And Justice For None
The Fifth Column in the Third Branch
Wednesday’s column (March 20) may be a bit late. I’ve just started a major book editing gig and a venue design consultancy, with (naturally) short deadlines. The Teletype will return no later than next Sunday. Thank you for your forbearance.
There’s a cautionary and apocryphal tale about the Indonesian legal system that makes the rounds every few years, to wit:
At the end of a protracted and rather contentious divorce proceeding, a judge came down on the side of the wife. The husband leaped to his feet and shouted angrily, “What? But I paid you a lot of money!” The judge peered down from his bench smirking, “Yes,” he replied, indicating the wife, “but she paid me a lot more.”
Out here on the fringes of civilization, we expect the judicial system to be, well…less than judicial. In Southeast Asia, only Singapore has a system widely regarded as “advanced” and reasonably fair. It is equity based, meaning no punitive damages, and is generally free of scandal and corruption.
In contrast, the Indonesian system is mired in corruption, glacially slow, and rather arbitrary in its reading and adherence to the law. Furthermore, the laws change on a regular basis, as new ways to enrich the government are devised and codified. There’s also the issue of new laws being retroactive to the beginning of time, which makes it difficult to conduct business in any kind of stable environment. Even more disconcerting is the total lack of meaningful enforcement, unless there is some financial incentive for the enforcers. The most common refrain when the system fails is, “It’s the Indonesian way.”
It used to be that the American judicial system was highly regarded, which along with the strength and stability of the dollar, made America the envy of the world. I say that entirely without hyperbole. America was the standard by which all other legal systems were measured. It was widely believed that the judicial system ahered to the letter of the law, and truly sought truth, and in the event that it failed, there was a robust appeals mechanism that would correct the problems.
The American system was also viewed as incorruptible, with bribery and graft being deeply frowned upon. When I came to Indonesia 16 years ago, most locals were puzzled. Why would I leave such a pure and sacred place to live out in the hinterlands? My most common response was to chuckle and say, “They are only good at hiding the corruption.”
I can no longer say they are good at hiding it. The absurd case of Fani Willis in Fulton County, Georgia, has laid bare the depth and breadth of corruption within the US legal system. New York Attorney General Letita James has exposed the blatant weaponizataion and politization of the system. In the heart of the federal tyranny, AG Merrick Garland, his Department of (ahem) Justice, and their gang of mob enforcers widely known as the FBI, have shown themselves to be petty partisans all running in circles covering each other’s Blessed Assurances.
Sadly, to the outside world none of this is shocking. Out here in the hinterlands, we call it business as usual. For all its faults, the US feral gummint was the model to which the rest of the world strived. It’s become the model of clownish corruption, daft tyrants and bizarre bureaucratic high jinx.
A functioning judiciary that is above reproach is the lynchpin of a civil society and good governance. If the courts fail to enforce criminal law and civil contracts, then the State’s police powers take over and the country becomes a lawless and brutal free-for-all, with neither public servants nor the public itself safe from marauders and mayhem.
We need look no further than the current situation in Haiti, Libya, Sudan, South Africa, or Palestine, to see the future of a State whose justice system has collapsed. We also see it in the aftermath of the War of Northern Aggression in Dixie. Society devolves into competing tribes of warlords, whose diktats are de facto law, and whose enforcement is an unhinged melee.
At this point, we have in the US all the signs of a collapsing empire: devalued currency, looting of the public fisc, maurading gangs in the population enters, destructive military interventionism in global affairs, and a judicial system that sanctions and rewards corruption.
The buying power of the US dollar is falling precipitously, as reflected in the price of gold bullion denominated in dollars. The price has doubled in just four years, from USD1,586, in March 2020, to USD2,165, at this moment. Globally, nations are backing away from the dollar, known as dedollarization, in favor of alternative means of account settlement. Prices for goods and services are spiking. Most importantly, federal policy is to flood global markets with liquidity (M2 supply) to maintain asset prices in dollars, save the debt trade, and force account settlements in dollars to puff up demand for more.
The US foreign aid system has always been a money laundering scheme, with corrupt recipients cycling aid back into “foundations” to enrich compliant politicians. Recent comments from federal officials stated quite clearly that aid to the Ukraine was being cycled back to US arms producers, who in turn make large donations to campaigns. The Iraq-Afghanistan wars were similar schemes, as is the current Irlaeli-Gaza war, not to mention the billions farmed out to dozens of other countries as a matter of “foreign policy”. The current scale is off the charts, as this “aid” also funds NGOs and other organizations, which cycle funds into private pockets as rewards for support and compliance.
Antifa and BLM are just the tips of the iceberg. Looting of retailers, once only seen in the aftermath of major crises like Katrina in New Orleans, is now occurring in broad daylight with no attempt by law enforcement to halt it. The individuals are now creating syndicates to cycle looted goods into the black market, with operations that include warehouses, repackaging centers and shipping operations. As a consequence, retails are shutting down stores, and even entire operations throughout the US. What’s worse, we see public officials sanctioning and supporting these gangs as justified by some vaporous remuneration for injustice centuries ago.
The final wall to be torn down is the judicial system. Not only are activist judges supporting and encourgaing wholesale looting of the private sector, we now see this happening in the public sector. Recent decisions and cases in New York and Georgia clearly deomonstrate the collapse of public accountability and the ssnctioning of corruption at all levels of the legal system.
This is how all empires die — a long, slow fuse followed by a sudden bang. When the USSR collapsed, it was practically overnight. It followed the same trajectory of currency devaluation, break down of civil society, the rise of gangs (the oligarchs), military adventurism (Afghanistan), looting of the public fisc, and collapse of the judicial system.
Alexander Fraser Tyler is credited with predicting the current situation nearly 300 years ago:
"A democracy cannot exist as a permanent form of government. It can only exist until the voters discover that they can vote themselves largesse from the public treasury. From that moment on, the majority always votes for the candidates promising the most benefits from the public treasury with the result that a democracy always collapses over loose fiscal policy, always followed by a dictatorship. The average age of the world's greatest civilizations has been 200 years."
If that isn’t a succenct and erudite summary of the current situation in the US, then nothing is.
When faced with an inevitable and unpleasant reality, sometimes it’s best to brace for the pain and hurry the process along. Once the wound is drained, the healing can begin.
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I find it Encouraging to read people that understand Economics, and the fact that Everything Humans do is an economic transaction of some type.
The truth of the collapse is all around us as our government of greedy self-centered individuals deny, lie, and attempt to conceal their culpability.
That Empires end in Tyranny and are often replaced by even worse tyranny is well known, yet we continue to believe (irrationally) that ours will be different. NO. China nor Russia are going to take over America. The new rulers will likely be some corporatist (fascist) . As our so called 'elections' are just popularity contests, there is little thought to how some clown will promise to drain the swamp if we just give them the POWER to become a tyrant. Interesting Times. The Sheep always beg to be saved by the wolf in sheep clothing. To lazy to be in charge of their own lives. My hope is for a more peaceful split at state or county level. No reason to have large territories of Unaccountable Political hacks. Keep it small, controllable like Switzerland.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vj5ImRiTtRw&list=RDvj5ImRiTtRw&index=1
Above is the link to the Hobbit ending credits. Fantastic charcoal artwork.
As I fade away, I look at art and listen to music. Humans are magical creatures. They create goodness and evil at the same time. Amazing.
Does any other animal or plant do that on Earth?
Even my in-laws are good here and there.
The world is a mystery to me. But like the charcoal drawings in the video above, it isn't all black and white.