Finance, Religion, & Drugs (Part 1)
Before Democracy, Kings Traditionally Canceled Debts
This essay is the first in a five part series. Part 1 is about the ubiquity of debt forgiveness in pre-Greek and Roman societies. Part 2 connects debt to the idea of an apocalypse. Part 3 relates apocalyptic religion to psychedelic drugs. Part 4 focuses on the twin illusions of time and ego. And finally, Part 5 reveals the true meaning of the Holy Grail.
Pre-Greek and Roman societies had a tradition that prevented anyone from falling into irrecoverable debt. It was known as the “Jubilee”. Kings of ancient Assyria and Babylon canceled the personal debts of all their subjects at regular intervals. They did this because citizens who fall hopelessly into debt become dangerous and unruly, having no further incentive to play by society’s rules. Meanwhile, on the other side of the ledger, citizens who become too rich invariably try to seize power for themselves. The kings of the ancient Near East nipped both problems cleanly in the bud by periodically wiping the financial slate clean. This practical limitation on wealth and debt (two sides of the same coin) was accepted as common sense because it made those societies stable over the long haul.
Then democracy was born in Athens and soon adopted in Rome, and the Greco-Roman world rejoiced at having representation in the political process. But under democracy, there was no king with the power to cut rich creditors down to size or rescue underwater debtors. Absent any check on private fortunes, a few wealthy families claimed most of Rome’s economic pie for themselves. That lack of equitability was papered over by constant growth: as long as the economic pie kept expanding, the fortunes of the rich and the crumbs of the poor both could both grow together in tandem. But once Rome reached the limits of her expansion, the rich could only realize growth by taking it from the poor. Wealth inequality spiraled out of control and Roman society became a ticking time bomb. After the infamous Fall of Rome, Europe settled in for a thousand years of economic stagnation during the Middle Ages.
Now we’re following the Romans straight down their disastrous road to ruin. We inherited their pro-creditor legal system, complete with all the Latin terminology. And unlike, for example, the Code of Hammurabi, the Roman system has no mechanism for mass debt cancellation. Even when those payments turn out to be disastrous to society. In this regard, our legal code is less sophisticated than that Babylonian one. And the penalty for our lack of sophistication is to reenact the Fall of Rome.