People often ask why institutions fail. They blame bad leaders, eroded morals or hidden agendas. I think that is usually wrong. Systems collapse not primarily because people are evil, but because power is permitted to operate without clear, enforceable limits. To see this clearly, let’s get 2 unlikely mentors: Roman Republic (not the empire) ( a system for governing people)
Rust, the programming language ( a system for governing machines) Roman Republic (not the empire) ( a system for governing people) Rust, the programming language ( a system for governing machines) Both were designed around the same hard truth. 1. Trust Is NEVER Enough 1. Trust Is NEVER Enough If you design a system that operates only when everyone acts virtuously, you’ve built something doomed to fail. Humans get exhausted. They get scared. They crave shortcuts. Internally rationalize “just this once”. Rust embraces this reality from day one. It doesn’t ask: “Is this programmer trustworthy?” It demands: “Can you prove this code won´t cause harm?” Rust enforces safety through: Borrow checker rules that block unsafe actions by default.
Explicit opt-in for danger via the unsafe keyword.
Zero-cost abstractions that refuse to “just trust” you. Borrow checker rules that block unsafe actions by default. Explicit opt-in for danger via the unsafe keyword. unsafe Zero-cost abstractions that refuse to “just trust” you. Beginners tend to rage-quit over the friction. Experienced engineers praise it for keeping large codebases alive years later (I know rust is not that old, but it seems to prove its value). 2. The Roman Republic Applied the Same Principle 2. The Roman Republic Applied the Same Principle Rome didn’t endure for centuries because its citizens were inherently better humans. It endured because it institutionalized distrust of power. distrust of power No single magistrate ruled unchecked
Offices had strict term limits
Even the emergency dictatorship was time-boxed, publicly declared, and carried social stigma No single magistrate ruled unchecked Offices had strict term limits Even the emergency dictatorship was time-boxed, publicly declared, and carried social stigma The founders knew: If wielding power is easy and consequences-free, it will be abused. Modern democracies often forget this lesson. 3. What Happens When Limits Become optional 3. What Happens When Limits Become optional When boundaries blur, the same patterns emerge every time: 3.1 - Exceptions multiply - “Just this once” becomes policy 3.2 - Accountability evaporates - diffused responsibility means no one owns the outcome. 3.3 - Corruption normalizes - not as scandal, but as structure. We can see it today: Courts legislating from the bench
Agencies assuming executive-like authority
Bureaucracies expanding mandates without oversight Courts legislating from the bench Agencies assuming executive-like authority Bureaucracies expanding mandates without oversight The result is slow rot: systems that limp along without dramatic collapse -- The most insidious kind of failure. Not driven bu cartoon Villains, but by the absence or guardrails. 4. Rust’s unsafe Keyword: A Model for Accountability 4. Rust’s unsafe Keyword: A Model for Accountability Rust’s most powerful rule: You cannot perform dangerous operations without declaring them. cannot Want to mutate shared state? Bypass ownership? Access freed memory? You must write: unsafe {
// your risky code here
} This single word achieves three critical things: Warns everyone reading the code
Isolates potential damage
Pins responsibility squarely on the author Warns everyone reading the code Warns Isolates potential damage Isolates Pins responsibility squarely on the author Pins Contrast this with many modern institutions: They cloak overreach in vague statutes, “good intentions”, or perpetual emergencies. Rust refuses obfuscation. It forces explicitness. 5. Corruption Is a Design Flaw, Not Just a Moral One 5. Corruption Is a Design Flaw, Not Just a Moral One When people shrug, “Corruption is everywhere”, what they really mean is: “Power lacks sharp edges”. It thrives where: Authority is implicit rather than defined.
Mandates are broad and elastic.
Oversight is informal or absent. Authority is implicit rather than defined. Mandates are broad and elastic. Oversight is informal or absent. Rome countered this with codified law. Rust counters it with strict typing and lifetimes. Both enforce a simple rule: If you cannot precisely state what power you hold, you do not hold it. 6. Why Good Intentions Often Accelerate Decay 6. Why Good Intentions Often Accelerate Decay Broken systems are frequently defended with noble rhetoric: “For stability”
“To protect the vulnerable”
“In the name of democracy/emergency/humanity” “For stability” “To protect the vulnerable” “In the name of democracy/emergency/humanity” Intentions are not constraints. Rust ignores programmer intent. Rome ignored ruler intent. Both insisted in one question: What exact power does this grant, and what mechanism stops its abuse? What exact power does this grant, and what mechanism stops its abuse? Refuse to answer that leads to gradual drift, then sudden fracture. 7. The Core lesson 7. The Core lesson You don´t prevent abuse by pleading for better people. You prevent it by: Imposing hard limits on what can be done
Making every exception visible and temporary
Forcing accountability to be explicit and traceable Imposing hard limits on what can be done Making every exception visible and temporary Forcing accountability to be explicit and traceable This isn’t punitive. It’s kindness to future generations. 8. In Plain Language 8. In Plain Language Rust thrives because it refuses to trust programmers
Rome endured because it refuset to trust rulers
Many modern systems decay because they trust power too readily Rust thrives because it refuses to trust programmers Rome endured because it refuset to trust rulers Many modern systems decay because they trust power too readily trust power Freedom isn’t the absence of rules. It’s the presence of rules that even power cannot evade. A system that survives human vice has a far better chance than one that demands constant virtue. That’s what Rust teaches silicon. That’s what Rome once taught the world. What lessons are we choosing to ignore?

This story contains AI-generated text. The author has used AI either for research, to generate outlines, or write the text itself. 

The is an opinion piece based on the author’s POV and does not necessarily reflect the views of HackerNoon.

What Rust and the Roman Republic Teach Us About Broken Systems

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