Dear Friends,
It seems to me, once a government has become extractive, political favor becomes more important than law. If that is true… this is a way we can judge if a government has become extractive. Simply look at the courts rulings, if they follow the law and not political favor, the government is not extractive. If, however, political favor triumphs every time, then you can conclude extraction is the goal of your government. The reason this works is because corruption flows downhill… not uphill. A corrupt underling is punished by a virtuous manager. Even as a corrupt manager is seldom punished by their employees. So, for there to be systemic corruption in an organization it must come from the top. Therefore, for a court system to become corrupt, a step down from the top, the top must be corrupt.
Extraction has its benefits. Extraction is when a government sets itself to extracting all the wealth of a nation to redistribute it to the politically favored. Obviously, the politically disfavored are those who are extracted from. In such nations the rate of extraction always eventually exceeds the economy’s production. Then the standard of living is ground down as the wealth is removed from the people and given to the elites. This creates an economic death spiral that typically ends in collapse due to external shock. This has been the paradigm since the Bronze Age collapse. Had the Sea Peoples attacked the Bronze Age empires at their peak they would have been easily dealt with. They attacked after decades of extraction, however, so attacked a self-weakened foe. Self-destruction is one of the costs.
The self-weakening of extraction benefits the politically favored, and so it must become the norm. Those that write the laws needn’t be overtly corrupt, but merely self-interested. If a law, rule, or regulation could be neutral or slightly beneficial to the interests of those writing it… what side do you think most people will fall on? Human nature is human nature, to think it doesn’t matter is stupid. That is the case no matter who is in charge… you and I included. That’s why extraction always eventually becomes the norm. Since those who write the laws are a step above the courts, once they become corrupted by their own human nature, the courts can’t help but follow. They are indeed obligated to rule on the law in the spirit it was written… to extract.
The courts then become part of the extraction machine. Not because they are overtly evil, but because in an ivory tower there is ever an echo and it’s often deafening. The elite live in siloed-off ivory towers. They have much more in common with each other than with the filthy masses they rule over. Familiarity doesn’t breed contempt, but congeniality. You and I are friendly to those we see every day. Moreover, if all we ever hear is how we are smarter, wiser, and better than those we rule over, how can we but accept it? So those who travel in our circles are favored by us, while those who travel in other circles not so much. Judges are the same way. They are people too. So they follow the crowd and rule to benefit their friends at the cost to their enemies. The term “railroaded” came from this tendency.
Bastiat, in his book The Law, explained extraction as legal plunder. Money is taken from some and given to others. This is called just. I have to ask you though, does the government take money based on justice, or political favor. Moreover, does it redistribute that money by justice or by political favor? The Klu Klux Clan for example, has negative political favor, and it gets very little in the way of government funding. (Other than what the SPLC gives it). The globalist NGO’s have a great deal of political favor, and they get billions. In ancient Rome just before the collapse, one could buy one’s way out of any criminal charge. This is highly suggestive that you can look at your courts rulings to judge if your government has become extractive.
Sincerely,
John Pepin
