Only then will we stop competing against power and begin building a dignified and just future for all.
In social debate, privilege represents rights and advantages that some enjoy at the expense of others, not as a result of fortune, but as the outcome of structural advantages. These are usually defined around groups of power, generally from the government or from sectors with influence over it. Let us remember that the government establishes the rules through laws or assigns contracts and benefits, favoring those who are close to the center of power. Thus, corruption tends to concentrate within state institutions, underscoring the urgency of creating systems free from sectoral influences, where laws serve everyone and protect the individual, their life, their property, and the social balance necessary to coexist peacefully and progress.
Since the Roman Republic, thinkers such as Cicero warned about the dangers of the concentration of power and privileges: “Justice is the fundamental virtue. Its interruption can occur actively, through greed for money or power, but also through omission, by neglecting one’s duty toward society.” Seneca, meanwhile, argued that virtue should restrain corruption and dishonesty: “What laws do not prohibit, honesty may forbid.”
It is incredible to think that more than two thousand years ago there was already deep concern about the devastation caused by privileges and corruption. During the Renaissance, Machiavelli warned about the risks of granting power to some at the expense of others. “The prince who relies too heavily on the people and grants excessive privileges to the nobles prepares his own ruin.”
Centuries later, economists such as Friedrich von Hayek and Ludwig von Mises pointed out that the centralization of power inevitably favors those who are close to the center of decision-making, and that state interventionism, by granting privileges, not only harms consumers but also obstructs economic development.
Having experienced communist reality, Ayn Rand observed that collectivism, in any of its forms, inevitably leads to the concentration of power in the hands of an elite. Murray Rothbard warned about the effect of centralization in states with weak institutions: privileges are not only unjust, but also create economic inefficiencies and hinder social progress.
Even Amartya Sen, Nobel Prize winner in Economics, declared: “Development requires the removal of the major sources of unfreedom: poverty and tyranny, poor economic opportunities, and systematic social deprivation.” In other words, the elimination of privileges, corruption, and the concentration of power.
Today, more than ever, we need leaders willing to cut corruption and inefficiency at the root and to free the power of citizens. The history of other countries shows us that it is possible, but it depends on each one of us to support and demand real change.
History and these thinkers remind us that the concentration of power and privileges, sustained within a system that despises freedom and equality of conditions, generates poverty, suffering, and injustice. And we do not need to look far to see it. Venezuela went from being one of the richest countries in South America to facing one of the worst political and humanitarian crises in the region, driven by corruption, especially within the state oil company PDVSA, which allowed 1.2 billion dollars to be diverted abroad.
Brazil, with the “Lava Jato” scandal, experienced one of the largest corruption cases in history, leading to the impeachment of President Dilma Rousseff and placing four former presidents at the center of investigations. This phenomenon cost Brazil up to 2.3% of its annual GDP. In Malaysia, more than 4.5 billion dollars were diverted from a state fund, and in Lebanon, decades of corruption have left more than 80% of the population living in poverty.
In Guatemala, our history is not very different. Our political system has grown around the concentration of power and privileges, generating new groups of power and wealth. This not only affects the poorest; it also robs the middle class of the possibility of social mobility within a system that, while respecting individual freedom, fails to offer equality before the law and opportunities to create and accumulate wealth.
Guatemala deserves something better. The opportunity to grow, advance, and prosper will only become real when we eradicate this system of privileges that prevents the majority from reaching their true potential. Let every Guatemalan, through their effort and freedom, build a future without the shadow of corruption and favoritism that steals our present.
Today, more than ever, we need leaders willing to cut corruption and inefficiency at the root and to free the power of citizens. The history of other countries shows us that it is possible, but it depends on each one of us to support and demand real change. Only then will we stop competing against power and begin building a dignified and just future for all.
