Dear Friends,
It seems to me, when Rome needed a Solon, it got Marius and Sulla, today we in the West are at that moment in time, so what do you think, will we get a Marius and Sulla… or a Solon? These two stories are commonly known, or would be, were children educated rather than indoctrinated. All the problems we face as a people, have been faced before, and solved. We could look at their solutions and perhaps, if they don’t perfectly fit our situation, we can at least use them as templates that have worked in the past. All right economic systems seek to minimize the effect of the Price Curve/ Pareto Distribution. Driving everything into the hands of a very few. Capitalism makes everyone a “farmer,” capable of feeding oneself with his own labor instead of land. Before Capitalism, farming was the only way…
Ancient Athens was still under the laws of Draco who said, death should be the punishment for all infractions, but since death is the ultimate punishment, it shall have to do for the big infractions as well. The system of governance under those principles, couldn’t control the Price curve, and so all the land ended up in the hands of a few rich landowners… the rest of the Athenian population impoverished, since land was the only source of income, slaves did all the labor. The Pareto distribution became so pronounced societal upheaval became certain. In a city state, where all the people are known, like ancient Athens, a man of exceptional virtue has notoriety, as was Solon. He was democratically elected to solve the problems and he did.
Solon redistributed the land back to their traditional owners, and made the farmers who’s land was returned work, as slaves, for a month a year for whatever time, to get their land back. Neither was happy, but they at least didn’t have a civil war, along with the churn that brings. Athens was saved. Solon then set himself to writing a more just set of laws that would lower the impact of the Price curve/ Pareto distribution. One of his acts was to institute the Ostracism. Which he then called upon himself and was ostracized as a threat to democratic rule. Solon had several characteristics of problem solvers. He did not consider himself above his own laws, he was moral, sought to actually solve the problem rather than profit from it and put the interests of the people ahead of his own.
Ancient Rome had come to a similar situation, the economic Pareto distribution had made all the wealth gravitate into the hands of a few. Since slaves did the labor, there was no means of sustenance for the soldiers once they returned from fighting the psychopathic elite’s wars. Their wives had to sell their family land to the patricians. War heroes returned to slums. Anger got out of control and Sulla rode the wave into the Senate as a people’s tribune. The bulldozer Sulla was met by the rock Marius, who’s ego was only matched by his arrogance, bolstered by the certainty that while the situation may be dire for the plebeians, they had no right to complain… they were plebeians for goodness sake! The two factions came to a head and the patricians slaughtered each other with gusto. Very progressive!
In both historical cases, the economic Pareto distribution, or price curve, became so exacerbated that societal cohesion broke down. In the case of Athens, someone came to the rescue and solved the problem in a way that would work for another century. In Rome, that moment, the Marius and Sulla moment, was the start of the true downfall of the Roman system. Like a landslide still has momentum after it has all broken free, Rome continued to expand and feast, but at that moment, Rome as an idea ceased to exist in the minds of the Roman people. Their societal myth was gone. We are at that point. The economic price curve has empowered some to think themselves gods, as did Caesar, Crassus and Pompei. Will we get a Solon, be a group of Solons… else get our Marius and Sulla?
Sincerely,
John Pepin
