What Is Crime?

Dear Friends,

It seems to me, there are two ways to view what is criminal, we can judge the action, or the person. Throughout human history the person has been more important than the action. Only in rare times and places have the actions been more important than the person doing them. In ancient Athens, the birthplace of moral philosophy, a citizen could kill a slave, and no crime had been committed. During the Renaissance, a Lord could beat a peasant yet the peasant could not raise a hand to defend himself, else he would have committed a crime. Just as today, an elite can go to a pedo island and molest children, the FBI fully aware, and no “crime” has happened. Yet in those halcyon times when all men are held to the same standard, created equal, as in the US in the Roaring 1920’s, the sky is the limit.

This extends into the personal sphere as well. We all have a friend who does and says things others couldn’t get away with. A woman will gladly accept an invitation from someone she is attracted to, while thinking the exact same invitation, from someone she is not attracted to, is illegal harassment. In the personal sphere it is annoying and occasionally dangerous, but a double standard becomes truly harmful, when it is systematically done by the established governmental power. When the law treats people differently depending on their political favor, that is when law breaks down and becomes arbitrary rule. Under arbitrary rule, only those who are above the law have a stake in society, everyone else is a slave. As we all know, a slave has no stake in the future of the plantation.

Is the action the crime or does the crime depend on who is doing the action? The most recent example of this is the FTX scandal. FTX stole billions from investors and creditors. They literally pilfered the money from their customer’s accounts, yet no one is going to jail for it. No one is even being investigated by the SEC or DOJ! [(The SEC and DOJ are “investigating” the bankruptcy… like the FBI is investigating the Hunter Biden Laptop).] If I stole one copper coated penny from a bank, the government would move heaven and Earth, spending unlimited money… to make an example of me. A clear double standard. People follow their leaders, and since ours are such scoundrels, if we do follow their lead, and become as corrupt as they are… our civilization would collapse. The elite then, rather than leading by example, use draconian punishments, arbitrary rule and total surveillance… to keep us in line.

When criminality is judged by the person doing the action, not by the action itself, then the elite must become an oligarchy. An oligarchy is the perversion of aristocracy, rule by a select group. The perversion specifically is, the rulers rule for their own selfish benefit, instead of the benefit of the whole of society. You can tell when the aristocracy becomes an oligarchy, by the way it talks to the people it is supposed to benefit. When the elite tell the people we will have to tighten our belts, some of us are innately evil, and/or openly replace the citizenry with people they would rather rule over, for example. This is only made possible when the elite are above the law. Because, if they were subject to the same law as you and I, such actions would be severely punished.

Throughout human history, the person doing the action made the difference, as today, but wouldn’t it be better to judge the action, instead of the person? Government that is held to the same, or better a higher standard than the people, is by definition… limited. The government that is above its own laws and its constitution, on the other hand, is unlimited. In an unlimited government, the elite live like kings, but in a limited government, the people live like kings. Obviously, an oligarchy chooses unlimited government, even as an aristocracy would choose limited government. Once again proving we live in an oligarchy. If we could manage to wrest the law back, and force the DOJ to hold everyone to the same standard, it would smash the oligarchy and our standard of living would skyrocket.

Sincerely,

John Pepin