Incapp.org

Dear Friends,

It seems to me, a nation’s government can only work when all factions hold themselves to some rational set of rules. If a faction will not, and uses those rules to expand its power, that nation will soon fall. History is unambiguous on this fact. Athens under the laws of Solon was a paragon of freedom for its citizens. Hell on Earth for the slave in the silver mines though. Yet those same laws instituted by Solon to limit arbitrary rule were used by Pericles to install arbitrary rule. Laws have purpose, and when a faction perverts that purpose, they become their opposite. This has been the paradigm from then to now. A republic is stable only as long as the factions are rational. Once an irrational faction has sufficient power, they will exploit laws installed to limit power… to amass power.

A modern example of the elite perverting the law, is the establishment of atheism as the official state religion of the US. This is in direct contradiction of the clear wording of our Constitution. Progressives defend this perversion by claiming atheism is not a religion! Openly and without a hint of self-awareness they proclaim this absurdity as divine knowledge. So, like Pericles who exploited the ostracism to get rid of his opponents, modern progressives have twisted the wording of our Constitution to do the opposite of its intent. Clever, true, but it’s malevolent as well. To this very day, unethical factions exploit laws intended to restrict them, to achieve arbitrary rule. By an imbalance of enforcement, one faction is above the law while the other is below its protections.

Elite ethics are based on transparency and punishment… just as it is with every other human being. The elite, however, are in the unique position to limit what we know about them and their shenanigans based on spurious arguments like national security. So transparency is out. Moreover, when an elite is caught, they have the best lawyer and other criminal elites have an interest in protecting them. If they have political favor, they also get ad campaigns to gin up sympathy, and the benefit of the doubt. These are all things you and I don’t have access to. So without transparency or punishment there is little incentive for a faction of elites to be ethical. Indeed, history shows factions become corrupt over time. Madison, in Federalist No.10, thought pitting faction against faction would solve the problem.

Apparently Madison couldn’t imagine a faction of elites becoming so arrogant, corrupt, and bereft of morality, they would exploit the law to their own benefit. The man must have been utterly ignorant of history. For his system of pitting faction against faction to work… all factions must have ethics. Once one faction decides it’s above ethics, the law becomes a pry bar instead of a prison bar. Even as ethical factions remain behind the bars. This gives the unethical faction a huge advantage. Because the other factions are self-limiting… while the corrupt never self-limit. How much did Marius and Sulla limit their slaughter of political foes? That’s where republics end… when a faction becomes unethical, so normalizes its violence and denies legal protections to its foe.

Not once in human history, as far as I know, has there been an example of unethical people coming to power and installing anything but tyranny. The pattern is clear to discern. A faction arises that is unethical so lies, cheats, and corrupts their way to ever more power. Sometimes it’s a long march through the institutions, other times outright revolution, but the corrupt never hold themselves to law, morality, or ethics. They are above such limiting notions. Like Pericles, they exploit those laws others hold dear to crush dissent. Such people only hold their own power dear. Hsun Tzu said, “An evil man will burn down his nation to rule over the ashes.” This perfectly describes the unethical faction. They are willing to destroy cultures, societies, and nations, to rule. How very progressive of them.

Sincerely,

John Pepin