Life Lessons

Donald Trump’s entire life is a lesson that laws don’t mean much if nobody holds you accountable for breaking them

— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) March 30, 2022

Most of us follow “laws” because we aren’t sociopathic assholes. But there are do many criminal laws most of us violate several of them on a fairly regular basis. Nobody cares because, by and large, our acts aren’t violent crimes. Well, and when I say “most of us,” I implicitly mean white people. Not being white is pretty much a crime in itself in America.

But most “white collar crime” is either not prosecuted or is in court against insufficiently famous people. OJ was acquitted partly because he was black (not a judgment on that factor) and partly because his celebrity protected him. Martha Stewart’s celebrity didn’t protect her, but she wasn’t facing a murder charge, either.

Change the facts, change the outcome.

Recent white collar convictions were won against people famous for getting rich (and famous) quick. Insufficient celebrity to protect them. 

So most rich, famous people never face criminal charges because odds of conviction are too low. You want to blame somebody, blame juries; although judges can (and often do) share the same prejudices for the rich and against the poor. Steal a loaf of bread, you’re a thief. Steal a million dollars and do it right, you’re a clever businessman.  Same as it ever was.

There are a lot of rich people who have gotten away with more than Trump has. He’s obnoxious but he’s not that clever. He’s certainly more the rule than the exception. And accountability, frankly, is overrated as a social control. Consider the example of Iago. His most serious offense against society is how well he undermines trust. If you can’t trust other people, society literally cannot function. Iago is absolutely untrustworthy. The only person who knows that is his wife. But being untrustworthy, even a liar, is not a crime. Iago’s crimes are his plots against ever other character in the play. But by the time he’s held accountable, the damage is done. Iago knows what he’s doing; and he knows how to get away with it. He is the most evil character in Shakespeare. “I am not what I am,” he says of himself. He doesn’t “get away with it,” but there’s no one left for him to destroy at play’s end.

Imagining the world would be just and fair if only bad people like Trump were held accountable is, frankly, naïve. Unless you were to lock him up for life and lock him away in solitary confinement, he’d always insist he’d been wronged, and somebody would always believe him. Accountability would never make Trump change or never try again to ignore the law. Dese are de conditions dat prevail, and they are not curable.