Dear Friends,
It seems to me, the biggest casualties of the Russian collusion hoax, are the reputations of the FBI and DOJ. Law enforcement must have as a baseline, the trust of the public, else it becomes something different. If law enforcement does not have the trust of the people, it has become a tool of despotism, at least in the eyes of the citizenry. When law enforcement is seen as the tool of despots, law is only followed because of the implied punishment, not out of a sense of duty. Where law is followed out of fear, rather than duty, it is ignored whenever punishment is not likely… which is the path to chaos. From this, we see that the result of the corruption of the DOJ and FBI, has done far more harm to our nation than it would at first appear. In truth, we cannot really know the depth of the damage.
Institutions are what the people believe them to be. Because, “What makes a king a king? Public opinion.” Take the memory from everyone but the king one night… and voila, the next morning he is no longer king, but an insane person who believes himself king. This is because there is nothing in him intrinsically that makes him a king, only the public’s opinion. This is true of everything about politics and government. The IRS used to be an agency to operate the tax system to fund the government, but Obama made it something else. Now it is a tool to harm people who are not aligned with the progressive faction… as the FBI and DOJ have become. So you see, the fight is not just to restore the integrity of the FBI and DOJ, (a near impossible task)… it is also to restore public opinion.
While public opinion is often fickle, it can be insightful, and once the hoi polloi are betrayed… and know it, we are loath to trust again. In the case of the FBI and DOJ, we are forced by the government’s monopoly on violence, to obey, but not believe. This has a very negative effect on our willingness to follow the law. Doing it, increasingly, out of respect for the government’s monopoly on violence, rather than a sense of duty. As time goes on our very belief in justice itself is eroded. Once the common sentiment is, every man is at war with every man… prosperity will cease and famine will reign. No society is immune. A look across the planet and history shows this to be truth. Those countries that are corrupt, with corrupt police forces, have an underclass… and a gargantuan GINI score.
Machiavelli said, “A corrupt society can never be free.” and Confucius said that people follow their leaders, if the leaders are corrupt, the people will be corrupt, and if the leaders are virtuous, the people will be virtuous. Which is a formula for a societal feedback loop. Corrupt rulers will lead the people to corruption, creating a need for more draconian regulations, to reign in such corrupt people. Those regulations and laws will be seen as only a way for the despot to get richer, and so are ignored whenever possible, leading to more corrupt people… Because in the end, why follow laws that are only there to keep you down? That would be self defeating. Carneades the Skeptic said, Mankind imposed upon himself a set of laws and customs as an expedient… (then argued the opposite the next day).
Police can enforce just laws for the benefit of the whole of society, or it can be the strong arm of a tyrant or oligarchy, but it cannot do both. Moreover, once it changes from enforcing just laws for the benefit of society, to becoming a tool of oppression, few ever change back. The history on this is very disappointing. Perhaps the FBI and DOJ, not to mention the IRS and other agencies who’s fundamental role was changed, can stand in the face of historical precedent, returning to enforcing just laws for the benefit of society? The strong likelihood is they will not, since Pandora’s box is opened, they will become the oppressive tool of whatever faction is in power… and is willing to use it. This doesn’t bode well for the US, or the world. Maybe it’s about time we fully explore the Numa idea?
Sincerely,
John Pepin
