A Funny thing happened …

Economists and social scientists of all stripes have found how much the advancement of societies and the development of economies and technologies are dependent on rule of law.  It is currently the central component of Development Economics.  This is something unimagined when the Solow Growth model spun its tale of the importance of capital (that would be plant and equipment) later to be augmented by other models that studied things like ‘technological exogenous shocks’ or learning or methods of production or human capital.  They had forgotten that in order for all these things to exist there must be a defined rule of law supported by a functional and incorruptible government.  Perhaps this is because the dismal science of economics tries to forget its roots in philosophy and the more mundane study of political science so that it can be taken as part of the “serious” and better paying career paths given finance and accounting.

However, if you look to other social sciences such as psychology,  you find things like Maslow’s Hierarchy.  This framework packages human needs into tiers of  significance and ranks them according to importance.  Bottommost needs first so there are several basic things required for advanced human endeavor to occur.  Advanced human endeavor includes many things. But Maslow’s main thesis is that you must have food, clothing, and shelter and you must be safe from harm first before other things can occur. Even the act of needing other people comes later in the hierarchy of human needs.

Arrangements that keep people safe from harm frequently come via  human contracts.  If you look back on political arrangements from the earliest of civilizations (history and political science), you find that people will actually pay a high price for security.  They will accept forms of servitude and even slavery to ensure their safety.  An example of this comes from the middle ages and can be found in the arrangement between serf and lord.  We have evolved since then. Now we pay for this with tax dollars and if we are lucky, income, and our contracts are much more elaborate.  The motivation, however, is the same as when a group of wandering, upright early persons formed a tribe and specialized into hunting and gathering.  We remain, at heart, people who need people.

The U.S Constitution, The Magna Carta and the City Charter where you live all strike the appropriate bargains for what it is to be civilized in the 21st century.  These arrangements grant a government certain powers  while we promise to feed the government and its infrastructure with our taxes.  These elaborate bargains now come with  a means  and a manner to keep in check the civil servants that are there to serve and protect those who provide their jobs and upkeep.

Rule of Law is central to all of this.  This means a fully functioning justice system that is minimally corruptible. If you’re fortunate enough to be well read in some of the readings of the founders of the U.S. you will see the ongoing debates on how to establish, maintain, and guard well the rule of law.  These wise people knew that  keeping the functionality of the contract was at the heart of our social contract with our government and with each other.

The true founding of our country was really that day in September when this still functional contract, our U.S. Constitution, was signed.  Oh, you can send up fireworks on the fourth of July and picnic with an appreciation for the seemingly abundant  blessings of  ‘liberty’ to celebrate the conception of our nation.  Just remember, the true birth date occurred when that document was signed on September 17, 1787 for it defines our liberties and corrals those who conspire to remove them from us because they put their own self interest above the interest of their society.   Many of my direct ancestors signed the Declaration of Independence which was  indeed an act of bravery.  The two I have that signed the Constitution are the two to which I feel more indebted.  To those and the other signers and the signers of the Magna Carta before them, we owe much.  Each word and right was carefully crafted and negotiated.  That is because they define what the government owes to its peoples.  This is our sacred oath as members of a civilized unit to each other and to ourselves.  This is what we ask our soldiers to die for and for which so many of us will and do make sacrifices of various levels.

I’ve been away for a few days learning what it means to have your civil rights taken from you by people who put their own interests above this rule of law.  I was severely beaten by a felon and his wife. This happened on Independence Day.  This is not unusual nor special because there are always those who wish to circumvent rules for personal gain.  What is special about this is they were empowered to do so by a police officer. I was beaten while he was standing there.  He then called for other officers to arrest me.  He shooed off the officers that came from the 911 call I made while simultaneously huddling on the ground while being stomped by a man much larger than myself.  I’m recovering from my wounds and according to several doctors, it will take some time.

I learned a lot from a night in sheriff’s prison and from my experience with a system that denied me my civil rights repeatedly.  It has taken me the better part of a week to do what I must do to begin to reclaim what was taken from me, and through me, what was taken from each one of us.  It was a few people that  broke this contract.  But I ask you to remember, that we must be ever vigilant for those that would do that to the least among us or any of us.  They imperil all of us.

I cannot talk about it right now but I will when I am able and when the wheels of justice that were started that day in September 17, 1787 begin to roll and work like the strong machine of justice designed years ago.  I’m not certain that my g.g.g.g grandfather knew that what he signed might protect one that was specifically his own or if he meant it to protect  us, our tribe.  Remember, it is the U.S. Constitution that protects us all as a tribe.  It is not our language, our genes, our skin color, our genitalia, our objects of love, affection, marriage or sex, it is not the object(s) of worship or if we worship at all that bind us as a tribe and brands us as U.S. Citizens.  We are bound by the mutual heritage of the rule of law as given to us as our birthright or by the oath of naturalization by the U.S. Constitution.  When any one of us has these rights and laws taken from us, we all lose.  That is why we must be ever vigilant and we must see that the protection of the Constitution is forever available to all of our tribe.  And by ALL, I mean ALL.  We must know that the loss to one, is a loss to ALL.

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