I'm not exactly sure what to call this. It appears that they have some sort of evolved method for dealing with criminals. You might call this a government. The elders certainly seem to have coercive power. You might argue that there are always going to be cultural differences. I thought being buried alive for manslaughter was a bit much. I suspect that most Americans would agree with me. Other cultures might not agree. I also wondered if part of the sentence dealt with the poverty of the area. They might have preferred to sentence the man to five years but been unable to do so.
Honestly, I just thought it was an extremely interesting article. Highlighting how different the third world really is. Mitch ----- Original Message ----- From: "Jacob W Braestrup" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Date: Wednesday, March 20, 2002 3:19 am Subject: Re: the rule of law without formal government in Mexico > > > > So is that it then? Is this what anarchists talk > > about when they speak of justice sans government? > > I am not so sure that you can characterise the situation in Mexico > as > one describing justice WITHOUT government, but more a case of > justice > by citizens in the face of what is perceived as lack of justice > provided by government. > > Not that I believe this to be good, though. My point is, that the > government simply makes things worse. �Local� justice cannot grow > and > mature in to e.g. a system of common law, guided by general > principles > and with formal procedures, appeals and defence lawyers and what > not � > BECAUSE THE MEXICAN GOVERNMENT WOULD NOT ALLOW THAT. They would > surely > crack down if any village set up a formal system of justice, even > if > this system was far superior to the ad hoc system now used. > > So villagers are stuck with the worst of both worlds: a government > that > cannot efficiently run a system of justice (or will not, if the > reports > of bribery are true) along with a local system of local �justice� > that > is not allowed to evolve beyond anything more than a lynching now > and > then� > > sincerely, > > jacob W Braestrup > Denmark >
