This environment encouraged the rise of specialists—ivory sculptors, craftsmen, barbers, weavers, carpenters, goldsmiths, doctors, etc. To harness this financial power, guilds and unions were formed, called shrenis (singular “shreni”).148
No Women Allowed
The shrenis excluded women so the family secrets could be carefully guarded. Newly-wed daughters usually moved in with their in-laws, and father’s didn’t want their trade secrets moving with them, to be shared by accident or under pressure with the new in-laws. Not so with the sons. They usually stayed home with their new brides and therefore could be entrusted with the secrets of the family trade.
Mixing Private With Public
Some shrenis grew so large that entire villages developed around them with every villager focused on just one task or service. The caste system, the religion, and the shrenis subordinated individual rights at every level. With local governments enforcing the protectionist rules, any artisan seeking to become independent could be punished or banished for attempting to compete outside of the established shreni.
The caste system was so entrenched in early Indian society that those of a lower class felt intensely uncomfortable being around those of a higher class. It was an automatic suppression that was achieved without soldier or weapon. It perpetuated itself by way of cultural control of knowledge about freedom and rights. It was the seven pillars of socialism at work.
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147 See Kiran Kumar Thaplyal, Guilds in Ancient India, 1966.
148 See Romila Thapar, Ancient Indian Social History: Some Interpretations, pp. 129-133.
Chapter 19: Aristophanes: Socialist Ideas “In the Round”
People from all ages love entertainment, as demonstrated by the discovery of ancient coliseums and performance places. As early as 400 B.C., stage plays promoting socialism became popular.
WHEN: 400 B.C
WHERE: Greece
STORY: Not much is known about Aristophanes (446 B.C.-386 B.C.) except from the glimpses he gives of himself in his plays. He was a prolific prize-winning writer, and produced numerous extravagant and popular plays.
Aristophanes is best known for his great sense of comedy and a knack for ridiculing the famous and powerful—something that people in high positions actually worried about. Some scholars give Aristophanes credit for providing more accurate information and description of ancient Athenian culture than any other writer.
Socialism “Live On Stage”
Aristophanes enjoyed proselytizing his views on Plato’s socialism. In his play, The Ecclesiazusae, he has a woman named Praxagora joining several other women who dress in men’s clothing and beards to attend the “men only” political Assembly. Afterwards, in a discussion with her husband Blepyrus, she explains her views on the ideal society. Says Praxagora:
“I want all to have a share of everything, and all property to be in common; there will no longer be either rich or poor; no longer shall we see one man harvesting vast tracts of land, while another has not ground enough to be buried in ... I intend that there shall only be one and the same condition of life for all ... I shall begin by making land, money, everything that is private property, common to all.”
All Things in Common—Including Women
But alas and forsooth, that is not all that the characters in the play hoped to achieve. Aristophanes foreshadowed future socialistic experiments regarding marriage when he had his fictional Praxagora discuss men and women in common:
“I intend that women shall belong to all men in common, and each shall beget children by any man that wishes to have her.”
Then Blepyrus observes the obvious, “But all will go to the prettiest woman and try to lay her.”
To which Praxagora explains the socialist’s solution: “The ugliest and the most flat-nosed will be side by side with the most charming, and to win the latter’s favours, a man will first have to get to the former.”
Aristophanes’ theme of “all things in common” is found in several of his surviving plays.149
WHEN: 100 BC
WHERE: Mediterranean Lands—more socialist literature
STORY: About two centuries after Plato’s death, the Greek historian Diodorus Siculus re-created Plato’s ideas in a story. In one dreamy place that Diodorus called the “sunny islands” (in the Indian Ocean), he manufactures a fictitious re-creation of Plato’s Republic. On these islands the 400 inhabitants labored for each other and freely shared in all things.
“Marriage is unknown to them; instead they enjoy communal wives; children are brought up in common as they belong to the whole of the community and are equally loved by all. Frequently, it so happens that nurses exchange babies that are suckling so that even mothers do not recognize their children.”
These fictional people lived to age 150, were unusually tall, and anyone with a physical defect was expected to commit suicide.150
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149 See Aristophanes, The Ecclesiazusae, translated by Thomas Bushnell.
150 Robert von Pohlmann, The Sunny Islands, as quoted in The Socialist Phenomenon, Igor Shafarevich, p. 15.
Chapter 20: Rome’s Recipe: Bread & Circuses
In the Roman Senate, support for Ruler’s Law came as cheaply as a free loaf of bread or a small sack of grain.
STORY: Around 140 B.C., Roman politicians applied that old sure-fire formula to stay in power: buy votes with bread. Their easiest target were the poor people who happily exchanged their supporting votes for food and entertainment.
At the time, things were not well in Rome. Much of the populace had neglected their participation in the political affairs of the Republic. The average Roman was content to leave the drama and intrigue of national leadership in the able hands of professional politicians. National neglect left a dangerous void. But with free bread or small bags of wheat handed out, thanks to the benevolence of those in power, why worry?
