Peace, Hope and Love

Three of the most sought after words in the English language--peace, hope and love.  Who could not but want these three words to be an expression of their life? I iam sure there are some, such as the five Islamic terrorists who recently killed 31 persons in Brussels.  Many prayers often contain these words, but of the prayers, one stand out in it combination of these basic life.  It is said to be the second most recognizable prayer in the United States, if not the Western world. Named for a saint who did not pen it, it was likely created in the early 20th century.  The prayer has been quoted by a variety of governmental officials.  President Bill Clinton quoted it upon Pope John Paul II arrival at the United Nations.  Nancy Peolosi quoted it upon being voted as Speaker of the House, and John Boehner quoted when he announced last September he was stepping down as Speaker of the House. In Europe, Margaret Thatcher paraphased it upon her arrival at 10 Downing Street as Prime Minister of England.  In India, Mother Teresa made it part of the daily prayers of her congregation.  South African Anglican Bishop noted it was an integral part of his devotions.  However, as basic to human needs and desires as the prayer of St. Francis is, it is much more difficult to follow and live the basic tenants professed.
     Lord, make me and instrument of your peace;
     Where there is hatred, let me sow love;

St. Francis

The prayer is thought to have first appeared in 1912 in a French Catholic periodical, with no known author, although some believe the priest who placed it in the journal was the one who penned the prayer.  We do know that it became famous during World War I when Pope Benedict the XV asked that it be distributed as a means to counter to the dark forces which had gathered in Europe.  When printed in the United States the opposite side of a prayer card was an image of Saint Francis of Assisi.  Hence, leading to its commonly attributed name.  It is possible the prayer evolved over time in spoken language before it was put in writing, but there is no evidence in the historical record to date this type of occurence.  While not in the dialect of the Umbrian region from which St. Francis hailed, the prayer does utlize themes emphaszied by this highly regarded man.
     Where there is injury, pardon;
     Where there is doubt, faith;

John Paul II meeting with Mehmet Ali Agca

In our walk through life we have heroes who stand out for what they have accomplished. Individual actions can make a difference.  They make up part of the thousand points of light made famous by President George H. W. Bush.  Some who have seen tragedy and mayhem often express themselves in wanting justice.  It is often the death penalty.  Think back to the bombing in Oklahoma City when President Bill Clinton mentioned how the government would find the perpetrators and bring them to justice and the death penalty.  But, is this the easy way out?  Some take a more difficult path, often brought about by deep thought and prayer.  Killing another may mean justice, but it will never bring a daughter, son, sister, brother, mother or father back.  Emmet Welch, whose daughter died in the Oklahoma City bombing understood this when he spoke against the death penalty for Timothy McVeigh.  He also met with McVeigh's father.  Pope John Paul understood forgiveness and mercy when he met with Mehmet Ali Agca two years after having been shot.  Agca reciprocated this gesture when he laid a wreath at the grave of the late Pope in 2014, 31 years to the day after the Pope met with him in his prison cell.  Of course, John Paul is a saint, and one could say that is what you would expect from a saint.  Yet, forgiveness can be in grained.  In the movie "The Mission" the Guarani Indians forgave Rodrigo Mendoza who had killed or captured and sold some tribe members into slavery.
      Where there is despair, hope;
      Where there is darkness, light;
      Where there is sadness, joy.

Mehmet Ali Agca at Vatican, December, 27 2014

It does not take a saint to forgive.  One other example is Tina Chery.  Her fifteen year old son, Louis Brown was shot dead in 1993.  Louis wanted to be an engineer,  He wanted more from those in the African-American community to counter gang violence.  That is why he joined the organization Teens Against Gang Violence.  As fate would have it, Louis Brown was shot in the mid-afternoon a few days before Christmas in gang crossfire as he made his way to the Teens Against Gang Violence Christmas party.  His mother grieved, but within a year set up the Louis Brown Peace Institute.  She struggled with how she should act.  Like John Paul, she visited the man who killed her son.  She notes when someone is killed, two mothers suffer, two fathers suffer, and two sets of siblings suffer. The mother of the boy who killed her son now volunteers with the institute.  Tina helps her community.  Families of those who see loss, and families of those who committed the horrible deed.
     O divine Master, grant that I may not so much seek
     To be consoled as to console,
     To be understood as to understand,
     To be loved as to love;

Anglican Archbishop Desmond Tutu

In a recent story on Tina Chery, Margaret Egan concludes with the following:

A year ago, on Good Friday at St. Patrick’s Cathedral in New York, the renowned Jesuit James Martin offered reflections on Christ’s last words, including, “Forgive them for they know not what they do.” In “Seven Last Words,” his short book on those reflections, he referred again to the type of “radical forgiveness” Christ showed on the cross and how some of us — the Tina Chérys among us — manage to achieve such radical forgiveness, too. It is very powerful, but very rare. Yet when we see it, we recognize it, he said. We remember it and even yearn for it. For we understand “that this is how God wants us to live,” and that we have seen in such forgiveness a glimpse, in a human being, of the divine.

