Give me a chance with my

It seems that the well-known phrase “the law for my friends, for my enemies” was coined in our country because it describes the thinking of many people who with exaggerated firmness demand the most severe punishment for third parties. They hate the basic guarantees that protect themselves, but when it comes to family, friends, colleagues or customers, they viciously demand respect for rights that they consider no longer excessive and resort to various strategies to evade the harsh pressure that they so vehemently claim that these laws will apply to others.

Now that the approval of the controversial Penal Code project is being discussed, in which new offences are included, penalties are increased and the possibility of their cumulativeness is established, an aspect that almost everyone agrees on, it is also important to review the behavior of our society before the law, since there is a tendency to confuse solidarity and affection, regardless of the severity of the facts, and there is unlimited support even when, where appropriate, there is disapproval of the bad behavior committed and the understanding that the law must be applied as a lesson to the offender.

That is why it is so rare for someone to plead guilty in our country, despite scant evidence, the accused usually professes his innocence, and family, neighbors, and friends almost always say he is a good guy, at home, at work, or in the best case, they will try to downplay his behavior by saying he is nice but naughty, he is restless and unruly but he didn’t hurt anyone, and other reasons that are often divorced from reality.

If facts are minimized, words are even more so, which is why it is not surprising to hear relatives and friends ask them to give someone a chance, such as the young man who was allegedly inspired by the attempted murder of his predecessor. Five minutes after President Trump gained fame on social media, he decided to make a death threat against our president, which is a serious act that is punishable by law.

We have become accustomed to applying the law according to our own convenience, and this is an evil that must be eliminated, because the law is the same for everyone, and the time when the law could be disapplied through a mobile phone is over. That is why many people who help themselves with a big spoon do with impunity what others and even themselves have done before, and when they hit the iron curtain of heavy and recorded charges that have not been processed. The veins of power choose the lesser of two evils: to make a deal, accept responsibility, cooperate with their statements to implement the charging process, and bear the consequences imposed on them to avoid worse consequences.

We have also become conditioned to always extend our hands to receive and rarely offer to serve, creating a “give me mine” culture in which not only are politicians considered good or bad based on how generous they are with their offerings of funds, which are often not theirs, nor those distributing the favors, but family members and friends who hold public office, and just as many politicians have retinues that live off the favors of their leaders, the same is true of people with money, at least when they have it. Whether it’s good money or ill-gotten money doesn’t matter much, because what matters to some is not its legitimate origin but the ration they will receive.

Perhaps this is why members of Congress decided to set up the damned bucket, because they understand that their election or re-election depends more on how much they offer their constituents something to please them than on how well they perform their congressional functions. Legislators, and how easy it is to be generous to the actions of others, practice their own charity at the expense of the public treasury with illegal social assistance funds. Our society, which has fostered this toxic culture of giving me and giving me chances, must wake up from its arrogance, in which it demands, on the one hand, transparency, compliance with laws and a system of consequences, and on the other hand, prefers and excuses, suggesting that for them and their friends, the law is not fulfilled.