The Rule of Law — Letter #9
Dear Francisco,
Thank you for your reply to my letter and I’m sorry for the delay as well!
You touched some very good points. I would like to begin with the powerful consumers… Nowadays people take pride in saying that they had bought a mal-functioning TV but went back to the store and successfully demanded a refund. On the other hand, the same persons pay taxes and I’ve never heard a story of someone who bragged about getting its money back after calling the police and been waiting 2 hours for it to arrive, or calling the fire fighters and they had said they couldn’t do anything to control the flames…
Despite this, people think they’re powerful citizens. And why do they say that? Because they draw a cross in a paper every now and then? But well, I believe this could easily jump to another theme about the need for an upgrade to Democracy… And it could include this citizen-customer’s vision you mentioned… Do you see it like a good solution to both the problems of the Rule of Law and the need for improving modern Democratic processes?
Regarding the Rule of Law, we can go deeper on its application problems (how to avoid corruption, or how to avoid restricting certain actors from having higher benefits than the rest) or we can try to upgrade it… For example, how do you see the rise of the “Rule of Code”?
Besides, AI, software and ultimately robots are creating new actors in a society and bring new changes… Also, smart contracts can present a significant change in the way people agree on things, don’t you think? Can this replace the Rule of Law, or do you see this as some sort of a very welcoming add-on?
All the best,
Ricardo
