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Where there is no law, but every man does what is right in his own eyes, there is the least of real liberty
Henry M. Robert

Once There Lived a Politician...

23 February, 1999 - 00:00

By Klara GUDZYK, The Day
Once upon a time there was a country teeming with clever people who constantly
argued about the political system. All the adults were divided into parties.
Some championed democracy, others stood for plutocracy (power of the rich),
and still others saw salvation only in tyranny, a person with an iron will
at the helm. However, the largest political party consisted of people who
criticized the existing regime regardless of its nature. Under tyranny,
they campaigned democracy and once the latter was established they joined
the plutocratic opposition. In the meantime, the gap between the rich and
poor widened and deepened, turning into an abyss. The state found itself
in a precarious position; even the inveterate democrats began having doubts
thinking that maybe tyranny was the ultimate solution to the problem.

And then a miracle occurred. There appeared the Politician and suddenly
everybody trusted him. The rich respected him because he was one of them;
the poor trusted him because he was honest. Everybody praised his clever
and clear head. One bright fateful day the people turned to the Politician,
asking him to become the head of state; many even threw themselves to their
knees, begging him to take all power in his hands. The Politician told
them, "Tyranny is an excellent means, but it leaves no way out for anyone."
He firmly stood for democracy, although many a citizen, on learning about
the Politician's intent to build a society relying on law, rather than
strong power, laughed and shook their heads, "This man dreams of keeping
people from committing crimes and greed using laws written on paper. Laws
are like spider-webs: if some poor weak creature comes up against them,
it is caught; but a bigger one can break through and get away." To which
the Politician replied calmly that laws must be made to answer the citizens'
interests, so everyone can understand that it is best to live and work
on the right side of the law.

Although the Politician rejected tyranny, he showed an iron will when
in power. He would not back off before wealth and influence and in his
law giving never tried to cater to any of those who had elected him. Often
his fellow citizens could not understand him and some of his laws caused
raised eyebrows and were branded as illogical. One such law exiled all
those remaining politically unaffiliated at a time of internal strife.
The Politician was convinced that no one has the right to stand aside,
risking nothing, waiting for whoever wins.

Many laws in the Politician's Code were aimed at inculcating industriousness
in the citizens, encouraging crafts and trade. Parasitism (the term, now
in worldwide use, originates from that country) was considered a grave
crime and one of the laws read that the son is not obligated to sustain
his father if the latter failed to give him an education or to have him
trained in a useful skill. One of the Politician's merits was the annulment
of the law code prescribing death for every offense. (Draco, its author,
explained that every transgression deserves capital punishment and there
was nothing else he could find as a retribution for graver crimes.)

As for reforms, the Politician's rule was marred by clever moderation.
He changed practically nothing where things were more or less in order.
You can turn everything upside down in the state, he said, and then you
will be unable to put all this in order.

Without doubt the learned reader has long guessed the Politician's actual
name. Yes, Solon of Athens, one of the Seven Wise Men of Greece who worked
out democratic laws for his country almost 2,600 years ago (the world hasn't
changed much since then, has it?). And a story about Solon belongs to another
celebrated Greek, Plutarch. In particular, he writes that when Solon was
asked later whether he had succeeded in conveying to the people the best
laws, the man said yes, the best they could accept. Solon's laws became
a standard for numerous subsequent lawgivers elsewhere in the world, in
different political systems and epochs.

On another occasion Solon was asked which country he considered organized
the best politically. Wise and courtly, he said that it was a country where
people were persecuted for their wrongdoing in court and where the judge
wanted the wrongdoer punished as much as did offender's victim.

 

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