Tina Chery

Ms. Chery works for peace and forgiveness. She looks to give hope to despair, much like what she has accomplished since the death of her son Louis.   She understands the true meaning of forgiveness and mercy from personal experience.  Emmet Welch understood that as well.  So too  did Pope John Paul II, when he bestowed on Ms. Chery the honor of being a Lady of the Order of St. Gregory the Great, the highest honor bestowed on a lay Catholic.  Few persons better exemplify the principles, and in particular the concluding words, of the Prayer of Saint Francis.  On this Good Friday, let us think beyond the fish fry, the colored eggs, to what is the true meaning of why Christ died on the cross.
     For it is in giving that we receive;
     It is in pardoning that we are pardoned;
     It is in dying to self that we are born to eternal life.

“To forgive is to set a prisoner free and discover that the prisoner was you.”-- Lewis D. Smedes (Quoted by Tina Chery to M. Egan.)

Photos from Google images

On Edge

On edge.  Two words to describe the City of Rome and its environs following the death of Julius Caesar at the hands of several men on the Ides of March 44 B.C.  Julius Caesar himself, had pretty much taken full control of Rome and it provinces by 44 B.C. Hence the reason that men who believed in the Roman Republic would take matters into their own hands.  Julius Caesar was fresh off a victory over Pompey Magnus, who was the Consul of the Roman Republic.  Caesar had crossed the Rubicon with his legions to head south to Rome.  Even though it was a clear violation of Roman law (the Roman Senate had to approve legions heading into that portion of Italy), the law was disregarded by a man who had obtained much in military victory, thought himself as invincible, and was still wanting more.  Although most historians regard his adopted son, Octavian, who would become Augustus Caesar as the first Roman Emperor, it was Julius Caesar who did much to show the way.  When Brutus, Cassius, and Decimus plotted the murder of Julius Caesar they were hoping to save the republic.  They knew they had to act as Caesar and his legions were to leave Rome in a few days to conquer Parthia. While the main conspirators knew the importance of the legions, Cassius and Decimus were well regarded generals, they had hoped for a better outcome from the people of Rome.

Bust of Julius Caesar

 After having just faced a civil war the citizens of Rome were not inclined to have to go through another round.  Perhaps they did not like the power Caesar had gained and gathered to himself, but yet there may have been a certain comfort with the leader.  As dictators go, Caesar was not all bad.  he gave to the poor.  However, to keep the men in his legions happy, he confiscated land and belongings with those he disagreed, or disagreed with him, for distribution to the men of the legions. The concern was if Caesar was victorious against the Parthians he would entrench himself even more and deny the rights of the senate.   He was making the military happy, and in the closing era before the birth of Christ, a happy military was like a happy financial industry today.  While the citizens of Rome could understand the reasons for the murder of Caesar, they did not necessarily appreciate it.  The publicity machine around Caesar had made him a living god, and coupled with the possibility of another civil war, the citizens preferred some time off.

Octavian, also known as Caesar Augustus

Even though two days after the Ides of March a certain peace had been established and accommodations made, Caesar's right hand man, Marc Antony would have other ideas.  The young Octavian, not yet in his twenties, but smart, ruthless, brutal and cunning would play both sides of the fence knowing full well that he, as Caesar's adopted son and main heir of the large estate, would seize control of Rome for himself.  It certainly helped his cause that the well regarded orator Cicero (and a person whose letters would give insight to the events of this time, would back him over Antony.  Cicero was a republican, and believed in the plot to kill Caesar, although he also thought Antony should be killed as well.  Cicero may have been right that Antony was dangerous to the republic, but he was wrong in siding with Octavian.  

Coin minted by Brutus to pay his troops.
Note the two daggers, to make them well aware who he was

Octavian would, for awhile, side his forces against Antony with those of Decimus, but he would also pull away and let Decimus face the fate of death rather than allow Decimus to join forces with Brutus and Cassius who, by this time (43 B.C.) were in the eastern part of the empire.  Decimus would see a wholesale desertion of his forces as time was running out, and would be beheaded when captured by a man for whom he had done favors while ruler of Gaul.  Past favors were easily bought-off  by the bounty on Decimus' head.  Octavian and Antony would join forces together, and with promises of riches to the legions they led, they set off east to conquer Brutus and Cassius.  Brutus and Cassisus had made deals, and even shaken down some provinces and lands east to obtain funds to which they paid there men before battle.  The legions were usually paid after a successful battle from the bounty and lands captured--not before.  Brutus and Cassius recognized the increasingly strong roll the military paid, and the before engagement payments was a way for them to be ahead of the curve, and to make up for past transgressions when immediately after the death of Julius Caesar they failed to make proper appropriations to the military.

Cassius

In the fall of 42 B.C. the forces of two of the main conspirators fell to those commanded by Antony and Octavian near the city of Philippi in Macedonia near the Aegean Sea.  The fall of Brutus is described by the poet Horace as "when virtue broke."  The murder of Caesar would not bring back the republic, it would lead, not only to the early demise of Brutus, Cassius and Decimus, but it would give Rome what the three wanted to prevent--dictatorship and autocracy.  Historian Barry Strauss says that true autocracy of Rome did not begin until the reign of Diocletian (ruled 285 to 309 A.D.) although he also says that much power had been concentrated in to the hands of Octavian--Caesar Augustus.  However, he notes that even Augustus had given some semblance of authority to the Roman Senate, they had control of a few essential provinces and even a few legions.  Augustus referred to himself as first citizen, not dictator.  Augustus knew full well the fate of Julius Caesar and thus, as Strauss writes:  "Augustus showed a certain fear and healthy respect for the Roman nobility. He remembered what happened on the Ides of March and he knew it could happen again."

