Thanks 21twelve.
Posted on 06/23/2020 2:49:29 AM PDT by C19fan
In the ancient world, even when food shortages or famine were vaguely blamed on “the gods,” they often resulted in assassinations, coups, riots, revolution, or war. Chinese history is also instructive, with good times said to represent the “mandate of heaven” for an emperor, and bad times and hunger said to show the loss of divine sanction and to provide a basis for rebellion. And the connection between cold weather harvest failures and the French Revolution is well-established in modern history.
I’d worry more about the 8 or 9 volcanoes in the Cascades than the Yellowstone caldera.
I blame the Gracchi brothers. Well-intentioned, but demagogues nonetheless.
If not, a good excuse to rebel and uproot the order.
Thanks 21twelve.
With an Okmok here, and an Okmok there, here an ok, there a mok, everywhere an Okmok...
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The Republic fell because the senate got corrupt to the point of stupid.
“Don’t know if you may be referring to the Mike Duncan “History of Rome” podcast; a most excellent series.”
How does one find a podcast?
A useful tool to process any historical circumstance such as the collapse of the Roman Republic is “political efficacy.”
The “efficacious” political system 1) provides for the needs of the people; and 2) responds to their will.
The Romans were obsessed with Tradition and Law (and war), which yielded incredible growth, prosperity, and a continually wider distribution of power. But following the Punic Wars, the needs of expansion clashed with its benefits, which neither tradition nor law could accommodate. In terms of political efficacy, both the Senate and the Tribunates failed to respond to the changing conditions and popular demands.
Instead, the laws became more rigid while violations of it became more rampant, viz. Gracchi bros. Each continuing episode yielded more law and more violations thereof. For example, Sulla codified the cursus honorum, which was previously followed by tradition, especially regarding age limits for the various offices. However, by codifying it, Sulla instead installed the basis for its violation by Pompey, whose ambition far outran his age, but whose ambition was fueled by the popularity of his conquests.
There’s truly no comparable place or time to this period, but the American Founders fully understood its implications and created a system that has allowed for dissent, adjustment, and continuity — so far.
“Don’t know if you may be referring to the Mike Duncan “History of Rome” podcast; a most excellent series.”
How does one find a podcast?
—
Go to iTunes: https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/the-history-of-rome/id261654474
Interesting. Add it into the AGW models.
Thanks.
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