That the American Republic Appears to Degenerate Like the Roman Republic
To the People of the United States of America:
AS OF MARCH 30, 2022: THE RATIONIST IS BEING REVISED!
THE INITIAL DRAFTS OF THE RATIONIST WERE FIRST PUBLISHED ON APRIL 29, 2021.
SINCE THEN, THE PROPOSED AMENDMENT XXVIII HAS BEEN MODIFIED TO, AMONG OTHER THINGS, ALLOCATE ALL REVENUES TO THE STATES.
THE COMPLETE, FINAL RATIONIST WILL BE FIRST PUBLISHED IN LONDON, ENGLAND, ON THE BLIND SPOT, COMMENCING IN APRIL 2022.
EACH ESSAY WILL BE POSTED HERE SHORTLY AFTER INITIAL PUBLICATION ON THE BLIND SPOT, AND THE OFFICIAL RATIONIST WILL BE MADE AVAILABLE IN PDF FORMAT FOR DOWNLOAD SHORTLY THEREAFTER.
IN THE MEANTIME, REVIEW THIS SUMMARY WHICH GIVES AN OVERVIEW OF OUR OBJECTIVES, ALONG WITH OTHER MATERIALS ON THE HOME PAGE.
Ancient society was very different from modern society. The fundamental social problems facing the Gracchi were nevertheless similar to those we face today. Then as now: The fortunes of the rich were hurling into the stratosphere while the middle classes were crashing into the ground. Ever greater numbers of people were becoming dependent on subsidies. Traditional laws and customs came to be seen more as obstructions than as institutions of justice. Popular leaders grew ever more brazen. Popular government was warped into an instrument of patronage. The spirit of moderation was being frayed.
Twice in the past three thousand years, civilization – both Ancient and Western – began in many fragmented monarchies. Twice, monarchies ended in tyrannies. Twice, power was diffused to landed aristocracies. Twice, aristocracy curtailed tyrannies. Twice, aristocracies hardened into oligarchies. Twice, the people revolted against oligarchies. Twice, wealth was sufficiently diffused to create middle economic strata – middling classes. Twice, the middling classes brought democracies into existence.
If only the parallels ended there. But they don’t. Twice, the wealth and prosperity brought by democracy created men of “new money”; plutocracies of wealth. Twice, the plutocracies of leading cultures plundered citizens and foreigners alike, expanding their hegemony. Twice, the people fell into economic distress as wealth was concentrated and society was stratified. Twice, civil society was polarized as the middling virtues of moderation disintegrated alongside the middle classes.
What else will happen to civilization twice? Will it be said that twice, the middle stratum was swept away? That twice, the forces of democracy and plutocracy fought for control? That twice, democracy was perverted into a contest between ambitious demagogues? That twice, a great republic descended into violent revolution? That twice, the tournament of demagogues ended with one champion? That twice, democracy died, leaving only its rituals behind? And that twice, this sequence of evolution had been predicted, but only a few people ever heard of Anacyclosis?
GRACCHUS.