Location of Philippi

Things are different in the 21st century as compared to the the last century before the birth of Christ.  While the military still holds importance they are subservient to political leaders, at least in Western democracies.  Political assassination by one powerful person to another is much more rare than it was at the time of the Roman Empire and its beginnings from Pompey Magnus on.  However, today we have the financial class and the upper ten percent who gather the riches to themselves from the power bestowed to them through the ruling political class.  One example, the policies the Federal Reserve used for much of the Obama Administration is testament to the financial class.  Quantitative easing, or the pumping of money into the economy has helped the stock market with the top 1 % owning half of the stocks and bonds in the nation, and 81% of the stock wealth is owned by the top 10%.  The top ten percent has done well during this period of time. Quantitative easing allowed stock market prices to rise as near zero interest rates kept interest rates in banks low.  The American middle class has, over the past several years shrunk and lost ground.  So too do the hands of a few tech moguls seen huge increases in their personal value.

Are the tech and financial sectors of today comparable to the military at the time of Julius Caesar?  If so, we should all be aware, that just like then when the military did not wish to see their personal fortunes fall, so too do the wealthy today not wish to see their fortunes fall. Concern over the ruling class led first to the Tea Party and then Occupy Wall Street.  Two groups on opposite ends of the political spectrum, but also with similar concern of a nation doing much to protect the political and financial elites.  Is the United States, like Rome after the murder of Caesar, on edge?  

Yesterday and Today

Today many persons are drinking green beer, Chicago has colored its river green, and people wear green to honor Saint Patrick.  Patrick was born in 387 AD, but not in Ireland.  For more on the early life of Saint Patrick you can visit an earlier post from 2014.  This post is not about Ireland, but two recent events that seemingly have nothing to do with one another, but have a one element in common. The former sitcom "Everybody Love Raymond" had its genius in taking ordinary events of everday life and making them funny.  I believe one episode dealt with Frank Barone and his metal detector.  For some reason men, particulary old men, have this habitat of walking over the ground with a metal detector in the hopes of finding some treasure.  They may find a few coins, or scraps of metal, but seldom is a real treasure found.

1,100 year old Christian Artifact found by Dennis Holm

However, a man with a metal detector on the Danish Island of Funen discovered a necklace in the form of a crucifex.  What is remarkable about this item is its age--about 1,100 years old, which places it 135 years older than the previous earliest known Christian artifact in Denmark, the Jelling Stone.  Dennis Holm did not know what he had at the start, but did think it a decent find.  He posted a photo of the artifact on Facebook, and received comments that would come out of an Indiana Jones movie--that should be in a museum.  Following advice, he took the object to a area archaeologist who determined the age and noted its significance.  The object now has cultural anthropologists and archaeologists rethinking the date of Danes having become Christian.  This artifact is similar in both scope and age to one found in Sweden, but is in much better shape. Archaeologists must have realized that if persons were going to take the time to carve Christian symbols into the Jelling Stone, they would have been comfotable expressing their faith in public. History is full of Christian persecution and it is likely that there were Christians in Denmark before the carving of the Jelling Stone.  They now have the proof, but which may also mean that Christians were present even earlier, but kept somewhat quiet to avoid persecution.

Left is St Elijah Monastery in Iraq before ISIS destroyed
Right, after its destruction by ISIS

Perhaps it is symbolic that, on Saint Patrick's Day, Secretary of State John Kerry finally declared that ISIS, or the Islamic State, is involved in genocide.  CNN quotes Kerry as saying:  "My purpose here today is to assert in my judgment, (ISIS) is responsible for genocide against groups in areas under its control including Yazidis, Christians and Shiite Muslims," ISIS has murdered Christians solely for their faith, and have tortured others who do not belong to their Sunni brand of Islam.  What they are doing is not new.  Prior Muslim extremists have extorted payments from Christians in exchange for their lives.  They have enslaved women and children.  They force abortions on their female sex slaves so they can, well, keep being sex slaves.  ISIS is forever ingenious in embarking on new forms of brutality.

Christians being murdered by ISIS adherents

Little is safe in their wake.  The oldest Christian monastery in Iraq became a field of rubble in January due to actions of ISIS.  The 1,400 year old compound had previously withstood a number of assaults by both man and nature, but could not survive a terrorist group now known for its distinct level of hatred. The earliest of Christians are from the Middle East and now few survive in large parts of the region as they have been killed, or driven out by extremist Muslims.  It was not that long ago that the US State Department restored the monastery following the Iraq war.  Mary Prophit, an Army reserve Colonel had served as a lay minister during a dawn mass when deployed to Iraq in 2004.  She noted how she "let that moment sink in, the candlelight, the first rays of sunshine.  We were worshipping in a place where people had been worshiping God for 1,400 years."  She would go on to wonder what "were the last ten years for"?

