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| (Illustrative Only) Lady Justice knows that to fight for what is right is through truth, fostering peace, and encouraging the upholding of social contracts. She has many enemies that have benefited from wrongdoing. Symbolically her sword cuts with truth to serve society while the scales represent fairness and balance. She has a responsibility to protect all members of society. Our society is built from root symbolism and assumptions. Those who are corrupt, hate, and engage in wrongdoing use different symbolic assumptions. They serve the few at the detriment of the whole. Symbolism and Justice-MI |
The real danger comes when people with low moral conscious rise into positions of authority without accountability. When checks and balances are weak or easy to bypass, trust collapses. Too often, systems start protecting insiders instead of serving the public. Mistakes can be corrected, but years of wrongdoing should never be normalized. If it is, it means some leaders are serving personalities and interests— not the greater good. Negligence of duty.
The hypothetical, philosophical, learning thought experiment called the Story of the Clan that illustrates this. In the story, extremists target and ruin a family out of bigotry with clear financial and social incentives to engage in misconduct. A lot of people knew but that didn't stop anything. The victims were on their own. Society looses much of their contributions. That is ok to a number of decision makers who feel only people like them, accept their distorted ideologies, should be the beneficiaries of institutional outcomes.
They follow them home, spread lies, provoke conflict, seek to intimidate, violated freedom of speech, mocked other religions, picked fights, undermined their rights, look upon disdain to othere races, associated members engaged in sexual misconduct in other incidents, and even put willfully others children at risk. The dehumanization process embraced. A number of individuals suffer similar treatment by associated actors. Reports are made—by people who have been right before—yet they are ignored due to what appears to be prejudice. It is clear things should not be run this way and it is a sign of a growing trend.
In this allegory there were no backstops whatsoever. A judge, aware of the wrongdoing still enriched the in-group, side stepped constitutional rights, and gives a free pass to what one might view as cleansing behavior. When you mirror back how things might be viewed from others you will quickly find the two different standards.
In this example protecting certain groups matters more than protecting the victims. Saving face becomes more important than serving the people. If we changed the lens to a slightly different angle we might find these behaviors fundamentally a break in social contracts. It may not be whether such laws are broken but who may be breaking them on whom (We should leave the next generation something more focused on its purpose and can maximize societal engagement and support.).
Consider,
- 18 U.S.C. § 241 (Conspiracy Against Rights): This law makes it unlawful for two or more persons to conspire to injure, oppress, threaten, or intimidate any person in the free exercise or enjoyment of any right or privilege secured to him or her by the Constitution or laws of the United States.
Within the story, loyalty shifts from merit to racial or religious extremism, reflecting a risk of a broader trend in society. Polarization grows, and both sides contribute to it. Without real checks and balances, extremism seeps into institutions, leaving victims unprotected while perpetrators receive special treatment. Sometimes the abuse is so severe that those making decisions find it easier to blame the victims and move on—creating second-class citizens through dehumanization and character assassination. This is worsened when partisan actors rise to positions they do not deserve through special interests instead of ability or values.
Regardless of why these failures occur, we have an obligation to push for effective, trustworthy institutions. Strong systems benefit taxpayers, strengthen society, and rebuild confidence. It can also help our economy creating more opportunities. A new generation is growing up with deepening distrust—and given the behavior of some bad actors who use their positions to benefit friends, it’s hard to completly fault them for their concerns (Survey on Two-Tier Justice. Others showing that trust is declining broadly. We can reverse the trend by being focused. ). The Story of the Clan shows how unchecked hate and corruption work directly against the public good.
This isn’t about throwing people in jail. That is the last concern because some have learned to change and some have been found to have dark triad traits and need help to curb their urges. It’s about protecting future victims and honoring those already harmed. If we can’t do that, we may not be aligned with true north. It may be time to rethink and recalibrate some of our institutions so they better serve the people. Most individuals in these systems are good, decent, and hardworking—but when a few bad actors cause harm and no one steps in, the entire system loses credibility. If you don't like their opinion, no matter if it is helpful and fair, they go on a list. Apparently to keep them silent so we don’t need to change and act in the best interest of society.
Standing for our nation means standing for high-functioning, non-partisan institutions that respect freedoms. If they can’t do that, they cannot be trusted to lead. Vote your conscious.
*This is a learning thought experiment so take with a grain of salt. Change the elements around and come to your own conclusion.
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