https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=80omf7bM3Ek
For hundreds of years, iron was produced by finding particular bogs where bacteria concentrated the iron, and through the use of fire the iron was extracted and turned into something useful and valuable.
The iron age massively democratized warfare. Whereas in the bronze age metal weapons and armor were rare and valuable and only owned by the elites, in the iron age massive armies could be outfitted with metal weapons and armor.
Although it's debatable, some historians believe that this democratization of warfare also helped contribute to new forms of government such as democracy and the republic.
For hundreds of years, iron was produced by finding particular bogs where bacteria concentrated the iron, and through the use of fire the iron was extracted and turned into something useful and valuable.
The iron age massively democratized warfare. Whereas in the bronze age metal weapons and armor were rare and valuable and only owned by the elites, in the iron age massive armies could be outfitted with metal weapons and armor.
Although it's debatable, some historians believe that this democratization of warfare also helped contribute to new forms of government such as democracy and the republic.
There have been examples of actual democracy throughout history where anyone meeting a certain criteria is entitled to vote on how things go.
Ancient Athens is one of the earliest examples, but its example was chosen by the founders of the United States as an example of why one would want a republic like the romans rather than a democracy like Athens. In both societies, it should be noted that there was a massive slave class which sort of messes with the concept of democracy or the republic as we conceive of it today
Middle ages Switzerland also had direct democracy in some cantons, though the different cantons were subject to their own laws and methods so some were more democratic and some were more republican. The examples of direct democracy was far from perfect, with people democratically voting to suppress the minority's human rights at times, and a big problem of the rich dominating politics.
Middle ages Scandinavia and Iceland had regional assemblies called "Things"(no, really), where any land owning man could come and participate in the rule making process. While Scandinavia had them in regions, Iceland had an entire national government set up this way. This sounds good, except that in those regions in the 10th century, land ownership was often tied to social status, so you might get a vote because your dad was friends with an important person, and your buddy might not because it wasn't common to just purchase land the way we think of it today.
So yeah, I suppose you could say "democracy" in quotation marks since most examples of direct democracy throughout the ages had some serious caveats usually tied to social class...
Ancient Athens is one of the earliest examples, but its example was chosen by the founders of the United States as an example of why one would want a republic like the romans rather than a democracy like Athens. In both societies, it should be noted that there was a massive slave class which sort of messes with the concept of democracy or the republic as we conceive of it today
Middle ages Switzerland also had direct democracy in some cantons, though the different cantons were subject to their own laws and methods so some were more democratic and some were more republican. The examples of direct democracy was far from perfect, with people democratically voting to suppress the minority's human rights at times, and a big problem of the rich dominating politics.
Middle ages Scandinavia and Iceland had regional assemblies called "Things"(no, really), where any land owning man could come and participate in the rule making process. While Scandinavia had them in regions, Iceland had an entire national government set up this way. This sounds good, except that in those regions in the 10th century, land ownership was often tied to social status, so you might get a vote because your dad was friends with an important person, and your buddy might not because it wasn't common to just purchase land the way we think of it today.
So yeah, I suppose you could say "democracy" in quotation marks since most examples of direct democracy throughout the ages had some serious caveats usually tied to social class...
Good point.
Our modern viewpoint is that we're the smartest we've ever been but our society has gone through massive changes just in the past 100 years, and it isn't clear that the changes we've made will produce a robust civilization that can last more than a few generations.
Certainly our global financial system for the past 50 years has been a house of cards built on eternally exponential debt growth, and part of that is from letting everyone have a say whether they had a stake in the outcome or not. Might as well give everyone everything they ask for if the money isn't real and most voters won't have to pay for it anyway.
Our modern viewpoint is that we're the smartest we've ever been but our society has gone through massive changes just in the past 100 years, and it isn't clear that the changes we've made will produce a robust civilization that can last more than a few generations.
Certainly our global financial system for the past 50 years has been a house of cards built on eternally exponential debt growth, and part of that is from letting everyone have a say whether they had a stake in the outcome or not. Might as well give everyone everything they ask for if the money isn't real and most voters won't have to pay for it anyway.
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I tend to agree with you.
In some ways, this moment in American history in particular reminds me of the ancient Greeks. They ended up using a surprise win against the Persians as justification for everyone to pay them to keep the region safe, and they used the money for things like the pantheon. Thing is, that didn't last forever, and the Greek civilization was ultimately taken over by the less decadent roman civilization. In the same way, we see the American dollar being the reserve currency of the world and as a result massive amounts of capital flow into the United States, but that's a tiny historical aberration that won't last forever.
In some ways, this moment in American history in particular reminds me of the ancient Greeks. They ended up using a surprise win against the Persians as justification for everyone to pay them to keep the region safe, and they used the money for things like the pantheon. Thing is, that didn't last forever, and the Greek civilization was ultimately taken over by the less decadent roman civilization. In the same way, we see the American dollar being the reserve currency of the world and as a result massive amounts of capital flow into the United States, but that's a tiny historical aberration that won't last forever.