Palm Sunday Mass at the Church of the Annunciation
in Nazareth (Although a Latin Rite church it followed the Orthodox
calendar for Easter)

The treasure found by Dennis Holm is not in the artifact itself nor its age, it is in the basic tenants of Christianity--a faith that was remarkable for its differences with many earlier pagan rituals which often involved sacrifice of animals, and even humans.  Christian faith is about a different type of sacrifice, works of mercy and kindness for our fellow humans who join us on this planet earth.  Christianity is under assault in many places that stretch beyond parts of the Middle East.  A special place in heaven must be reserved for those who become martyred because of their faith.  In a few days the Latin Christian world will celebrate Palm Sunday, recognizing Christ's triumphant entrance into Jerusalem. Less than a week following his welcoming hat same man would appear in front of Pontius Pilate with many of the same who had greeted him by laying palmm branches now yelling "Crucify him!"  The finding of that artifact, worn by an early Christian, is a reminder of the power of the faith.  The declaration of genocide is a reminder of the assault that occurs to the faith over 2,000 years later.

Outside Church of the Annunciation

 First three photos from Google images, last two taken in April 2013 by author

Occupation

On this date in 1948 a Czech diplomat was found dead on a street in Prague.  We hear, read, or see through a variety of media discussions of war. There never seems to be a last word. Books are still written about the Civil War, not to mention WWII. There are recent books dealing with wars before the time of Christ. What is less covered by the various media is what occurs after war. One movie, with a screenplay written by Graham Greene, was “The Third Man.” That movie, set in Allied occupied Austria gives a strong sense of life in occupied Vienna, and the trials and tribulations faced by the local population.  Vienna at the time was divided among the four WWII powers, although the central city was under international control.   Holly Martins is looking for his friend Harry Lime, but after a faked funeral he discovers his friend is stealing penicillin, diluting it and reselling it on the black market.  If we know little about Allied occupied Europe, we know even less about the occupation, or takeover, of Eastern Europe by the Soviet Union.  The take over had a major effect in the home state of my Hovel ancestors, what is the former Bohemia, part of the Czech Republic and part of the former Czechoslovakia.  Jan Masaryk, son of Czechoslovakia’s first president Tomas Masaryk, was one victim of the Soviet take over.

Masaryk on cover of "Time" magazine

Marsayk, who was born in 1886, was a diplomat. He served as foreign minister in to the new Czech government, Czech ambassador to Great Britain, and during WWII served in Great Britain as the foreign minister for the exiled Czech government. With the end of the war, he returned to Czechoslovakia to continue his diplomatic role. However, the Soviet Union had occupied the nation and was intent on installing, as in a number of other countries of Eastern Europe, a puppet regime beholden to Moscow. The Soviets already saw success for this venture in Poland and East Germany. For a while Masaryk succeeded in keeping the Soviet’s at bay. However, historians report that he made a fatal mistake—he had told the west that Czechoslovakia was interested in participating in the Marshall Plan. You should recall the Marshall Plan from high school history—an aid program to European countries torn apart by war. The Western Allies realized that retribution, as occurred after WWI was not the proper answer to an area torn once again by war. When the Soviets were informed about this, they became incensed, and in February 1948 a communist coup took place leaving Marsayk as the only non-communist in the government as he had refused to resign.

Photo of his body on the ground

On March 10, 1948 Marasyk’s body was found on the ground outside the foreign ministry building. The official story was he had committed suicide. The official report was that he was despondent and in a state of depression. However, that story was met with suspicion and skepticism in the West. All know that Stalin was ruthless, and after WWII would kill to reach his ends. Western democracies were correct in their suspicion. The doctor who certified Masaryk’s death was himself found dead a few weeks later, another apparent suicide. Most agree that the window from which Masaryk supposedly jumped would have been difficult for him to not only reach, but then to jump from. Fifty-five years after he was found, and of course after the fall of the Soviet empire in Eastern Europe, his death was ruled a murder. I suspect Mr. Putin is not too happy with that more modern police investigator. The findings of the cause of death were based on bi-mechanics. The position of his body shows he did not jump but was sent to death by at least one other person. The position of the body indicates that he was facing the building, and went feet first, both of which is inconsistent with a person committing suicide by jumping. Further, bodily fluids of the deceased were found on the window sill in the room, which shows evidence that he was killed before the body was dropped out the window. The investigator says the evidence points to suffocation before his body was heaved out the window.

NY Times article on his death

The person who found the body would, twenty years later, note that he did not believe it to have been a suicide. Further, it was reported that Masaryk had left the building, but was approached by a man who told him he would “take him to safety.” With an investigation taking place decades after the body having been found, and no eyewitnesses left, there is little evidence pointing to a murder(s). His body was full of cuts and scrapes, which of course were not reported as that would have been inconsistent with the Communist story-line. There is also a bullet wound that a doctor, during the later investigation, noted he had seen in Masaryk’s head, even though no gun was found in the room. The window from which he jumped was also closed at the discovery of his body. The three persons who performed the autopsy were all members of the Communist party.

