The socialization of crime and the order of power

“We are suffocating, child, we are suffocating,

Taking on the form

Of things we cannot shape.”

Şükrü Erbaş.

We read in the newspapers that their names are associated with bribery, corruption, illicit relations, or money laundering; yet they are not put on trial, and instead, shielded by various protective layers, they continue to appear before our eyes as “respectable” or “beloved” figures. 

All of us?! I think we need to pause here for a moment. In fact, some people in the group I describe as “all of us” are the very ones responsible for bestowing these titles of “beloved” or “respectable.” In other words, according to them, these individuals are not the type whose names should be associated with crime.

How do we know?

The events they are invited to tell us so. You look and see them at business dinners, we see them at banquets organized for the benefit of foundations, and what’s more, they even show up at village picnics. Heads of institutions pose with smiles, those attending the event share photos taken in the same frame with these notorious individuals, and they are treated like royalty at picnics. The allegations, the indictments, and the lives they lead are one thing; the public speaks quite differently.

So, does the public, which embraces these individuals under the glow of celebratory displays, never see the side of them associated with crime, or do they never hear all those allegations?

Some of them almost never hear them.

Because the newspapers they get their news from and the news channels they watch hide the facts in exchange for payment, what is happening is assumed to have never happened at all. Woe to those who hear and know.

Others are aware of the facts; they know, hear, and are informed about the “criminal” side of the person they are hosting.

But they do not care, they do not think about it, they ignore it; they absolutely refuse to let their conscience work. Because they want to be seen on the side of power and the powerful, and they want to get their share of that power.

Sometimes this is a share that can be converted into cash for their association, foundation, or company; it becomes a tender, a job to be passed on, or an employee to be hired; as they say, “you don’t refuse the master’s hand,” a situation like that.

At this very point, the criminal becomes the master; the lord, the gentleman, the politician.

When the criminal becomes this, crime ceases to be an individual act and becomes socialized. For the protection of criminals, and furthermore, the granting of prestige to them, leads to the socialization of crime.

The greater the might of power, money, wealth, and political office, the faster and more effective the socialization of crime becomes.

First, the press is bought in the literal sense of the word, then collaborative networks are woven, and subsequently, channels are established to infiltrate institutions and the masses. Society is practically besieged from all sides. 

If there are no walls of resistance, if strong political organizations have not been established, and naturally, if values such as honor, virtue, and dignity have begun to dissolve day by day, the siege achieves its goal in a short time.

Now, no one allows a word to be said against their own criminal; they do not even open for discussion whether it is forbidden, a crime, or a sin. They talk about the evenings to be invited to, the business to be conducted, the expenses to be paid, and the figures to be recorded in the balance sheet. 

Those who turn the perpetrator into spoils of war also turn themselves into their bodyguards.

When this is the case, they reach a point where they stand at attention before the very people they objected to until yesterday. 

They crown those who exploit faith. 

They line up to get an appointment from the managers of assimilation and share photos with smiles.

They no longer have a voice; they even forget the words in their alphabet; all they have left to protect are their positions, personal prospects, and their own pockets.

This is the victory of power, money, and the badge acquired in the upper echelons. 

The greater the crime to be hidden, the more criminal the societies are made to become. 

This is where the evil created by unlimited power, absolute dominance, and the ruling authority that establishes hegemony lies.

That is why all areas of power that would drag society into a spiral of evil must be limited, and power must be distributed. 

As Lord Acton said, “Power tends to corrupt, and absolute power corrupts absolutely.”

The antidote to corruption, social disintegration, and mass decay lies in an egalitarian social structure. 

Otherwise, we cannot escape from this swamp of a society we live in.

The network of dirty relations extending from global capitalist institutions to village associations tells us this.

Perhaps the instrumentalized mind will remain silent, but our consciences will acknowledge this. As long as you are willing to speak.