Who mans the guard?

Alberto Mudjadju"

This is the oldest question about power. A question posed by the poet Juvenal that haunts us to this day, Decimus Junius Juvenal, his full name, who lived between 55 AD and 128 AD in the Roman Empire: Quis custodiet ipsos custodes? (Who watches the watchmen?), this question was asked in a context where he spoke of jealous husbands who locked their wives in the house with eunuch guards (castrated men, their testicles and penis removed before puberty or as adults), hence the question: and if the guard becomes involved with her, who watches the guard? But this question left its true context and became the universal principle of power, today it can be used for police who beat; secret services that spy; algorithms that moderate content; NGOs that divert donations. For Juvenal, virtue that does not solve the problems of the republic is just vanity. This question is still relevant today, because the entire system needs someone with power to protect others—police, military, SISE (a Brazilian intelligence service), judges, even WhatsApp group administrators—but who guarantees that this guard won't abuse their power? And if they do, who will protect the average citizen? Inspections are created, then inspections of inspections, creating an endless chain. One day, the highest-ranking inspector will have no one left to conduct inspections. On the other hand, there's trust in the law, which is just a piece of paper. If a guard has a weapon, they can tear up the paper; the law will only work if there's another guard willing to enforce it against the first. Then, full power is given to the people, where voting, the press, social media, and protests are functional, but the people can also be manipulated, and lynching isn't part of the justice system. In a neighborhood, for example, who protects the neighborhood chief who charges to solve a case? It's the police, and what if the police receive a portion of that money? Overall, the system only holds up if there is a real cost to the guard who abuses it, because without that cost, the guard becomes the owner.

For this reason, no one has a monopoly on the use of force, because the military cannot arrest civilians alone, the police cannot judge, and the judge does not have an army. In short, compulsory military service, butane tankers, or strategies for the Strait of Hormuz are useless if the guard controlling the port sells access, or the guard commanding the column is on the other side. The real impact will only exist if the guard has the population as its guard to fulfill its purpose in the act of swearing allegiance to the flag.ʺThe best guard is the one who knows he's being watched, and the worst guard is the one who thinks nobody can see him.

2025/12/3