Mexico is inching closer to a Venezuelan-style autocracy. Consider the case of María Oropeza, who was forcibly abducted in Venezuela by armed men without due process. Her crime? Sympathizing with the opposition. That’s the future Mexico risks: where justice is not blind, but partisan. Some dismiss these warnings as exaggeration. But as Adam Smith observed in The Theory of Moral Sentiments, people often ignore distant tragedies until they arrive at their doorstep.
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Samizdata quote of the day – From Republic to Mob RuleJuly 6th, 2025 |
 13 comments to Samizdata quote of the day – From Republic to Mob RuleLeave a Reply |
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Just to be provocative:
That’s the past the US has endured, from 2009 until early this year.
Also: that is the present and recent past of the UK: two-tier justice.
And i do not (primarily) mean: justice for Muslims vs justice for non-Muslims.
I mean justice for the establishment vs justice for ordinary people.
I could go on with other countries, but i am less confident about them.
This is a complex issue.
Mexico – the State – has lost a lot of its sovereign power to the cartels, and to some other players taking advantage of the cartel chaos, in the last decade.
It’s been obvious that some drastic measures were going to be needed from Prez Sheinbaum to retake that power – drastic measures that would NOT be of a nature that would warm the libertarian heart.
It may well be that the best, quickest way to purge the country of the cartel power is going to be the establishment of some structure on a war footing.
But in all of the discussions I’ve seen, this (as set out in the OP article) wasn’t one of the scenarios discussed.
So, it will be interesting to watch.
Snorri,
I don’t think it’s provocative to say that since early this year the partisanship has been stepped up to near breaking point as unelected federal district judges stymie elected government by scattering nationwide injunctions like confetti while SCOTUS sits nervously on its hands.
The Mexican judicial elections were a farce, and the courts and “justice” system are indeed under the control of the Criminal Cartels (which, please remember, also have a political ideology – they support “Social Justice”, i.e. plundering) and the socialist party which rules Mexico (the socialist party is joined at the hip with the Social Justice Criminal Cartels) – but that is partly the fault of the opposition, for not getting themselves organised – although, yes, the media and the education system are dominated by the left (sound familiar?) which makes it an uphill climb for the non leftists.
Sadly even when “conservatives” win elections in Mexico they turn out to be leftists – for example Mr Fox (of the supposedly conservative PAN) won election as President of Mexico some years ago – but he introduced a “free” (taxpayer funded) health service, and endless “public-private” housing schemes – you, gentle reader, can guess what a corrupt mess they turned out to be.
“It all sounds horribly familiar Paul” – yes it does, the left took power in Mexico because both the conservatives (PAN) and the “center” (the leftist PRI) failed.
Of course, the socialists are also failing – but the media and education system in Mexico pretend their policies are a success.
Still things can change – many people thought the position in Argentina was hopeless, but it turned out not to be – thanks to President Milei.
And if there is one day a Mexican President Milei they should reintroduce silver money (not a silver “standard” – silver money).
The second biggest mistake of the administration of President Diaz was to move from silver money (which Mexico had – it is the biggest producer of silver) to a gold “standard” – this helped lead to the Mexican Revolution of 1910 – and the decades of violence that has never really stopped.
The biggest mistake of the Diaz Administration was to carry on the old Spanish practice of forced labour for people who had no visible means of support – this, quite understandably, produced terrible hatred for landowners and business enterprises that benefited from this forced labour – and this spilled over into terrible hatred for great majority of landowners and business enterprises that did NOT benefit from forced labour.
“Let us put vagabonds to work” sounds good as a slogan – but in practice it was a corrupt, and brutal, mess.
And it played into the hands of “Social Justice” monsters such as “General” Zapata – who had people murdered for such “crimes” as owning a horse, or having stairs in their house.
That the media (Hollywood and so on) and the education system (and not just in Mexico) present Social Justice monsters such as Zapata as “heroes” shows the level of ideological capture by the left in the modern world.
It is not just about the years after 1910 – it very much is about now-and-the-future.
Guatemala also kept the old Spanish practice of forced labour.
Indeed in Guatemala (up to the early 1900s) if a women was judged to be of “bad character” she could be sold, by the government, to a brothel madam – as a de facto slave-prostitute. Such women could be bought and sold by brothels.
“Still things can change – many people thought the position in Argentina was hopeless, but it turned out not to be – thanks to President Milei.”
There’s also the example of Bukele and El Salvador.
For those who do not know….
A gold “standard” (or, for that matter a silver “standard” – or any other form of these “standard” scams) puts de facto power into the hands of Credit Bubble bankers and business enterprises connected to them, and, via the “Cantillon Effect”, this leads to extreme inequality – as well as terrible boom-bust economic cycles.
Not that entirely fiat (edict – whim) money is better than a “standard” – it is worse.
But a “standard” should not be confused with honest money, and honest finance (lending out Real Savings – the actual sacrifice of consumption to enable thrift).
Even 1929 does not seem to have got into the heads of people that there is a massive difference between honest money (and sound finance) and a “standard”.
Although, again, entirely fiat money is even worse than a “standard”.
@Snorri Godhi
I’d argue that we have three tier justice in the UK now. We have ‘easy justice’ for any client group that is in political favour. We have ‘tough justice’ for any client group that is out of political favour. But we also have (and have had for some time) ‘scant justice’ for those who are part of the Establishment clique.
Henry Cybulski – that is an interesting example.
I can remember Bukele when he was the leftist Mayor of San Salvador – but he became disgusted by the endless plundering, and endless rapes and murders of the Social Justice Criminal Gangs.
Is his solution without problems? Of course NOT – there are many problems (abuses and so on). But given the terrible situation – what indeed was the alternative to what President Bukele did.
As for his love of Bitcoin……
I do not share his love of the “special numbers” – but I certainly have nothing against people who do.
Perhaps people like me (gold and silver fans) are the past – and the Bitcoin people are the future.
As long as Credit Bubble banking is ended, and honest money lending (I have nothing against money lending for interest) is followed – so good luck to he Bitcoin people, although I am not one of them.
By the way….
The only real alternative to the election of judges, is for judges to be appointed by elected people. So if the President or Congress appointed the judges in Mexico – how would that produce a different outcome from electing the judges?
Having the judges appoint themselves (via committees and so on) is a dreadful system – it means the courts will inevitably come under the control of the establishment collectivists. The farce in Israel – where judges enforce a constitution that exists only in their fantasies (i.e. they really enforce their own political opinions) springs to mind.
One does not have to look as far as Mexico to see a political biased “justice system” – have a look at Britain. And judges are not elected here – they are appointed by a Blarite committee.
Why did Republicans lose the Wisconsin Supreme Court election?
Did Elon Musk not spend enough money? No – the Republicans lost because their candidate was against abortion and most voters in Wisconsin are pro abortion.
Call it “mob rule” if you like – but that is democracy.
By the way I agree with the Republican candidate – but in a democracy the majority decide.
So get organised – convince people in Mexico to vote for conservative judges.
I thought the mob was a disparaging term used for the electorate in a direct democracy system of government?
It is, and that is why I am a constitutionalist. Unfettered democracy is as dangerous as no democracy.