Life in society requires rules of coexistence and that they are obeyed. If this social agreement does not exist, we fall into the law of the jungles and save yourself if you can.

It was the acceptance of some basic norms of behavior that allowed humans from different clans to live with a certain harmony in the first cities.

The synergy of life in larger groups has generated the great progress of humanity over the centuries. This synergy, thousands of years later, was identified by Adam Smith as the division of labor that allows professional specialization and great advances in productivity. This progress is thus dependent on respect for norms of behavior that are reflected in the set of laws of a society.

Respect for these rules of coexistence is a public good that has a dangerous characteristic. If everyone obeys the laws, an individual who does not comply with them can, individually and in the short term, gain advantages to the detriment of the entire community. It is to be expected that the other members of this society, seeing such behavior, will start to act in the same way, eliminating the initial advantage of the first offender, generating a vicious circle of disrespect for the laws that ends up harming all society. As we have shown, society needs laws that are respected in order to develop and live civilly.

It is the duty of the State to draft these laws and ensure that they are complied with. If he fails in this obligation, someone will occupy this space. Unfortunately, this has already been happening in some places in Brazil where crime has assumed the role of the State in this social mediation.

This dangerous anomaly cannot thrive. Once again, society needs to organize to fight for the rule of law, respecting legal rules.

For this purpose, it is necessary to encourage spontaneous adherence to these rules of coexistence, to this ethical behavior. The greater the share of the population that voluntarily adheres to this ethical pattern of behavior, the less resources will need to be spent to compel people to respect the laws or to defend society from the harmful acts of those who do not respect these rules.

The Brazilian Institute of Competition Ethics wants to participate in this battle and calls on everyone to come together around this ideal.