Patriots, traitors and opportunists

OUTSIDE THE BOX

tKings always carried a bad reputation. This is probably because the Judeo/Christian Bible provides a chronology of the kings of Judea and Israel, most of them characterized as “bad.” On the top was Ahab who kept fighting the prophets of Jehovah. Of course, Ahab built a temple to the Canaanite deity Baal and also had a local leader executed so he could take his ancestral land for a palace vegetable garden.

However, there were many “good ” kings like the Babylonian Hammurabi that decided laws should be written down—Code of Hammurabi —and not made up as you go along.

The reign of the Persian King Cyrus the Great is partially described in the “Cyrus Cylinder.” The United Nations declared the relic to be an “ancient declaration of human rights.”

The European feudal system was a social and economic hierarchy. At the top was the King who was the government, ruled the kingdom and owned all the land. When you think about it, “democracy” has only replaced the individual with an institution. King Louis XIV of France supposedly said “L’Etat, c’est moi”—I am the state. Today the government is the state and the state is the government.

Below the King were the Nobles that leased land from the government. In return they had to provide the King with Knights to wage war and had to pay rent and taxes. To meet their obligations, these Lords gave some of the land to knights. The knights went to war and also made sure the Peasants and Serfs worked the land to provide crops, livestock and services—perhaps foot massages—to the others higher up the food chain.

Most monarchs stayed in office until they died. Interestingly, when a king was thrown out of office it was usually by another family member and not by someone lower on the hierarchy. Abolishing the monarchy, on the time line of history, is a very recent development. Further, rarely did a Noble move up to king. That meant getting the support of many other Lords of the Manor and pretty much killing the entire royal family.

Most Nobles were inclined to support the monarch believing that in the long run, the stability of the government were more important than their own personal ambitions. These were the patriots. However, bad kings maintained their power and even prospered because these “patriots” were not willing to take direct action. Julius Caesar gained more power and authority even as the Roman Senate feared Caesar becoming a dictator.

Some nobles cared more about their own future and maneuvered to position themselves to overthrow and replace a King whether that king was good or bad. These were the traitors. They can be identified because they are quick to put themselves forward as the ideal replacement for the former monarch.

Decimus Junius Brutus Albinus —not the famous Brutus—was a distant cousin of Caesar whom Caesar had given several key and critical military commands that made his career. However, Decimus Brutus was convinced that the assignation plot against Caesar would succeed and that the perpetrators would take power. Decimus was an opportunist who cared only a little about the state and more about making sure no matter what happened, he would prosper.

We are approaching 2019. The names have changed. The “players” are the same.

o understand 2018 politics, you must understand the politics of 1018, more particularly in Europe between the eighth and 14th centuries. this was the time when the political system we call “feudalism” flourished. While much of the economic aspects of that time have vanished, the basic political structure is similar today.