an instrument of political persecution

Democracy and the free market are part and parcel of the same culture - Protestant culture. Both could not exist without freedom of expression which is a sine qua non condition for both of them.

In a series of posts below I tried to show how the free market is destryoed in a Catholic society. The agent of destruction is maledicency - that, the abuse of freedom of expression. I will now pursue to show that maledicency is also the cancer that destroys democracy in a Catholic society. This is accomplished by the corrosive effects of maledicency on the justice system of the society.

Going back to this post, it is clear that the reputation of the innovator receives his coup de grace when some government agency decides to launch a rigoroso inquérito on this man's activities. Although there are several government agencies, such as the tax department and regulatory agencies with powers to investigate wrongdoings, ultimately it is the justice system that deals with them.

Sooner or later the justice system is massively taken by the investigation of cases which have no criminal content at all but are the product of sheer maledicency - rumours, calumnies, unfounded allegations and so on. Furthermore, people will soon understand that the most effective way to destroy a man in society - a competitor, a rival politician, even his neighbour - is to put the justice system after him. And this can be done simply by anonymous denunciation.

In a culture that values words more than facts, words are taken at face value, even anonymous words. Thus, anonymous denunciation will soon become the most effective way to destroy the reputation of a man in a democratic Catholic society. The effects of this on the justice system are catastrophic. For the justice system will start to be perceived less and less as accomplishing its function of administering justice and more and more as an instrument of personal and political persecution. A point will be reached where people will perceive that there is no justice at all in their country. It is at this point that the political regime - that is, democracy - will collapse.