Scene from "The Third Man"

If Holly Martins, in the “Third Man”, had a difficult time in post-war Vienna think how much worse the brief time under communist regime it was for Jan Masaryk. The Soviets would not desire the non-Communist child of Czechoslovakia’s first president in their puppet government. They wanted yes men. In the end Masaryk is one more, as one writer noted, “victim of the tyranny of Russian imperialism.”  Of course, where would history be without the Soviet Union?  Would there have been a space race and the technological advances it provided?  Of course, there were also advances in systems so people could be killed easier.  This gets to one of the most famous quotes in movie history, near the end of the movie "The Third Man" Harry Lime turns to his old friend and says:

Don't be so gloomy. After all it's not that awful. Like the fella says, in Italy for 30 years under the Borgias they had warfare, terror, murder, and bloodshed, but they produced Michelangelo, Leonardo da Vinci, and the Renaissance. In Switzerland they had brotherly love - they had 500 years of democracy and peace, and what did that produce? The cuckoo clock. So long Holly.

Delcine, part 2

About two weeks ago I wrote a post on settlement scaling, which is a theory that cities and cultures grew and settled in a similar manner of land consumption and hierarchy. This, even though they grew independent of one another. This shows a commonality to the human mind, the human spirit, and of course the human ability (limitations) of movement. Yet, there is also the issue of civilization decline.  Is there a commonality among past civilizations that went into decline and became no more? The post last week focused on the decline in Rapa Nui, also known as Easter Island, and the Mayan culture on the Yucatan peninsula. This post will focus on a western culture from which we currently draw much of the basis of law and our very culture--Rome.  It will end with lessons for today.

Curia Building, Rome, home of the Roman Senate
Author photo from 1990

Interior of Pantheon in Rome, showing oculus
1990 Author photo

The Roman Empire is viewed as one of the greatest of historical societies or civilizations. Rome began as a republic and would turn into a dictatorship (generally agreed by scholars to be about 27 BC when Octavian became the emperor Caesar Augustus). Part of what we have in our culture today derives from the former Roman Republic and/or Empire. Edward Gibbon attributed the decline to the rise of Christianity and political effects. Others spoke of invasions, plague, population decline and lack of military spirit. Gibbon placed Rome's golden age for less than a hundred year time span--98 to 180 AD.  Yet, this was also the time during the dictatorship that the seeds of decline were planted. Gibbon was so engrossed in the enlightenment thinking cause celeb of placing blame on Christianity that he failed to recognize what had truly occurred in the Empire, particularly during his beloved Antoine age. The golden age Gibbon so highly praised was based on slavery, and as times turned against the use of slaves, the labor and economic markets failed to adjust. Perhaps the slow rise of Christianity had something to do with the decline of slavery, but our present day thinking we would not regard that as bad. In any event at that time, Christian communities were small and underground, and certainly were not setting forth moral standards of the Empire, to know and understand this all one has to do is look at what was occuring in the coliseum, and other venues.  The ruling class of the Empire continued the exploitation of the labor class and further reduced the little freedom those workers had. This change from slave to serf production is often thought to have led to the revolts of the third century. The majority of people failed to benefit from their work and that is one of the causes of the downfall of the Roman civilization.  Ah, the glory and grandeur of Rome!

Roman Forum
1990 Author photo

These aspects of decline of the Roman Empire, however, probably began from something more common and less abrupt--depletion of farmland in and near Italy. Reduced farm land fertility in the area near and around Rome led to a reliance on crops from the hinterlands. This led to an increase in trade, but with this increase, just was we saw with the Mayan civilization, so too did Rome develop, or further enhance, a class of the top ten percent. The need for productivity led to the Roman version of what we would call today factory farms. These large farms, founded on the periphery by Roman emigrants were facilitated, according to one historian, by moneylenders and a policy of Roman officials “who would guarantee borrowers against bad debts.” Sounds like the 2008 housing crisis, and the US Government guarantee of bad debts. Small tenant farmers were transformed into servile dependents, with limited legal and economic position. The movement of production to the outer limits of the empire led to a the rise of wealth in the hands of a few. Those few, just like in Rapa Nui and in Maya, would fail to recognize the root causes and problems that occur when wealth accumulates in the hands of the economic elite.  The wealthy would argue against any improvement which could threaten their power and holdings. Thus, the vast majority of citizens and people of Rome lacked the ability to “taste the fruits of their labor,” consume goods and hence there “was a shallow internal market.”

Roman Coliseum
1990 Author photo

Site of Roman Hippodrome
1990 Author photo

Walter Scheidel and Steven Freisen, who had quantified economic opportunity within the Roman Empire, wrote a paper in 2010 outlining their results.  They apparently concluded that the elite 1.5% of the population controlled 15 to 25% of the wealth.  Others have interpreted their figures and say that the top 1% controlled 16% of the wealth.  Rome had a pecking order, and for much of the time the "middling" Romans had a comfortable, but not extravagant or lavish lifestyle.  From this we can see that there were two Romes.  Below the elites was a class that made enough to survive, but "not enough to prosper."  Scheidel and Freisen have said that "the disproportionate visibility of this 'fortunate decile' must not let us forget the vast but-to us-inconspicuous majority that failed even to begin to share in the moderate amount of economic growth associated with large-scale formation in the ancient Mediterranean and its hinterlands."   The glory of Rome, as one reader of the Scheidle and Friesen study put it "is really just the rubble of the rich built on the backs of poor farmers and laborers, traces of whom all but have vanished."  The monuments of Rome built by an elite, with little credit to those who really made it possible.

