Posted on 05/09/2018 8:00:09 AM PDT by Yashcheritsiy
Even in the mostly egalitarian city-states of relatively poor classical Greece, the wealthy were readily identifiable. A man of privilege was easy to spot by his remarkable possession of a horse, the fine quality of his tunic, or by his mastery of Greek syntax and vocabulary.
An anonymous and irascible Athenian author—dubbed “The Old Oligarch” by the nineteenth-century British classicist Gilbert Murray—wrote a bitter diatribe known as “The Constitution of the Athenians.” The harangue, composed in the late fifth century B.C., blasted the liberal politics and culture of Athens. The grouchy elitist complained that poor people in Athens don’t get out of the way of rich people. He was angry that only in radically democratic imperial Athens was it hard to calibrate a man by his mere appearance: “You would often hit an Athenian citizen by mistake on the assumption that he was a slave. For the people there are no better dressed than the slaves and metics, nor are they any more handsome.”
The Old Oligarch’s essay reveals an ancient truth about privilege and status. Throughout history, the elite in most of the Western world were easy to distinguish. Visible class distinctions characterized ancient Rome, Renaissance Florence, the Paris of the nineteenth century, and the major cities of twentieth century America.
A variety of recent social trends and revolutionary economic breakthroughs have blurred the line separating the elite from the masses.
(Excerpt) Read more at victorhanson.com ...
I like VDH, and there are many good points in this piece, but the B.S. phrase “.... But Amazon, Facebook and Google operate virtual monopolies, the influence of which exceeds the oil, rail, steel, and banking trusts of the Gilded Age.” is simply silly. Few Americans had a choice about using, albeit occasionally indirectly, oil, rail and steel, but no one *needs* Google, Amazon or Facebook to survive or even have an enjoyable life.
Tell that to the senior shut-in who depends on all three to allow him to stay at home rather than risk his neck on the road or move to an assisted living facility.
That being said, I don’t want them regulated. I want a free-wheeling capitalist economy that allows competition to flourish that will give said 3 companies a run for their money.
But oil, steel, railroads, and banks? They made every aspect of commerce work in 19th century America. Everybody was touched by them every single day. Every product you purchased was delivered and likely financed by those industries.
The liberal epithet of "robber barons" makes me furious. Read "The Myth of the Robber Barons: A New Look at the Rise of Big Business in America" by Burton W. Folsom for a more honest appraisal of the men who built businesses and transformed America.
Correct.
and my mother was a ‘shut in’ and did just fine with email and the phone, plus even -gasp- writing actual letters. nobody “needs” FB, google or amazon.
Personally I simply do not care in the slightest about the politics, donations, statements, lifestyle, appearance or perceived reputation of any entity I do business with, musician I listen to or actor I might watch; the *only* criteria is ‘do I get value for my money’, period.
The opinions of others, who insist on ideological and/or moral alignment and/or purity of those they do business with are their business, and they are free to vote with their pocketbook, too. Freedom is great.
Jesus dressed down, too, VDH. Gotta problem with that?
This concept of "need" is subjective in modern society. A lot of people believe they need something, and so it has the equivalence in their mind to a real need.
Did people need to ride the rail road? Couldn't they have just walked? Or stayed put?
Need is a matter of opinion. It isn't treated as an absolute.
Yes, the poor gas station owner would eventually be able to wipe out Standard Oil if he was just given enough time.
Years ago I had my eyes opened on this concept, by a book. It was called "The Rhinemann Exchange." It was about trading diamonds to the Nazis in exchange for blueprints for a flight control gyroscope.
It made me realize that simply looking at the quality of merchandise with no concern about what the seller intends to do with the money is very very foolish.
Google is Nazi. They are going to Nazi us to death if we allow them to do so. They cannot be left alone. We cannot ignore them and hope they go away any more than the Jews could ignore Hitler and hope he went away.
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