dehumanization

In a recente interview with the newspaper Sol the President of ASAE said that half of the restaurants and bars in Portugal might have to close, because they do not conform with the law. ASAE´s rules set the standards for the manufacture and commercialization of food and drink, based on allegedly scientific methods.

The rule of law, in this positivistic sense, is very important in countries either with no traditions or where several traditions are in conflict. New countries with large immigration populations are a case in point and it is no accident that the rule of law is such a cherished principle in the United States and Canada. Competing traditions might explain the popularity of the same principle in Britain and some northern European countries.

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It is different in countries with a long and unified tradition, such as Portugal and Spain and their offspring in Latin America. Here, the only rule that is compatible with a free and prosperous society is the rule of tradition, and the law is called upon only as long as it protects and conforms with tradition. Laws that interfere drastically with tradition - as ASAE's rules seem to interfere - are a factor of social disruption and oppression and lead to the dehumanization of society.

For, as ASAE's President has stated, the imposition of its petty rules will be pursued even at the cost of the livelihoods of thousands of small restaurant and bar owners and their families.