Meaningless law and elite immunity (Agamben, 50-51)
The power of the law is that it is beholden onto all but what if there are those who refuse to follow it? Well they go to prison. But what if they do not? What if they are able to resist prison? This is the reality of elites. Imprisonment is rare but if confirmed is a short sentence at most.
Law means nothing if those who legislate do not uphold the law. How many elected officials legislated draconian covid laws and then didn’t follow them. Fined and imprisoned people for not following the rules but for them it was a public apology. A lapse of judgement excused. No further ramifications. A dubious attempt for accountability. This is only the most recent abuse of the law. Politicians rarely follow the rules nor ever follow the rules they endorse. It is purely an area of the people. Yet this places the law in hot water theoretically. The law still matters because there is enforcement. The enforcement comes from people officers. People entrusted to enforce the law. tIf police officers look the other way for politicians then politicians can never be tried. If the judicial system never convicts them they can never be held accountable. There is a systemic problem in the states but it is one of the politically elected aristocracy. With a few connections here and there, one can avoid any jail time. Things can be covered up and no legal consequences will ever stick.
It is for this reason the law remains in practice. Like its medieval counterpart, certain laws applied to different groups. Yet those laws were on the books. Everybody knew the law for each. Everybody knew the law was asymmetric and unequal. Yet today it is supposed to be symmetrical and equal. There is no law that frees an elected official from a crime and yet it happens far too often. While liberals scream for Trump, they ought to also scream for Biden, Obama, Pelosi and others. People who subverted the law for their own gain. There are documented examples and not even a case has been brought. Hearings of some sort have been managed quite inefficiently and no one ever received a slap on the wrist. Supreme Court justices have documented biases, bribes and paid vacations and yet nothing has been said of removing them. The people have accepted it. They know the system is corrupt but yet still fight their opponents rather than fighting the true enemy. This is not democracy but an elusive liar. A deceptive demon hiding the truth in plain sight. It can’t be that obvious, no it actually can. It actually can be that awful. Open your eyes stop being in denial and do something about it.
The law matters insofar as it is enforced by authorities. If authorities chosen to defend the people only defend those in power there is a greater problem in the democratic system. A NBC CEO decried guns but this CEO has an armed group protecting him. He can hire protection but the citizenry can’t protect themselves. Rules for thee not for me is a slogan but only is relevant when the judicial system follows the slogan. When the judicial system insists it can only prosecute the people. When it differentiates between classes and colour. Such a system is demoralising. The answer to this is not revolution but accountability. The answer is not for a new type of people to enter the governmental status. Crimes have been committed by all types from women to blacks to gays. It is not a matter of colour that determines political grace but character. MLK Jr.’s statement rings true. Power corrupts but unfettered power always corrupts. Checks and balances from other elected officials makes the system ever more problematic. Just as a jury of peers decides the defendant’s fate so too the jury of peers ought to decide the incrimination of elected officials. Journalists of the people for the people expose lies and the people take the elected to task.
The current state of affairs defends the elites. Whoever can gain the most protection. It is a bubble of elitist beliefs. The rule of law is something to be played with. Most legislations have little to do with the actual merit and impose ridiculous personal desires. It is a spectacle. The bill says for the commoner’s aspiration but within the text it is a bunch of baloney. Their goal is to stay in power. They take so much vacation and do very little. It is a facade attempting to parlay as an actual job. They have immense power and wield it like a tyrant. Their only hope is to help enough that when election time rolls around the people revote them in. It is a game of power and malicious authority. If they are to be entrusted with the security of the country they should be held responsible for all their actions but they are not. They rarely are exposed and when they are it is rushed under the rug. Some of this is on the people who ignore the ramifications in the intense culture war. Bad politicians are bad no matter which side. Yet until politicians are scrutinised collectively nothing will change. The people will continue to live in a two-tiered system.
Law is meaningless if only one side follows it. A basketball game where one side continues travelling is not basketball. Yet if the referee only penalises one side then the rules do matter only to that team. The rules do matter to the referee but to only a single side. In Remember the Titans, the Titans are continuously penalised while their opponents are not. The referee’s bias expels one side while allowing the other to continue doing so. The other team can exploit the referee’s bias. Until the assistant coach blackmails the referee, there is not much they can do. They can quit the game but then they lose. In order to win a rigged game, the referee needs to be threatened. He needs to remove his bias. Yet such a threat doesn’t work with police officers. The judicial system doesn’t have the incentive lest they are exposed and imprisoned. If the people could leverage the system then more accountability would take place. For now it is an uneven game of red light green light. The elites break the rules but they are given more chances and their breech ignored. The subjective consequence gives the people no leeway.
The law is important but if all follow it. The power of the ancient prophet was to challenge the leadership. To ensure the monarchy was in line. The prophet was the pure divine agent sent to expel the sinful king. A curse would be brought if he didn’t change his ways. The story of Naboth best illustrates the leverage. King Ahab illegally took Naboth’s vineyard. Doing so, his life was fated to be killed thereafter. He was cursed for abusing his authority to hurt the people. Pharaoh was also tortured for harming the Israelites. The bible specifically points to his genocidal actions and backbreaking efforts. More than just slavery was the attitude and execution of it. Ahab was an idolator but he is reproached most for this. His devilish action to another Jew. The law is necessary but abusing for one’s own rights is a horrid event. Elijah holds Ahab accountable and his demise soon comes with his dynasty wiped out. There are no prophets today. Most so-called prophets are false ones. They protect the elitist system. When push came to shove during corona they defended the draconian efforts. They placed the illegal needs of the elite ignoring their wrongful efforts before the people they swore to protect.
The people are entrenched in a system with no assistance. No matter who they elect will be irresponsible. There is little that can be done. It may be why people saw much in Trump. He was the anti-establishment. He went abasing conventional ways and went after the establishment. The entire Russiagate scandal was an effort of the establishment to deflect their own issues that Trump was ready to expose. The people believed the media who continued to propagate the fabrication. Trump has his own problems but the elite circle do not like him. He is not part of the establishment. He is not a member of the elite anymore. Though he is afforded some niceties nonetheless. It is not about money but status. The Romanian government can arrest Andrew Tate despite his hundreds of millions. The US government can try to imprison Assange for leaking their atrocities. Yet the US is not prosecuting anyone for their role nor is the Pentagon being investigated for its failure to complete an audit. It really depends on where you stand in the circle. How much protection is afforded. This isn’t a cabal but an interconnected atmosphere that protects its own. A sense of authority that brews looking the other way. Authority that breeds irresponsibility.
The law is effectively meaningless in the sense that it does not apply to everyone. Democracy is a farce. Only some are actually beholden to the law. Some more than others. The judicial system continues to operate but in a biased manner. Only certain groups are prosecuted while others remain free. There is a system for aristocrats and a system for commoners. For the establishment and for the people. The law is meaningless when unequal but is still practical. Without authenticity but with veracity. As long as there is law enforcement and law enforcement does its job. As long as the judicial system incriminates and judges the law even if only directed to one side of the aisle.
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