Transparency 55: Updating Thycidids; New paradigms
Ucidides (Alimos -460, Athens -395) wrote in his work History of the War of the Peloponnese Book III 81_83, the following:
"Because in different cities the leaders of the parties, appealing on both sides to the seduction of programs according to their preference for equal political rights for the people or by a moderate aristocracy, under the pretext of serving the public interests, they won a reward for themselves, and fighting with all means to impose themselves on their opponents, they dared to the most terrible actions and they went much further in the execution of their revenges, since they did not inflict them according to the Justice, or with the interest of the city, but according to the limits set in each case by the complacency of one of the two sides, and either with a sentence obtained by an unjust vote, or by seizing power by force, they were ready to to give satisfaction to the rivalry of the moment. Thus, neither were governed by any morality, but those who, thanks to the seduction of his words, succeeded while some odious enterprise, their popularity increased. And the citizens who were in an intermediate position were victims of the two parties, either because they did not collaborate in the fight, either because of envy of their survival "
Despite the fact that almost 2350 years passed, Alissa Zinovievna wrote "Atlas Shrugged" in 1950, "Ayn Rand O'Connor" (St. Petersburg 02 February 1905 – New York 06 March 1982):
"When you realize that in order to produce you need to obtain authorization from those who produce nothing, when you find that money flows to those who do not trade with goods but with favors, when you perceive that many become rich by bribery and by influences rather than by their labor, and that the laws do not protect you against them but, vice versa, it is they who are protected from you, when you discover that corruption is rewarded and honesty becomes a self-sacrifice, then you can say, with no doubts that your society is doomed "
After 67 years (2417 years since Tucidides) in 2017, many citizens began to perceive that: "Some states gave up protecting the innocent and persecuting the guilty, replacing the innocent to the periphery of the system and protecting the guilty to finally persecute the innocent and praise the guilty. The new vision of the States uses new mechanisms and presents new public faces. Intrepid entrepreneurs who do not want to enter the dynamics of corruption are moved to the periphery and suffer while the faithful entrepreneurs, many of them are not even entrepreneurs, live with the system, have private financing and public support, gain customers (often the state) and grow.
Citizens that believe things easy (believing that the state should be the first citizen, of the country, in compliance with the laws) fall again and again into the trap of laws made in favor of the state and against citizens. While citizens loyal to the state, even without taking any office, they are favored by small improvements in their quality of life as housing of official protection, scholarships … all of them obtained, yes, under an apparent system of redistribution of wealth.
To achieve this status politicians, faithful servants of the state, enforce the law by applying different regulations according to convenience. An old politician said: You make the law and let me make the regulation. Regulation that is applied by loyal officials to political slogans in the name of national interest, public health or the prevention of hypothetical dangers almost never corresponded with real threats.
To achieve this status, the government puts pressure on independent media advertisers, creates opinion groups on social networks for defaming the innocent and the critics. Thus, it becomes impossible to distinguish between truth and lies, cynicism and mistrust between the population. As a result society is polarized and government appears as a savior of a situation whose origin has been the same government or state organs dependent on government. Finally, the government has only to weaken some of the education, some rights and freedoms and some aspects of well-being to perpetuate the situation. It is not necessary to eliminate them all only those strategic subjects that allow to control the population without appearing like an oppressive monster. And most importantly facilitate the psychological exit to the population, especially the youth, towards the supposed happiness of superfluous fun.
As Tucidides would say: "Those who, thanks to the seduction of their words, succeeded in carrying out some odious enterprise, increased their reputation, and the citizens who were in an intermediate position were victims of both parties," as Alissa Zinovievna : "They do not deal with goods but with favors, when you perceive that many are rich by bribery and by influences rather than by their work, and that laws do not protect you against them, but rather they are protected from you ", and finally, as the citizens of today might say:" Some states gave up protecting the innocent from the guilty, to forgetting the innocent without prosecuting the guilty, to finally persecuting the innocent by protecting the guilty " Ex-judge: "To the friend the favor, to the enemy the law in force.