Some members of this house have said to themselves, we have unrestricted freedom of debate. So the fact that it's not illegal means that I'm allowed to do it. Well, only if you ignore the unenforceable rule that says you're not allowed to do this unless you really need it to make your point. If you want to do it for the sake of destroying debate, not for having a vigorous debate, we're going to prevent it. The old freedom cannot now be entrusted to members because when they possessed it, they did not respond to it by the exercise of that moral sense. They shut their eyes to the fact that the freedom was given them in trust to help forward
Civilization and the pleasantness of everyday life depend on unwritten rules. Early in the 20th century, an English mathematician and government official, Lord Moulton, described complying with these rules as "obedience to the unenforceable"--the area of personal choice that falls between illegal acts and complete freedom. Listen as economist Michael Munger talks with EconTalk's Russ Roberts about the power and challenge of the unenforceable.