Should laws be respected?

I'm not going to go in order in answering these 7 questions for people who are new to the discipline of philosophy, because that would just be too structured even for me.

The first one that I've felt like tackling is: Should laws be respected? For whatever reason, this question popped into my mind as I was lying in bed last night waiting to fall asleep. My answer is yes. But not because it's the right thing to do or because society demands it, although those are pretty persuasive reasons too.

Laws are the only way we can achieve the peace and quiet we need to pursue the things that make us happy, like - depending on the person - power or material things or self-improvement or a loving relationship. If there were no laws, we'd just be fighting all the time (as is the case, unfortunately, in parts of the world). Imagine living in a state of chaos and attempting to do "normal" things like get an education, take your kid to the zoo for the first time, stroll down the street looking for a restaurant with just the right menu to tempt you inside.

Without a set of rules that we collectively agree to follow, we'd be crashing into each other's cars at intersections, getting our purses snatched or snatching other people's purses, living in hostile racial and social factions. We'd be fearful all the time. Our minds would be consumed by the desire for survival, and there would be no room for the pursuit of happiness.

On a relevant note, here was the Oct. 8 NYT Quotation of the Day:

''I can't go outside, I can't go to college. If I'm killed, it doesn't even matter because I'm dead right now.''

NOOR, a 19-year-old Baghdad resident.