The free lunch strategy wasn’t enough to settle the concerns of the politicians. The fact that the country was falling apart was hard to hide, and the politicians used the best anesthesia they had—Monday Night Football—or, in their day, The Circus. These huge parades of blood and action grew into grand spectacles and extravaganzas of the exotic. They drew thousands of spectators.
The distraction worked well for more than a century. While people were glued to the drama at the stadiums to watch chariot races or helpless slaves shredded by lions, or re-enactments of battles with real killings, an iron-willed emperor slipped into the Senate and transformed the weakened republic into an empire. His name was Julius Caesar, a savvy student of Ruler’s Law.
The Roman citizens could do little to stop the takeover—but the prevailing attitude appears to have been, why worry so long as we have bread and circuses?
The Roman promise of bread and circuses (panem et cirenses) has since been mimicked around the world as Spain’s “bread and bullfights” (pan y toros), Russia’s “bread and spectacle,” and America’s “tax, spend and bailout,” among others.
Chapter 21: Israel and the Elusive Essenes
Religious extremists were some of the first to discover “all things in common” is a really bad idea. The Essenes tried it between 100 B.C. and A.D. 100. Did it work?
STORY: Josephus, Philo and other early historians reported that the Essenes were the smaller of three Jewish sects (Essenes, Pharisees, Sadducees), that flourished for a couple of centuries around the time of Christ. The Essenes became noticed around 100 B.C. They were found among several cities according to Philo, but Pliny the Elder (died A.D. 79) puts them off the shores of the Dead Sea at Ein Gedi and probably at Qumran, site of the discovery of the Dead Sea Scrolls.151
The Essenes lived a strict life of celibacy and no private property. All money and property was held in common. It was a self-imposed socialism where they practiced religious rites of com
munalism (all things in common) for the purposes of worshiping God. They ate no meat nor offered animal sacrifice.
The leader was supreme in all things and whatever orders he issued, everyone obeyed. There is evidence the leader might also have had traditional Jewish authority in his bloodline from his ancestral connection to the priesthood tribe of Levi.
The Essenes practiced daily baptisms, voluntary poverty, and would not swear oaths. They tried controlling their tempers, and vowed abstinence from all worldly pleasures, including marriage and sexual intimacy. Sometime around A.D. 100, the sect disappeared.
2,000 Year-Old Best Seller
Knowledge of their existence came alive with the discovery of the Dead Sea Scrolls in Qumran. Some scholars believe these scrolls belonged to the Essenes’ community library. Many of the scrolls have been translated and were found to include copies and versions of the Hebrew Bible dating back to 300 B.C.
* * *
151 See references to Essenes in Josephus, The Wars of the Jews, Antiquities of the Jews; Philo; Epiphanius, among others.
Chapter 22: China: Wang Mang, a Failed Socialist
STORY: After a thousand years of all-powerful emperors in China controlling everyone and everything, a man came along who was the epitome of utopian scheming—Wang Mang. Was he a great visionary or a royal incompetent? It is still debated.
Wang Mang152 ruled from A.D. 9-23. He set out to start a dynasty of selfless social reform, and end the Han Dynasty with its wealthy class of land owners. He called his dynasty Xin, meaning “new.”
Once in power, he nationalized gold, imposed government monopolies, and went after the large-land owners to break up their power. He imposed communal farming and forced families to farm a plot shared by others. The food they raised went to the local rulers who then gave part to Wang Mang as tribute.
Wang Mang was not a good diplomat. His arrogance and frequent faux pas in the presence of foreign heads of state ruined international relations. Diplomacy as a tool to resolve differences with countries collapsed. This led to wars, death and misery.
If that wasn’t enough, one year the Yellow River suddenly changed course and started flowing south—not his fault, but his strident regimentation offered no solutions. The lack of water ruined the agriculture and caused panic, famine, and epidemics. Great masses of people started moving around for greener pastures.
The people finally gave up on Wang Mang and tossed him out. The wealthy and nobility banded together, with the military, and took their country back, reinstating the Han dynasty. Unfortunately, it was too little too late. Enemies watching from afar saw a vulnerable and fractured country, and launched an attack. They sacked the capital city of Chang’an. Wang Mang and his personal guard of 1,000 took their last stand but all of them were killed. Thus ended his short and confusing reign.
History remembers Wang Mang as a failure. China learned once again, as its people were limping about in chaos and ruins in A.D. 23, that the seven pillars of socialism can neither build nor prosper them.
* * *
152 See Rudi Thomsen, Ambition and Confucianism: A biography of Wang Mang, 1988.
Chapter 23: How Socialism Killed Rome
After a few centuries of strict government control, the slow death of Rome’s love affair with “the dole” finally took its toll.
