[river rat]

"Ethiopia had a thousand year history back when the Magna Carta was little more than a fitful nightmare for autocratic English kings."

Longevity is a measure of time, not of value or desirability. Some of the oldest "societies" existing today - have still journeyed little distance since the bronze age.

Semper Fi

[EnochPowellWasRight]

"Longevity is a measure of time, not of value or desirability. Some of the oldest "societies" existing today - have still journeyed little distance since the bronze age."

Not to mention that England itself had a "thousand year" history before the Magna Carta was written. In fact, longer.

[zimdog]

Longevity is a measure of time, not of value or desirability. Some of the oldest "societies" existing today - have still journeyed little distance since the bronze age.

Perhaps. But my post was addressing your initial statement, in which you seem to ascribe more than a little importance to longevity: "A society that can not succeed in the execution of folks like these - regardless of any protection provided, is a society that will not long survive." (Emphasis added.)