The above quotation comes to us by the incomparable Saint Augustine, and the meaning behind these sage words, is that when principalities and kingdoms conduct their business without justice, that because of their scale and size, these should be seen as great robberies upon the people, of which, further compounding this injustice, that principality or kingdom typically does such, with total impunity.
A given nation is only as good as its governance and when that governance is consistently unfair, unequal, unjust, and discriminatory, in which certain peoples and personages are the favored few -- as contrasted to the majority of the people who are the unfavored many, then this is in its effect, a great robbery on the people, made worse by the fact that those who are persecuted and subsequently incarcerated or punished, are seldom the biggest robbers, but rather are robbers on a much lesser scale.
No country deserves the moniker of being great if it is not fair, just, and equal to those who are the citizens of that nation. Indeed, whenever our government lies to us, deceives, us, keeps unnecessary secrets, and hides what it is doing supposedly on behalf of the people, by saying that it cannot disclose necessary information to the general public or an independent agency, because of its need to protect the national security and therefore is not forthcoming to its citizens, this then is a country that is operating not under the consent of the governed, but rather is operative under the consent of those that are its true actuators -- typically accomplished for the benefit of well-connected individuals, entities, agencies, and corporations.
That nation that truly desires to be great, must recognize intuitively that it needs to be a nation of justice, and when it is clear to the citizenry that there is no justice for them, there will not be any lasting peace, because when a people know that not all is right, they will chafe at the chains that have been unjustly foisted upon them.
The more unjust a nation is the more dissent, disunion, and incivility there will be, and no matter how disciplinary that nation’s governance is, we find that a people who are oppressed, cannot rest until they see that there will be justice. So too, the hypocrisy of “don’t do the crime, if you can’t do the time” is demonstrated by governments that commit injustices upon the people, again and again, but hold themselves above the law; whereas, the people are left to feel the full fury of that same law upon them.
That government that governs best, is that government that is most just and most transparent in the words and actions so taken on behalf of the people, that they are meant to dutifully serve. Those who are good stewards of the people’s needs are the foundation of what a proper government should be, for in actuality a nation is only as good as those who are its leaders, who are first and foremost, diligent in their duty to do right by those that they serve, by being just, by being fair, and by being accountable and open to the people.