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The Rule of Law Is Dead in the US
- mattmaroon 1y ago“ Off-Topic: Most stories about politics,” This is the sort of story that turns HN into /r/politics . Flagged.
- jeffbee 1y agoThe condition of the nuclear-armed nation that totally dominates the information technology industry seems on-topic.
- mattmaroon 1y agoIt doesn't on Hacker News, and what I quoted comes directly from the link at the bottom of the page. By that logic we'd also be discussing tariffs (the economy of the nation that totally dominates the IT industry...), and all sorts of other things here. This is a community designed intentionally to not go down that rabbit hole. There are plenty where you can. I've been here since the early days, trust me, it's better this way.
- taylodl 1y agoThis isn't about politics, it's about the rule of law. If you see that as a political issue, then we have bigger problems.
- mattmaroon 1y agoRule of law is 100% political. Law is political. Legal systems are political. It may not be partisan, but it is political.
- taylodl 1y agoThe rule of law is not at all political. It's philosophical. It's a shame you see it otherwise. I see it as a marker of how far we've fallen. We can no longer discuss something as "the rule of law" without people claiming we're discussing politics.
- kcplate 1y ago> How far we have fallen This presume that we were once at a level where the rule of law actually existed. Humanity across the world and across the ages has never been in a place where there was equality of all under the law.
- mattmaroon 1y agoWhat it means in the real world is entirely political. There is much open to interpretation, by the political system. And in any case this article isn’t about the theory, it’s a complaint about a politician. This article is 100% political and clearly doesn’t belong here.
- deleted 1y ago[deleted]
- jleyank 1y agoOverly broad title - the rule of "law" is doing just fine at lower levels. Just ask anybody with excess melanin or X chromosomes how the law's doing... At the highest level, no, there's no law at the moment, only whim's.
- 42772827 1y agoThe rule of law generally refers to societies where everyone is subject to the same set of laws. China, for example, does not and has not had the rule of law. Instead they have rule BY law, where laws are simply to control certain people’s behavior.
- taylodl 1y agoNor has Russia, North Korea... and many others. Now the United States, which once stood apart as a beacon of liberty and due process, has chosen to dim that light. The rule of law has given way to rule by law - where laws are no longer shields for the weak, but weapons for the powerful. The light on the hill has not just flickered; it has been extinguished, not by foreign enemies, but by domestic choices. The world watches, not with hope, but with a growing sense of betrayal.
- reactordev 1y agoYou missed the point. At the LEO level, laws are definitely being enforced
- slightwinder 1y agoYou missed the point. Enforcement of laws is irrelevant for the question whether a society has "rule of law" or is just ruled by laws. "Rule of law" is a specific concept, it does not mean that a society has laws and executes them. You may have heard of "no one is above the law" or "all are equal before the law", this is the quintessence of it. There is no king above the law, if there is the rule of law.
- reactordev 1y ago
- Covzire 1y ago"When I get what I want, there is rule of law, when I don't, there isn't" is not a valid way to parse whether actual 'rule of law' exists.
- tempfile 1y agoDid you even read the article?
- Covzire 1y agoYes, its analysis is completely vapid and one dimentional.
- sundaeofshock 1y agoSo are you.
- Herring 1y agoIt's just a power grab. And yes, both parties have been treating the rest of the world like that for a long time. One great strategy in the prisoner's dilemma is tit-for-tat. When it's your turn, repeat exactly what your counterpart did last turn. The rest of the world learned that with tariffs, and hopefully team blue figures it out too.
- ptrhvns 1y agoIf Veritasium (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mScpHTIi-kM https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mScpHTIi-kM) is right, tit-for-tat with a little extra forgiveness to break downward spirals is a little better.
- jredwards 1y agoI've heard tit-for-two-tats is effective
- dinfinity 1y agoI'm not sure tit-for-tat works with organisations. If leadership changes, the trust that you built up can just go out the door with the old leadership. The EU is learning that the hard way. What remains stable is a very basic and primitive power dynamic (generally in resources and violence).
- morninglight 1y agoAmerica has the best judicial system that money can buy!
- 9front 1y ago[flagged]
- piva00 1y agoThe deflection to "TDS" is rather boring, intellectually lazy and dishonest, as if any criticism of the absurdities happening in the US right now can all be distilled to "you hate Trump, your opinion is invalid". I still can't believe there are HN users, whom I consider better well-informed than the average Joe, who will defend this administration (and Trump especially) somehow...
- sundaeofshock 1y agoKeep in mind that most tech overlords, including Gary Tan of YC, are all in on the Trump admin. While it saddens me, I’m not surprised that there are many supporters of Trump in this forum.
- josefritzishere 1y agoThis is the very real state of affairs in the US. The Federal government has fallen to an openly corrupt, self-enriching administration. The argument that "it's been that way for a long time" has some merit but completely ignores the sudden and rapid decline this year. We have armed masked groups roaming the streets, sometimes with military support kidnapping people off the street. This is not normal in a developed country. This is nowhere near normal.
- 28304283409234 1y agoFlagging it won't make it less real.
- tastyface 1y agoHey mods, remember when you removed the flags on that Hulk Hogan article because “people wanted to discuss it”? Well, how about this one? Surely this is more relevant and interesting to the community than a celebrity death. Surely.
- BiteCode_dev 1y agoAfter 2001 the US lost the habeas corpus in total silence. The Snowden revelations demonstrated that you can have a stage level conspiracy unveiled, and again nothing Will happen. The writing has been on the wall for 2 decades: laws don't matter there.