by Teri Ong
Bill Clinton and his operatives coined (and often repeated) the campaign slogan, “ It’s the Economy, Stupid!”, in recognition of the fact that a large part of the population votes with the pocket book. His slogan is merely a re-cast version of “Follow the money.” That has been said by so many people we could probably never trace its true origin, but it was probably said by an early descendent of Adam.
God has warned us over and over again– “The love of money is the root of all kinds of evil.” “Whoever desires to be rich pierces himself through with many sorrows.” “It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to get into heaven.” He knows things about our nature that we also know, but don’t like to admit.
Even if we won’t look at it in the mirror, it is as plain to everyone else as the swollen red nose in the middle of a drunkard’s face. A good mirror to look in would be all of the headlines in the major newspapers since October 2008; they are the chronicle of our bloat and excess.
Another interesting mirror I have been looking into recently is A Short History of England by G. K. Chesterton. The book should really be called Chesterton’s Short Analysis of English History, or something along those lines. Chesterton is much more ideologically insightful than he is chronologically detailed, and Chesterton always knows how to turn an astute phrase. The beauty of his writing has made it fun to read his book, but recognizing that we have not learned much from history and are thus doomed to repeat it has been a little painful.
In the chapter called “The Rebellion of the Rich” Chesterton outlines the events and movements leading up to and through the English Reformation (think: Henry VIII), and yes, it was about the “economy” more than about religious life.
During the medieval epoch, the main property owners were petty lords who lived rather coarsely in the largest farm houses. His horses were used as often to pull his plows as to pull his carriage. He ate and drank the same things as the people who helped him work his land, though admittedly, sometimes a little more of it. He was more like Ben Cartwright running the Bonanza ranch than like a miniature king ruling a miniature kingdom.
However, during the renascence of classical Greek values and learning, the greater lords were said to become “Italianate.” They were no longer happy living slightly larger than their work force– they developed a taste for luxury. Chesterton states,”…it was the pouring of the whole soul of passionately conscious art especially into unnecessary things. Luxury was made alive with a soul. We must remember this real thirst for beauty; for it is an explanation– and an excuse.” (P. 137)
Before Henry VIII came to power, there was a symbiotic relationship between owners and workers. The owners needed the labors of the workers as much as the workers needed the protection of the owners, and it was in everyone’s best interest to take care of each other. Besides the lesser lords, the abbeys and monasteries also employed great numbers of people where any human propensity toward greed was moderated by some sensibility of Christian charity. The other economic force at the time were the guilds– basically trade unions for skilled workers.
On a couple occasions before Henry’s time, factions of peasants had staged uprisings, even military ones, to try and better their situation. But Chesterton observes,” The failure of the revolution of the poor was ultimately followed by a counter-revolution; a successful revolution of the rich.” (P. 140)
Henry VIII wanted his own way in every respect. He wanted power, riches, and an heir and he was willing to do anything to get what he wanted. He clamped down on the guilds by the giving of royal charters, thus ensuring that a large proportion of their wealth would come to him. He was willing to “strike his arm on the rock of Peter” to get what he wanted by way of an heir, but more importantly, he dissolved the abbeys and monasteries in such a way that brought wealth to him and the most powerful of the gentry in exchange for royal sanction and protection.
Even though the Church should not have felt any particular need to cooperate with the recalcitrant Henry, he made it worth the while of the larger and richer abbeys to in essence sell out the smaller ones. One might even say that Henry was willing to “bail out the abbeys that were too big to fail” at the expense of the small ones.
The “commons” in villages and towns, land held for the common use and good of all the residents, were seized by the crown and given to the lords who frequently used them for cheap pasturage. Whereas previously the “commons” had been a means of feeding peasants, they became feed for sheep which would enrich only the local lord, giving rise to the phrase “sheep eating men.”
Chesterton states,”…the government had to resort to the simple expedient of calming the people with promises, and then proceeding to break the promises and then the people…” (P. 146)
In our own day and in our own democracy, we do not call the members of our oligarchy “lords”; we call the members of our ruling class senators, congressmen, justices, CEO’s, and chairmen of boards. We do not call our monarch “King”; we call him “President.” But history has taught us only one lesson– that we never learn from history.
Perhaps the cause of our failure to learn is our own pride. We see the problems and consequences of unwise actions and alliances of the past, but we believe that we are somehow better or smarter. Sure, bad things happened back then, but they won’t happen to us. Their kings and lords ignored their unwritten common law in order to over-reach their power, but our law is written down. Never mind that our oligarchy routinely ignores our written law whenever it suits their purposes, as easily as those English lords of that faraway era.
Our President made many far-reaching promises of economic benefits and security to the restless peasants of the United States in his “historical” campaign of 2008. He has already broken up the “guilds” in the form of taking majority interest in banks, insurance companies, investment firms, and auto companies, as we saw once again today. He will soon seize the “commons” in the form of taxing the middle class so that we will have a hard time feeding ourselves. And the great lords, the ones who are “too big to fail” will do obeisance so he will dole out power and riches to the ones who support his monarchy.
Watch and see how long it takes for the promises to be broken, and then, we, the people, along with them. Maybe some future generation will learn lessons from the Obama era, but probably not.
Reference:
Chesterton, G. K. A Short History of England. London: Chatto & Windus, 1920.