Christian Catacombs under Rome
1990 Author photo

What does this mean for today?  In the United States today we have 1% of the population controlling 40% of the wealth, and a Gini coefficient slightly worse than what existed at the time of glory and grandeur of Rome.  The CIA, and World Bank are among institutions that use this method (ie Gini coefficient) to track income inequality.  The powerful elites of the U.S. have been made more so by the quantitative easing policy of the Federal Reserve for the last seven years that has led to an increase in stock prices, which of course most benefits large stockholders.  The financial elite of the nation, regardless of party control, come from or go to large banks, particularly Goldman Sachs.  A presidential candidate today was paid well above the middle six figures for a speech to Goldman Sachs.  Fifteen hundred years after the fall of Rome, the progressive and advanced United States has a greater income inequality than the dictatorship of Rome.  The financial and political elite today are to be viewed with caution every much as was the ruling class of ancient Rome, Rapa Nui and Maya.  Is economic disparity and social disenfranchisement a result of a maturing civilization, and bound to occur regardless of policy pursued?  The answer to that question will take a mind far greater than mine to discern.

Roman amphitheater in Gerasa, Jordan
Author photo, 2013

The three examples noted over the two posts show that power is controlled by an economic and/or political elite with self-interested decision making. Resource problems that arise (loss of trees, long drought, or reduced farmland fertility) can lead to downsizing of the society and even total societal collapse. Every society, or civilization, has a dependence upon resources, and as shortages occur adjustments also need to occur. The seeds of the collapse of the Roman Empire existed at what some historians regard as its peak period. Societies are complex organisms, and perhaps not one factor can be said to be the cause of the turn of fortunes. History shows us, however, that societies while complex are fragile and require proper management of resources and wealth in order to maintain stability, if not to allow for growth.  But, what happens is that the powerful and financial elite use their control to benefit themselves, thereby allowing the civilization to founder.  This happened in Rapa Nui, Maya and Rome.

Gerasa, Jordan Triumphal Arch built to commemorate the visit of
Roman Emporer Hadrian in 129-130 AD
My, how cities like their arches.
Author photo, 2013

Decline, part 1

Cities and cultures are intertwined. Cities often embody the advance of civilization. They allowed the human population to move from a hunter-gather and nomadic lifestyle to one of specialization of labor. Cities did not evolve by themselves as their development and scaling was dependent upon the institution of agriculture. Yet, in the annals of history cities and their related monuments are often telling of the nature and advance of a civilization. However, just as a pattern exists to settlement scaling, or how cities and related land consumption occured as discussed in a prior post, is there also a pattern to decline of civilizations? If so, is the decline cross-cultural? In other words did similar occurrences lead to decline in varied independent civilizations. Those are difficult questions to answer and over time varied interpretations have occurred for the decline of some major civilizations. At times those explanations are related to bias from the standpoint of the writer themselves or the times in which they find themselves.



Rapa Nui, aka Easter Island

One of the current pre-eminent writers in this area is Jared Diamond, who in his book Collapse: How Societies Choose to Fail or Succeed (2006) reviews some successes, but also many failures of certain past societies. Often his theories are based on environmental degradation. He studied cultures as diverse as present time Montana, past Norse settlement of part of Greenland, Mayan culture, and Easter Island. In each case environmental degradation led to collapse of some sort or other. Montana culture has, of course, not fully collapsed, but Diamond paints a not too bright future given the pollution and degradation that has occurred to mining and the after effects such mining will pose for generations to come. Tracts of land in Montana have become unlivable due to the degradation of mining, and the costs to the public for cleanup. However, this post will focus on the decline of three different cultures: Easter Island, Mayan culture and a later post will focus on the decline of the Roman Empire and a wrap-up of lessons of history.

Easter Island, or Rapa Nui, according to Diamond was the “clearest example of a society that destroyed itself by overexploiting its own resources.” Rapa Nui is best known for the large stone heads, or Moai, that were carved and moved to varied locations on the island. The construction of these monuments required a complex culture. The sculpting and transporting of such large carved heads required division of labor, and a ruling and religious class. The Moai were for religious purposes. More recently archaeologist Terry Hunt claims that Diamond’s theory does not hold and the population of Rapa Nui never reached the size noted by Diamond. He further notes that the results of western discovery just after Easter in 1722 (hence its name) was more the issue in the decline of the island’s population. He refers to slavery and disease. However, two issues of the decline of Rapa Nuii stand out. First, evidence shows that the island was once covered by the largest palm trees in the world. The seeds of the palm were gnawed by rats brought with the original Polynesian settlers, and unable to produce and grow. I wonder if the inhabitants may not also have eaten the seeds.





