RE: "For The People" (poem) >>> The Law, For It Whom?

[cypher01]

You are quite right. I also wonder and ponder,
The law is for who?
Especially in my own country, where the poor are suppressed, the rich are forgiven, the poor takes the blame, the rich takes the victory. And what's more, it has become the norm for the smaller people to suffer.
This really helps in changing my own sense of thinking.

Comments

[quillfire]

@cypher01,

As mentioned earlier, I'm writing this from the perspective of the United States.

Nigeria, is a bit different circumstance, isn't it? In my reply to @gjoeohere (above somewhere) I talked about how corruption is ruining Africa, a continent that would otherwise be incredibly wealthy. It's hard to know what to say. So much has been tried and yet the same problems persist.

Nation-building is hard, and much easier said than done.

Let me quote what I quote above:

In terms of resources, Africa is an extraordinarily rich continent and its people ought to be among the wealthiest on Earth. But, it is riddled with corruption and poor governance. The result is a cycle of creation and destruction that never ends. There are many reasons for this, not least of which is the remnants of colonialism. But such explanation has been being used as an excuse for too long. Almost all of Africa's current problems are self-inflicted.

From my observations, Africa is besought by tribalism (either ethnic, religious or both). Groups of people within a country are subject to unearned patronage, or precluded from it, based upon their membership in a preferred In-Group. This creates severe dysfunction (and unending war). A meritocracy must be established. A effective system of political checks-and-balances simply does not exist. This limitation of power was the genius of the American Constitution. Central to the beliefs of the Founding Fathers was the idea that Power Corrupts, and Absolute Power Corrupts Absolutely. And so, they were paranoid about building-in safeguards to ensure accountability. This was an idea they copied from the Romans who, alas, ultimately did not adhere to their own Laws.

I also asked @gjoeohere whether he had any ideas on how these problems might be fixed. I'll ask the same of you.