[Blikkentrekker]

Only so long as it be mandatory to obey.

Rust was specifically designed so that one can ignore all the restrictions if one be confined and tell the compiler “I know better, and I know it is safe.”.

Of course, if one be wrong in such confidence, u.b. lurks around the corner.

I suppose one big problem with Rust is that it's less specified than in C what is and isn't safe, so it's harder to be so confident.