There have indeed been laws created allowing things like slavery and forced servitude, but in a stable democracy these tend to be ironed out. Indeed that is what happened (albeit slowly) in the American system. A godawful 'all of us are equal (but not you)' system was set up in 1776 and took over 100 years and a lot of suffering to change.... but change it has, and it continues to change through the push and pull of activism and conservatism working in opposition. In 1808 it would've been impossible for a Black person to vote, but 1908 it would've been impossible for a Black person to become president. By 2008, such a President emerged. Now.... I think that's far too slow and I think it shows heavily entrenched racism at every turn - but I do think it's the best way to create and sustain change.
Whenever the democratic mandate and rule of law is scrapped and started over, it tends not to result in utopia. One could argue (and I do) across the 20th Century there were numerous attempts to scrap the legal process and begin again. This happened in Russia in 1917, it happened in Germany in 1933 and it happened in China in 1949. Each of these regimes offered an alternative to the rule of law and each of them began well. Lenin quickly gave way to Stalin and the 5-year plans, Hitler revitalised the German economy at the cost of Nazi indoctrination and Mao sacrificed somewhere between 15 and 55 million Chinese peasants in his ambition to industrialise the nation.
That doesn't mean a 'throw it in the bin and start again' approach necessarily will end in death and despair, but it's not a gamble we embark upon lightly. The 20th Century is full of examples of letting people 'who could do this better' fail to do so at the cost of massive amounts of human suffering and lives.
I agree that Capitalism is highly focused on ownership and profit and that's why I'm a liberal and democratic socialist. I think we should find smart and legal ways to redeploy the wealth where it's most needed and carefully bring liberal and democratic values to places in the world that don't have them. That was the plan for most Eastern Bloc countries after the fall of the iron curtain, and as someone heading off to Riga for a weekend break and being offered restaurants, hotels and choice - this appears to have happened.
Always happy to respond and always happy to debate these matters. Argumentative isn't just my name, it's also my hobby. :o)