Story: Rome’s experiment with the Seven Pillars of Socialism destroyed the empire from within, in just a few centuries.153
During the first century B.C., a great civil war sapped the strength of Rome.154 Mark Antony led rebellious troops to conquer Octavian for control, but Mark Antony was defeated. This was supposed to mean a return to economic freedom. However, the Roman empire was drained of its endurance. The army was sucking huge taxes from the people. Heavy inflation was underway and the means to rejuvenate the economy were blocked by closed trade routes. Over time the people concluded that only by putting all power into one individual could they get Rome’s financial house in order. They gave that power to Octavian who took the name Augustus, the first emperor of Rome in 27 B.C.
The Dole Drains
Since 140 B.C., Rome had informally adopted its expensive policy of bread and circuses. This steady drain on resources was tolerable at first. When the policy hit full stride under Tiberius Gracchus in 123 B.C., its popularity was drawing crowds by the thousands. Some 80 years later (40 B.C.) the empire was supporting more than 320,000 Romans. This number dropped to a steady 200,000 by A.D. 30. Bread was not the only handout in those days—sometimes free pork, oil, and wine were added.155
Welfare Pushes Taxes Higher
The free food forced taxes up. For two centuries the tax rate had hovered between the miniscule margins of .01 and .03 percent.156 By the early A.D. 100s, taxes rose to 1 percent. Roman coinage began to suffer. The denarius started to lose precious metal content—down to 90 percent during Nero’s time (circa A.D. 60). By A.D. 300, there was hardly 5 percent silver in the coins. With high taxes and military costs skyrocketing, Rome’s money was becoming worthless. The government was forced to take extreme measures. It began confiscating food and manufactured goods directly from the citizens. Soldiers went about taking people’s cows, pigs, harvests, and crafted goods, whenever the need arose.157
This mess locked everyone into their jobs—nobody could easily change. The state compelled them to work their jobs to support the army. This caused many to hide their wealth so the state couldn’t take it.
People Seek Escape
As the economy broke down, people fled to work their own plots, or took safety with a wealthy land owner. By A.D. 270, the denarius was down to .02 percent silver, causing food prices to explode. One estimate put inflation at 15,000 percent during the third century.
The crisis was so severe the rulers took extreme action to stabilize the economy. For example, the death penalty was imposed on those caught fixing prices. Hundreds were executed for the least little infractions.
A local historian, Lactantius, reported that so much blood was shed that products were no longer brought to market for fear some oversight or suspicion would result in instant death. Fortunately, the death law was finally repealed. But that didn’t stop the oppression—there were still wars to be fought.
The Cost of Defense
To distribute the burden of Rome’s expensive wars, the state calculated precisely what one soldier required in food and supplies. This, multiplied by all the soldiers, told the emperor how much each individual Roman citizen had to contribute.
Then, the emperor went forward with a monstrous inventory, counting every fruit tree and vine, every square foot of cultivatable land, every animal, and every living soul. Using this information, each citizen’s responsibility was spelled out so they could pay in advance and avoid surprise confiscations.
Forced Unionization
Another approach to calming the raging inflation was forcing workers to organize into guilds, and businesses into collegia, both controlled from above. This structure forced workers to remain chained to their jobs. People hated that and rebelled by abandoning their farms, hoarding, refusing to trade, and suddenly the number of people dependent on bread grew to exceed the capacity of those producing all the bread.
Collapsing Currency
Efforts to restore the currency failed to stem the tide of collapse. The wealthy had managed to bribe their way out of paying taxes, and the impoverished workers had been shouldering almost all the financial burdens. Taxes climbed to 4.5 percent in A.D. 444, but revenues continued to fall as the people started to withdraw from society. They could see their country coming apart—the government, the economy, and the security of the borderlands.
Rome’s Collapse Comes as a Relief
The final few years saw no income to finance Rome’s mighty army, its ships, and its forts, or, to fight the invading forces. When Rome finally collapsed in A.D. 476, the scattered
citizens grouped around the churches and villas, and willingly offered themselves as servants, slaves or tenants—anything to just stay alive. By then, the collapse was seen more as a relief than anything else—a relief to be out from under the decay and tyranny and burdens of that society.
With the former empire’s defenses dissolved away into the countrysides, the invaders had free reign of the great production that once dominated the land. But unlike other conquering hoards, the barbarians were not bent on wiping out every last person—only the Roman government. With that disposed of, the invaders allowed the business people, the landowners, and their workers to remain because such concentrations of capability and wealth gave the invaders more resources to tax, tax, and tax. It was the late A.D. 400s, the start of western Europe’s so-called dark ages.
Socialism in the Ancient World
A sign of socialism is the control of information. For ages, the European continent was under various dictators who suppressed the growth of cultures and civilizations to maintain their power. Once those shackles began to fall by the A.D. 1200s, an enormous enlightenment unfolded.
The Greek influence had already been popular and widespread before Rome’s rise and had a large influence after Rome’s fall. Monuments, statues, ceremony with pomp and circumstance to institutionalize the coronation of the new ruler was very appealing to both friend and foe. Spiritual stability in the worship of Greek and Roman gods developed alongside economic prosperity. In short, the individual in the Mediterranean region enjoyed more freedom of action after Rome’s fall than did his predecessors living under Rome’s imperi-alism.
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