrating and expensive than most would like. Whether it's necessary, I don't know. Human nature and technology would seem to dictate that you can't run a modern society based on the Golden Rule alone but it sure would be nice.

"Democracy is a pathetic belief in the collective wisdom of individual ignorance." - H. L. Mencken