Smart Politics
Once upon a time there was a Kingdom, experimenting with 'democracy' and 'modern 'system of justice' to see, how it can help to achieve 'good governance' which as a matter of fact was 'control over the people'. In that Kingdom, lived an old man whose entire family was a son, who works for the government as a tree cutter. His job was to go to the jungle with a fellow worker, cut a tree, load it over a horse cart and deliver it to the state warehouse.
One day, when he went to work in the morning; his supervisor told him about the new regulations that, “from now on-- one person will do the whole job independently instead of two”. So, the son went alone to the jungle with the horse cart, cut the tree but as he was loading it over the cart, the log fell over him and he got killed. The logs were in fact too heavy for one person to safely board the cart. The old man was now left alone in the world without any family and even any financial support. So, filled with grief and anger, he decided to go to the newly opened 'local court' for justice-- demanding that the supervisor should be hanged for the death of his son.
The court put the blame on the supervisor, but in his defense the supervisor told that it was not his orders, but infect the manager passed on the orders to him and he only carried out his duty. The court then, put the blame on the manager, but the manager told that it was the governor who gave him the orders. The court put the blame on the governor, but the governor said that he got notification from the King. The court respectfully asked the King, to explain his position in this regard. The King told that he did not decide it, but infect it was decided by the 'Council of Elites', which is responsible for law making in the country. By this time the case had already consumed several days of hearing and the whole country came to a stand still, waiting for the outcome of this landmark case.
The court put the blame on the whole Council of Elites, but the council said that so many people cannot be killed, for the death of one person and only one person, needs to be killed to establish the justice. When the court asked who would that person be? The council of elites said that, “this is a complex matter concerning national security and will be decided in a democratic way, by conducting a secret ballot in the upcoming Council Session”. Every member of the council secretly wrote the name of the person that they thought should be hanged, to settle the issue that paralyzed the working of the government-- folded and put inside the ballot box. And when the results were examined-- everyone wrote the name of the old man-- the father of the deceased and complainant in this case. The poor old man was hanged and the issue was finally resolved.
The council called it a 'great decision' which was 'unanimous', in line with democratic norms and was necessary to 'save the democracy'. The King decided to keep the newly established Council, as he had no doubts about the utility of such a Council of Elites. In return the Council of Elites passed on a law that the King will have an indemnity against all kinds of prosecution. Furthermore; although the members of the Council of Elites can be prosecuted, but the King will have the right to pardon anybody. Thus the partnership assured a better control over people and a free hand to exploit them-- all under the umbrella of the so-called democracy.
