Deterioration of Justice
Charles Jordan
January 29, 2020
It is more and more obvious that our justice system is distorted. Enforcement of laws seems to be optional depending on the opinions of politicians and bureaucrats. Establishment of a law seems to rely on the policy preferences of single judges rather than the vote of Congress or the executive departments pronouncements. Executive orders take away the initiative of Congress due to that large group’s reluctance to do anything but fight the executive orders. Getting re-elected (staying elite) is a complicated thing. Reactionary government is bad. And it leads finally to reactionary leaders. To the have-nots outside of government, anything which will break down the delay and getting things done is a good thing. They need change, the elites do not. The elites lead their case with promises to help the have-nots since they represent a lot of votes, but find many reasons why the promises can not be kept.
The choice of Donald Trump as president is a case in point. He scorns the ineffective Congress as did Pres. Obama before him. President Obama was surrounded by the liberal elite who were doing quite well thank you. So he was inactive, not wanting to rock the boat. Whether Trump is visionary or just reactionary isn't clear, but he makes many people happy that something is happening in an over-the-hill country where anything goes.
Education for many an average student is a bust due to lack of motivation. “If I can’t handle the math, I’ll just stay home and mooch off my parents.” The older elites in power are satisfied with just having power and enjoying it. Of course power requires being in control of the government, not solving the problems of the have-nots. Control requires ideological judges, friendly justice bureaucrats (FBI, CIA, DOJ), a media committed to political correctness, and a disdain for traditional verities.
Trump, with his unsocial outlook, partially due to his personal wealth, avoids fitting into a politically correct slot in the elites. Just by disturbing the status quo of the elites, he invigorates the have-nots and threatens the control of the elites.
Mind you, the word elites doesn't mean highly educated creative thinkers. It means "big guy on campus" manipulators like Bill Clinton, but with money. They drive the analysis with fear and smear. Cool headed thinking followed by constructive design and implementation is not their job.
How have the various problems that our black brethren face been addressed by our late black/white President Obama. His presidency was mostly a celebration of getting elected, of entering the elite. Pres. Trump trumpets the increase in black salaries, but he says it all wrong.
As many people have said, what we need is a redefinition of what standard-of-living means. Does the Dow Jones average define prosperity? Not if the structure drives more and more money into elite pockets. Is anyone “worth” $1 billion? I don't think so. On the other hand we are also not equal to each other. We can be equal before the law, but some will be found guilty and some innocent. The new fixes we need to reverse some of these negative trends we face needs to be defined by laws that enable rather than disable our citizens.
Capitalism isn't perfect, but productive. Socialism is idealistic, but nonproductive. We live right now in a combination of capitalism and socialism. We just need to find a new mix to reverse the slide of assets from the middle class to the elites. I see the very poor as a separate case with more problems to solve requiring special solutions to remove the stress which incapacitates them.
That would require a new classification of citizenry which most would find unacceptable. However, from the Greeks on, democracy never included the debilitated poor in their decisions. In any case, serious problems require serious changes and even though things seem prosperous on Wall Street, there are serious structural problems clouding up the future of our unusual nation. A $1 trillion budget deficit is a problem. Can our first trillion dollar CEO solve it?
