Oppressive regimes of every type are characterized by the persecution of subjects who are distinguished by birth, nobility of character, or ability, while favoritism is shown to the powerless and incompetent
Part II added 2 February
In the bad old days, so the argument runs, there was no equality of rights, and people were judged on the basis of status. All that was eliminated in the quest for law, and we now live in a country where people cannot claim privileges and advantages on the strength of their sex, gender, race, religion, or ethnicity. It is a wonderful thing to understand just how much better we are today than all those funny old people in the Dark Ages.
Ukraine will never be an independent nation–or even any kind of nation. It is nothing more than a sandbox where NATO and Russia play their games. Where a line is drawn between the two subject spheres is not a matter of right and wrong but of who is to be master.
Umberto Bossi, when he was the head of the Italian Lega Nord, scandalized the developed world when he pointed out that “la classe dirigente” welcomed waves of illegal immigrants precisely because the problems they create require the constant expansion of the state and, thus, of their own power and wealth.
Several things might strike you as strange. First, with the exception of Simon, they have Greek names. That is not uncommon in Galilee and Judaea, but one might have expected the followers of one or another religious fanatic to bear Jewish names. Secondly, none of them appears to be at all distinguished by birth, wealth or learning
Conquests and revolutions almost inevitably entail massive looting such as took place during and, especially, after the America War Between the States, and the demolition of the existing legal order provides a legal justification for despoiling the natives.
When an Old Order is overturned by conquering aliens or revolutionized by an alienated segment of the population, any legal principle or institution that affords protection to the former dominant people will have to be reconstructed, undermined, or destroyed.
Along with law, a legitimate government will preserve custom, and well nigh universal social traits of the human race, like distinctive sex roles, marriage, parenthood, etc., would only be trifled with by a tyrannical government.
I have received a number of queries about different aspects of my most recent book, and, rather than answer each one privately, it seemed a good idea to make it a public forum. I may soon transfer it to our Forum section, but I shall begin it here on the front page.
But setting aside national peculiarities, one might suggest a general rule, which is that, generally speaking, the people empowered to make decisions for a community should belong to that community and have to face the consequences of their decisions.
