Why Nations Fail
When I mention institutions, I do not refer exclusively to the political and government institutions. Corporations, educational institutions such as schools and universities, religious organizations, charitable groups and even local groups are institutions. However, in the modern world, the most influential institutions in a country are the Government (at the national, state, or local level) and the Companies where persons work at. These are often multi-generational establishments with their own culture, slightly affected by its less influential members (such as citizens and employees), significantly affected by its more influential ones (such as rulers and managers), but mostly encoded by decades or centuries of written protocols, regulations, and customs.
Regardless of the status of the institutions, its internal functioning will inevitably affect everybody underneath them. A meritocratic company, that rewards employees by their skills and capacities and not by nepotism or favoritism is bound to be successful, in the long term, when compared to the rest. A government of the people, by the people, for the people, will lead to greater prosperity and freedom from its citizens than a tyrannical government that only looks out after itself.
As citizens of a country, as workers at companies, it is in our best interests to ensure the institutions we belong to are working for us, in the short and in the long term. That involves accountability, openness, and public scrutiny from the government. Proper communications, upfront honesty, and respect for procedures on private entities. We can vote every so often for our rulers, and we can speak up, or vote with our feet, in our companies. In a democracy, we have the means to collectively decide who will represent us, and take executive decisions in the name of all of us. In most private companies, that is not the case; we are forced to work under a more rigid system. But we have much more freedom to choose under which company to work on than under which country to live under, so we can effectively resign if the company’s culture is dramatically opposite to ours. Even if it does not have a lasting effect in corporate culture, it allows us to work in a much better environment for us.
In the United States, public trust on the government is at an all-time low. Both Democrats and Republicans have reduced themselves to bickering and partisan strife, to the detriment of the American people, and taking every chance they can to profit and plunder when, like clockwork, obtain power after four or eight years. The political institutions not only have adapted to this system, but have been complicit on its permanence, and have benefitted from it. The very term “bureaucracy”, originally a pejorative word for inefficient and incompetent “rule by desk” has become inseparably synonymous to our form of government. This is not what our Founding Fathers intended two hundred and fifty years ago; it is not the wanted outcome of this grand old political experiment in Liberty and Democracy; in fact, society has become so complacent, and our elected (and selected) leaders so comfortable with their position, and with the system, that it festers with stagnation, corruption, and decay. One must only see at the current state of Washington to see the cracks in the system; at the centers of power in Wall Street and in Silicon Valley pulling the strings, and the droning entertainment broadcasted from Fox and CNN, to see the current interests’ vying for power and keeping the public stuck on a rat race; a game where the only winners are those not playing.
I have seen corruption first hand. I have seen the slow erosion of the already-feeble institutions of Post-Soviet Russia, to the point where they have tacitly welcomed back the Tsar in the figurehead of Putin. I have watched how Latin American nations succumbed to meaningless populism in order to strengthen the new elites, who turned out to be just like the old ones. And I am seeing it in the United States of America, a once proud nation, succumb to the very same follies that befell many nations across the world.
As a concerned citizen, I feel it is part of my civic duty to take part on the process, to keep track and record of the events, and to give what I consider good advice, given my knowledge and experience. Do speak up; as injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere. Call your representatives. Don’t vote for the lesser of two evils, but get involved, and work to get good candidates elected. It is in your best interest to improve our institutions, to demand change, to demand justice, openness and fairness, even if you cannot see the immediate benefits from it.
It is your country, too.
-dee
Regardless of the status of the institutions, its internal functioning will inevitably affect everybody underneath them. A meritocratic company, that rewards employees by their skills and capacities and not by nepotism or favoritism is bound to be successful, in the long term, when compared to the rest. A government of the people, by the people, for the people, will lead to greater prosperity and freedom from its citizens than a tyrannical government that only looks out after itself.
As citizens of a country, as workers at companies, it is in our best interests to ensure the institutions we belong to are working for us, in the short and in the long term. That involves accountability, openness, and public scrutiny from the government. Proper communications, upfront honesty, and respect for procedures on private entities. We can vote every so often for our rulers, and we can speak up, or vote with our feet, in our companies. In a democracy, we have the means to collectively decide who will represent us, and take executive decisions in the name of all of us. In most private companies, that is not the case; we are forced to work under a more rigid system. But we have much more freedom to choose under which company to work on than under which country to live under, so we can effectively resign if the company’s culture is dramatically opposite to ours. Even if it does not have a lasting effect in corporate culture, it allows us to work in a much better environment for us.
In the United States, public trust on the government is at an all-time low. Both Democrats and Republicans have reduced themselves to bickering and partisan strife, to the detriment of the American people, and taking every chance they can to profit and plunder when, like clockwork, obtain power after four or eight years. The political institutions not only have adapted to this system, but have been complicit on its permanence, and have benefitted from it. The very term “bureaucracy”, originally a pejorative word for inefficient and incompetent “rule by desk” has become inseparably synonymous to our form of government. This is not what our Founding Fathers intended two hundred and fifty years ago; it is not the wanted outcome of this grand old political experiment in Liberty and Democracy; in fact, society has become so complacent, and our elected (and selected) leaders so comfortable with their position, and with the system, that it festers with stagnation, corruption, and decay. One must only see at the current state of Washington to see the cracks in the system; at the centers of power in Wall Street and in Silicon Valley pulling the strings, and the droning entertainment broadcasted from Fox and CNN, to see the current interests’ vying for power and keeping the public stuck on a rat race; a game where the only winners are those not playing.
I have seen corruption first hand. I have seen the slow erosion of the already-feeble institutions of Post-Soviet Russia, to the point where they have tacitly welcomed back the Tsar in the figurehead of Putin. I have watched how Latin American nations succumbed to meaningless populism in order to strengthen the new elites, who turned out to be just like the old ones. And I am seeing it in the United States of America, a once proud nation, succumb to the very same follies that befell many nations across the world.
As a concerned citizen, I feel it is part of my civic duty to take part on the process, to keep track and record of the events, and to give what I consider good advice, given my knowledge and experience. Do speak up; as injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere. Call your representatives. Don’t vote for the lesser of two evils, but get involved, and work to get good candidates elected. It is in your best interest to improve our institutions, to demand change, to demand justice, openness and fairness, even if you cannot see the immediate benefits from it.
It is your country, too.
-dee
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