Moai on Rapa Nui

European accounts upon first-contact picture an island that was basically treeless. The large palms were gone having been used for a variety of means, including the movement of the Moai to their varied locations on the island. The tree loss was dramatic and while the population may well have survived into later years, it likely was not the culture it once was. Certainly, western disease and possibly enslavement likely affected the population post 1722, but the culture then was not the complex society that is earlier thought to have been present, and often described by Diamond and others. Second, evidence clearly shows that while the society had cut the last large palm tree (one wonders what the people who felled the last large palm were thinking) the Moai were still being constructed. Perhaps they had a belief that the heads, as monuments to a god, would have their god look kindly down on to them. Perhaps it was a continuation of the power of the main ruler who desired the construction of more monuments. What we see is a society not willing to reinvent itself in the face of coming disaster. Work continued as usual. The construction of the large stone monumental heads commanded a great deal of manpower and resources. Yet, with loss of valued resources the Rapanui leaders continued in the quest. Build more Moai.

Monuments were not unique to the Rapanui. They are part of most every culture and the monument construction is what we today tend to view in awe. Monuments also explain a good deal about a culture. In the jungles of Mexico, Guatemala and other parts of Mesoamerica sit ruins of some of the past grand monuments from the Mayan culture. Mayan settlements were large and hierarchical, not unlike the structure of settlements of Europe or the United States. Aspects of Mayan culture were first discovered in the 1840's, and their collapse has intrigued archaelogists ever since. This is a culture that had math, pottery, writing, calendars and advanced agriculture—all important elements to the establishment and advance of a civilization. It is thought to have been as large as 19 million persons. The civilization went from a series of bustling cities, Tikal in present day Guatemala being one, to ruins in about 100 years. A rather sharp decline. Geographer Billie Lee Turner indicates that perhaps the Mayan decline was not as dramatic and widespread as often believed. However, Turner believes, as noted in the book 1491 by Charles Mann "there is no other known time when a large-scale society disintegrated--and was replaced by nothing." When the Maya collapse occurred there were no more cities and people, it was a mass of land and monuments left to ruin. In the 1930's a Harvard academic noted that the decline was due to the Maya having exceeded the carrying capacity of the land.



Mayan art

A number of different theories, of course, have been advanced to explain the collapse of the Mayan civilization which occurred well before 1492, as it occurred in the eighth and ninth centuries. Deforestation and drought, brought about in part by deforestation are now thought to be the leading theories of the collapse of the once great and learned Mayan culture. Of course, these factors are related to the carrying capacity of the land. The capacity of the land changed due to these conditions. The theory of deforestation and drought was first advanced by Jared Diamond, and more recent research seems to uphold his theory. Trees were important for Mayan fuel. It is thought it took 20 trees for one square meter of cityscape as the trees were required to “fuel the fires that cooked the lime plaster for their elaborate constructions.” Land was also cleared not just to provide fuel, but to also provide land for agriculture. Near the time of collapse weather patterns were already in a drought condition and researchers believe that the quick deforestation led to less rain due to less solar radiation which leads to less evaporation which in turn produces less clouds and rainfall. This at a time of what they term unprecedented population density.



Mayan Monument in Tikal

The decline occurred even though the Maya well understood the complex environment in which they lived and had developed sophisticated farming production and water supply techniques. They understood their environment and knew how to survive, but a tipping point was reached and the environment could no longer sustain their society. We often think of Native Americans as being exemplary stewards of the land, but yet an ecological catastrophe was brought about under their watch. Like us today, Native Americans had different values, and like us used the land, and its resources to their benefit. The civilization was hit with a perfect storm or confluence of events from which it could not recover. Yet, it is more than a simple explanation, it is also an economic one. The traditional elite, what we would likely call the top ten percent today, relied on trade routes and crops of which to trade. The drought not only decreased crop production but also affected the trade routes. The decline in power of the top ten percent caused those peasants and craftsmen under them to make choices, such as abandoning their home in the lowland empire.



Mayan Civilization

Decline of resources, and alterations in natural systems are not an uncommon explanation for the decline of a society or culture. People depend upon the land and the resources it provides. When one or more aspects of the natural systems of God's creation change, failure can result. Think of Flint, MI. That is why wise use of resources is a necessity. This post focused on two different cultures and their decline. The decline of the Maya being so great that nothing else went into its place. The next post will focus on the decline experienced by one of the greatest empires of Western Civilization--Rome, and at the end the commonalities will give us pause as to where we as a current culture wish to move. So, tune in someitme next week for part 2 of Decline.

Cities, Culture and Continuance

General Electric, one of the largest industrial conglomerates in the world, is moving its headquarters from a suburb of Stamford, CT to Boston, MA. Historically corporations developed in cities, but they later became part of the move to the suburbs following WWII. GE’s move is based on both a company growth strategy and its capitalization. In its most basic sense, however, the move is about the role cities play in our culture and the connectivity and exchange of ideas they provide. It is ironic that as the world becomes more digitally connected that companies are taking more value in face-to-face contact and the creation and fermentation of ideas that result from such collective action. A city, as it has been termed, is a social reactor.

