In the year 552 BC in the province of Persis in modern day Iran, a local sheepherder started a revolt against his ruler, King Astyages of the Median Empire.
The sheepherder’s name was Cyrus, though he would become known to history as Cyrus the Great.
Cyrus led the rebellion against Astyages for three years, winning the decisive battle in 549 BC; and with Astyages defeated, Cyrus went on to found his own kingdom that would quickly become one of the largest empires in the history of the world.
Cyrus’s new Persian Empire became vast and powerful. And Cyrus himself was revered by his subjects who believed he had been ordained by the god Ahura Mazda to rule over them.
But despite Cyrus’s autocratic power, the Persian Empire still had a very strong ‘rule of law’.
Whatever Cyrus decreed became supreme law of the land. Yet his rules were straightforward, fair, and stable.
He was not whimsical or petty. He did not change the rules at a moment’s notice, and he was very respectful of people’s individual freedoms.
Corruption was a capital offense. Any of Cyrus’s government officials who were found accepting bribes were put to death.
Lying also became a capital offense, which compelled politicians and bureaucrats to always tell the truth.
The court system was also highly revered; the king established the law, but judges settled disputes to ensure fairness across the board.
Anyone who refused to accept the decision of a judge was put to death.
And dishonest judges were flayed alive, with their skin used to upholster courtroom furniture as a warning to the next judge who filled the bench.
His punishments may have been harsh. But Cyrus’s goal was to establish a strong rule of law where everyone could have trust and confidence in the system, and everyone had to follow the rules.
Rule of Law is incredible important; throughout history, societies with a strong rule of law flourished.
When laws are fair, predictable, and evenly applied, businesses can plan and prosper. People can confidently invest in the future. Economies grow and everyone wins.
Where the Rule of Law is weak and corrupt, the opposite happens. Businesses can’t plan anything because the rules are constantly changing. No one wants to invest because they feel like everything is going to be taken from them.
This is the sort of thing we’re seeing now in the Land of the Free.
Several weeks ago when Hunter Biden’s dad issued his royal OSHA decree, it was almost immediately met with a number of lawsuits.
Now, even beyond the obvious Constitutional and human rights issues, the nationwide mandate is extremely anti-democratic.
In a well-functioning representative democracy, there should have been a national conversation about a mandate. It should have been an election issue and essentially appear on the ballot. Voters should have had their say.
Yet that never happened. There was no national conversation. And any hint of discussion was shut down by the media and big tech companies. Any opposition was censored.
This is seriously supposed to be the world’s most advanced democracy?
Well it certainly took a while. But a US federal appeals court finally ruled a few days ago to temporarily block this nationwide mandate.
In a society where the Rule of Law is strong, the court order would be respected by all, including the federal government.
But that’s no longer the world we live in.
In fact, despite the clear and obvious judicial ruling which cites “grave statutory and constitutional issues”, the administration is still telling business to proceed with the mandate.
They’re flat out ignoring the court ruling. It’s extraordinary.
Sadly this is not an isolated event.
Recently a number of federal authorities raided the homes of journalists for supposedly being implicated in the ‘theft’ of the Ashley Biden’s diary.
If someone wants to report the theft of their personal property, this would ordinarily be a matter handled by the local police.
Only in a country without any rule of law would something so trivial involve federal authorities and the Justice Department.
This is political persecution, plain and simple.
The list goes on and on. Several weeks ago, for example, the head of the CDC simply invented special authority for herself to take control of the entire $10+ trillion US national housing market.
This is all the stuff of banana republics. And it’s amazing how the people in charge cannot understand why no one trusts the system.
The bottom line here is that a weak rule of law is just another indicator of serious rot. History is very clear on this point. And when you see that even the government refuses to respect its own system, it’s really time to get your Plan B in order.
