Dear Friends,
It seems to me, the more hypocritical the rulers of a nation are, the more draconian their laws must be. Because, as Confucius said, we emulate our leaders. If the elite of a nation are hardworking, diligent and honest, the people will follow and become hardworking, diligent, and honest. Such a nation will obviously prosper. Leaders are accustomed to luxury, privilege and acting above the law. So most leaders become lazy, freeloading, and dishonest. The people see their leaders and follow them, becoming just as indolent, entitled and deceitful as their leaders. Such a nation quickly collapses into ruin. So leaders must have ever stricter laws to limit our tendency to emulate them. The more dishonest the leaders, the more authoritarian the laws must be. Laws to counter our natural tendencies.
All rulers want prosperity for the lands they rule. Because prosperity for the people translates into prosperity for the leaders. The way is simple, the leaders of nations are virtuous, soon the people will follow until the nation becomes prosperous. Historic examples abound… not the least of which is the founding of the United States. Had George Washington been filled with avarice and lust for power, he would have allowed himself to be crowned king, and the US would probably be a tyranny to this day. The way is clear… but clouded by egotism. Because most people in positions of power want to be as corrupt as a five day dead hog, but still have prosperous nations. So our leaders have to counter their perverse example with arbitrary law. That’s how every despotic government since the dawn of time has worked.
A clever person might ask, if authoritarianism is always the result of hypocritical rulers who destroy their economies… why was Nazi Germany so prosperous and able to take on the world? Because while Hitler was a psychopath or sociopath, deeply scarred by WWI, and became an avatar for the worst manifestations of the German people’s id… he was not a hypocrite. He was personally brave in the war, hardworking, focused, motivated and took several baths a day. Maybe he was trying to wash the blood from himself? Hitler’s example led the German people to be as brave, diligent, single minded, and crazy as bed bugs as well. That’s why Germany was able to take on the world. Because they zealously followed their insane leader into madness.
While there are plenty of conniving, hard working, and brave despots… there is a dearth of honest, hardworking, and brave leaders. Probably because leadership comes with the ability to manipulate the law to one’s own advantage. This in and of itself is extremely corrupting. I can’t say I would be above corruption should I be above the law. So what we have is a perverse incentive system. One where the elite in a nation are incentivized to be corrupt, then their corruption oozes into the people. Eventually that rot reaches the bottom of society and the nation collapses. The whole system corrupts flawlessly. Power corrupts from the top-down until it rots the fabric of society, keeping all nations poor. What’s the answer then, how do we stop the cycle of elite corruption to general poverty and tyranny?
The linchpin for the cycle is the elite. The incentive for them is to become ever more corrupt until they’re as corrupt as vulture vomit. If we can force the leaders to be virtuous, then the people will follow and be virtuous. This can only result in a prosperous, safe and powerful nation. The problem is, the elite today are utterly corrupt and will not tolerate reform. We see it when bureaucrats countermand elected officials, the courts usurp executive authority, and in Europe, where populist political parties are being banned… in the name of democracy. I think the answer is absolute transparency as the default, ruthlessly limited government, and draconian punishments for abuse of power. Then the laws on regular folks can be eased… because we’ll be following our leaders back to virtue.
Sincerely,
John Pepin