Cichen Itza, a pre-Columbiann city 

About 18 months ago the chief economist for GE wrote a paper called “The Value of Connectedness” As reported by Rod Stevens, the paper “described the value to industry of creating networked devices to keep trains and planes moving.” The economist sees GE as playing a major role as a digital industrial company. It also may affect GE’s value as a company. A typical industrial conglomerate, according to Stevens, has a price to sales multiples in a range of 1 to 1.5x, but in the software industry that valuation multiple is about 5x. That is a significant uptick in value. Retail digital use is only part of the connected picture. GE sees digital connections as important in industry and transportation. If the future is robots, something (through someone) has to control and manage them. The move to Boston is based on a need for the company to be better connected to the engineering capacity of MIT and other Boston-based universities, and just as importantly the many small start-up technology and IT hardware companies that are taking hold in Boston. Boston still has a machine industry into which GE, and these start-ups can tap. Many of the new firms are being established within a short bicycle ride of a major university or of gentrifying neighborhood. These start-ups often locate in old factory or warehouse buildings that were missed in the loft apartment conversion craze of the last generation (think the 1980’s movie “Ghost”). What GE is realizing, and is driving their location to Boston is, as Stevens notes, “the flow of people and ideas is vastly more important than freight costs.” The tech start-ups in old buildings prove the idea of urbanist Jane Jacobs that new ideas often need old buildings. It is often too expensive to build new, much less in an area which provides the cultural landscape so often desired by the young high-tech work force. The culture is not the company alone, but in the other things that follow—gyms, restaurants, breweries (what is a millennial with craft beer?), and the like. But, this is not a new phenomenon.  This connectivity is part of what, according to Harvard economist Edward Glaeser, makes cities one of the best human inventions.

Aztec sculpture

As much as this may seem like a unique idea, the confabulation provided by cities goes back to their earliest formations, and just as interestingly, cross cultural. Luis Bettencourt and his colleagues have developed a model of settlement scaling theory that derives a relationship between population and settled areas as an interplay between social and infrastructure needs. They studied 1500 settlements over two millennia and in four major different cultural periods in pre-Columbian America. They determined that settlement scaling is similar among independent cultures as varied as Europe and South America Indians. For example, Ortman et al note that the “most important feature of human sociality is that individuals can derive advantages from social contact, e.g. by trading goods, sharing information and developing cooperative strategies.” This activity is part of growth and hierarchy of cities. This is why GE is moving from a Connecticut suburb to Boston. The company realizes the importance of this interaction and sharing of ideas. Humans have benefited from the creation of social networks from the advent of human time. Hunter-gatherers knew the importance of social interaction. Urbanization has led to increased specialty which results in increased importance in social networks.

Economist Edward Glaeser Book

For urban areas to have developed in a similar manner and scale in widely varied cultures, with no known interaction between them, shows that the human mind and thoughts for human social organization is more alike than different. Anthropologist Dean Saitta in commenting on the work of Ortman, Bettencourt and others notes that his students are “intrigued by the sensitivity of ancient planners to local environmental conditions” and how they “used history, iconography, materiality and wider ‘sacred landscapes’ to promote civic identity out of cultural diversity.” This leads to what he quotes as “alternative forms of social and spatial belonging.” This fuels urban creativity. GE to Boston. Bettencourt and others have recognized Jane Jacobs’ insight that the creativity of cities is due to their being social reactors. A social reactor derives from people and their interactions. However, the built environment is not simply a result of the interactions, the form of the city helps shape the interactions. One is dependent upon the other. That is why settlement scaling is cross-cultural, and temporally similar. Each culture produces different urban processes, so urban form is more than its creation by settlement processes over time. As varied as the processes of settlement creation are, the theory of Bettencourt, Ortman et al holds that the settlements still follow a typical pattern of development.

Jane Jacobs

General laws of human nature and ability create our urban form. People can only walk so fast, and until recent times (use of steel building construction) construction techniques limited building height. But, if the theory developed by Bettencourt, Ortman et al holds true, there are cross-cultural methods to human organization which inform past and current settlements. Technology has allowed human activity to change: we now have skyscrapers; we can communicate by skype over long distances in a fraction of a second; and we have mechanized travel that allows us to minimize the distance gap. However, there is no replacement for direct human interaction and the interplay of ideas that leads to expanded creativity and flow that allows commerce to flourish.  Hopefully to the benefit of more than just a few shareholders, CEO’s, and the top ten percent. The true capital is not money but our connections with others. GE is betting that a change to a digital player in the industrial field on connections with planes and trains and other industrial aspects will increase its valuation and strengthen its position. GE realizes the importance of connectedness not just between devices, but between people. On his visit this week to the indigenous region of Mexico, Pope Francis noted, just this week, that we can learn a great deal from indigenous cultures. Settlements in pre-Columbian Mexico followed a scaling pattern similar to those of Europe and before cross cultural contact. Those cities, and their cutlures face obstacles from which one can learn. However, just as there is a pattern to settlement scaling there also exists similarities in one other critical aspects, which will be discussed in a future post.

Outside of New Delhi, India