▲ | torginus 4 days ago | ||||||||||||||||||||||
What people don't get is the defining feature of the West (or more correctly advanced societies) isn't democracy, it's rule of law. - It's why you don't have to fear getting put on a show trial if you piss off the wrong people or they just want your stuff - It's why the rich (and not so rich) are safe storing their wealth there, knowing the bank won't collapse tomorrow, or they won't confiscate their wealth on a whim. - It's why you know the water's safe to drink and the food's safe to eat - It's why you can produce steel good enough so that your buildings don't collapse, and others will buy your cars know they won't fall apart, due to being relying on a shady subcontractor. - It's why people are willing to pay taxes, knowing they get functioning public services. Places like China are finding out why you need these things, and are building these systems so their society can succeed. Democracy's just an (Western) artifact of enforcing and maintaining rule of law. | |||||||||||||||||||||||
▲ | AnthonyMouse 4 days ago | parent | next [-] | ||||||||||||||||||||||
> What people don't get is the defining feature of the West (or more correctly advanced societies) isn't democracy, it's rule of law. The trouble with this is that it isn't compatible with prosecutorial discretion. It requires that if someone is breaking the law, they get prosecuted for it. Otherwise unenforced laws accumulate until everyone is breaking a hundred laws at any given time and then only the disfavored get prosecuted. But if you want laws to be consistently enforced then they need to be few and simple enough for people to understand and comply with them, and that was historically the magic formula, which we've increasingly abandoned, much to our detriment. | |||||||||||||||||||||||
▲ | shazbotter 4 days ago | parent | prev | next [-] | ||||||||||||||||||||||
> It's why you don't have to fear getting put on a show trial if you piss off the wrong people or they just want your stuff Civil asset forfeiture suggests that's very much a thing to fear. > It's why you know the water's safe to drink Tell this to the people of Flint, Michigan. Or the many communities near fracking sites. | |||||||||||||||||||||||
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▲ | busterarm 4 days ago | parent | prev | next [-] | ||||||||||||||||||||||
> It's why you don't have to fear getting put on a show trial if you piss off the wrong people or they just want your stuff https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_Scott_(criminal) > It's why the rich (and not so rich) are safe storing their wealth there, knowing the bank won't collapse tomorrow, or they won't confiscate their wealth on a whim. https://troymedia.com/lifestyle/your-money/debanking-is-otta... https://www.theglobeandmail.com/investing/personal-finance/a... > It's why you know the water's safe to drink and the food's safe to eat https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flint,_Michigan > It's why you can produce steel good enough so that your buildings don't collapse, and others will buy your cars know they won't fall apart, due to being relying on a shady subcontractor. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_steel_pro... > It's why people are willing to pay taxes, knowing they get functioning public services. https://www.cnbc.com/2024/02/22/tax-evasion-by-wealthiest-am... I mean, I get that it could be worse, but... | |||||||||||||||||||||||
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▲ | inglor_cz 4 days ago | parent | prev [-] | ||||||||||||||||||||||
This is a bit complicated. Law can absolutely be used to persecute people. For example, there once was so-called Bill of Attainder, which basically meant that a certain person was labeled as an outlaw, traitor, and handled as such. It was an actual law, voted on by the Parliament, but even though usage of Bills of Attainder was perfectly consistent with rule of law, it was not that different from a classical Stalinist show trial in effect. This is also why Bills of Attainder are banned by the US Constitution. | |||||||||||||||||||||||
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