Institutional default occurs when the systems in place that are designed to protect the population don't work as they should. Instead of ensuring the primary law of the land is upheld they become mechanisms by which law and its protections can be warped. In general the concept of Federalism and shared governance should be bulwarks against such defaults but it doesn't always function that way and there are a few reasons why.
First, let us highlight why such defaults are dangerous. What separates the U.S. from third world nations is the application of law and the use of wisdom in that application. No race, religion, or ethnic group should get special treatment under the law or have the law warped for their benefit (Except in the case of politics where politicians regularly seek to politicize and warp our institutions. Of course it's still a problem we need to fix. Prince or pauper we should be under the same system with the difference being the merits of their case.)
Once we begin to allow certain races, religions, ethnic groups, or social groups to have special treatments we begin to see cracks forming in our system. We mirror those third world nations where ethnic conflict is common and systems cannot be trusted to uphold the fabric and shared perspective of society. In essence, they have conflict because the laws are different for different people and the value of institutions becomes minimized.
Now, in my life when I have seen extremism and criminal activity forming and I have monitored and reported such behaviors when it was appropriate. I didn't make a difference to me their race, religion or social group. It was their intent to harm other people that was my primary concern. That also included turning in larger groups of people who have corrupted cities and their institutions through organized criminal activities.
The problem we face as a nation is that there are different laws in place for different types of people. Defaulting of institutions becomes much more acceptable if they are against the "wrong" type of people. Holding people to account for these behaviors is more difficult if the perpetrators are the "right" type of people with the "right" support. Its an indication that some institutions have role and duty confusion (Some officials functioning in fear and afraid to stand for their values. A further indication that decline has already got headway.).
That creates a type of disparity that heightens the dangers such institutions are not functioning with their duties in mind but with their ethnic, racial, religious and social preferences at the forefront. As a nation we must be universal in our values and that requires institutions that are also universal in their orientation. Long stemming disparities in society have become increasingly highlighted in the digital media world and they will become global phenomenons.
Cleansing communities should be something we look upon with disdain in the U.S. in much the same way as we look upon it with horror in Kosovo, Timor, Darfur, Rwanda and the many other places where unfair group treatment started on a local level and then grew to a wholesale national conflict based on shared pain. That danger becomes highlighted in ethnically diverse nations like the U.S. where civil unrest and protest against unfair treatment is one video away from reemergence (In many ways encouraged by both sides of our political spectrum. One side encouraging people to attack police and the other to attack FBI. I feel a universal obligation to protect both. If we need to adjust something we do so within the system but don't encourage violence against the many good officers and administrators that are trying desperately to keep our communities safe! It's a sign of that some of our leadership don't have the character to be in their roles and are successfully manipulating blind support.).
We do have risks if the wrong group comes to power and encourages institutions to blindly support a certain ethnicity, racial, religious, or social group over the rights of others. It doesn't take much to light a match when we have people openly calling for civil war and seeking to violate as many of the Constitutional protections as they can. The wrong people in the wrong institutional positions can lead to all types of chaos when institutional trust levels are already at all time historic lows.
I have experienced this some in my life where a homogeneous group of ethnically similar people coordinated with a few officials to use local institutions to try and forcibly remove and harm me and my family for being the "wrong" type in "their" community (It didn't happen because there are still good people out there who believe in our Constitution and our American values. Our genetic footprint has been there longer than most of theirs but "local" is defined by social group, racial and religious similarities.). Yet it was enough to down at least two institutions (possibly three) and "normalize" hate to a larger group of people who knew before they got started they were "immune" for their behaviors (Most of the people in the community did the right thing and are warm and welcoming people. Some are not and continue on with their behaviors because of that immunity.).
I have forgiven such people for their dangerous bigotry but I cannot forget their behavior nor stand idly by as the risks to these institutions are still present. As of today's date, it appears that such risks are percolating just under the surface waiting to reemerge if one of the members picks an argument with a minority/"outsider", can profit from hate, has a mental health issue, wants to "save" America, or just wants to be plain old destructive.
As we move into the next election cycle I want people to think about the real dangers of such groups that are given a national forum and capable of impacting national institutions. Think of how quickly people line up to support hate and how the system struggles to hold them to account if they are from the "right" religion, race, political party, "connected" network, or background. These existential risks are long term dangers.
If we truly hope to be a first world leading nation we must universalize our systems and ensure there are protections from local defaults. We will also need to ensure that we maximize our human capital across different ethnic, racial, religious and social groups in a way that leads to prosperity and a shared sense of purpose of the benefits of pushing our democracy forward.
Free passes are not free! I have said that many times to deaf ears. They only change and morph into other risks and paths. To me being a patriot and being a Republican means encouraging universalization of our institutions and ensuring that our nation begins to develop into the next stage of democracy where we have a shared sense of purpose and clear goals to increase our global competitive position (The Digital Era and innovation).
I understand that concepts of moral conscious and fairness isn't going to be popular with some of our leaders (judges, politicians, officials, etc.) who hope the "right" group gets the most opportunities but I think we owe it to ourselves and the next generation to give them the best shot at a healthy democracy. Many of our politicians are not on board with a free and fair universal society. They have not looked deep enough into their grandchildren's eyes and contemplated how our failure to correct our path could lead to generations of pain and sorrow for them (shame!).
Now let us see what our leaders and the institutions they manage decide is the best course of action. Some doors open and some close.
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