Let Us Think About Draco and His Measures

NMB, Florida December 2, 2001 A.H. Schectman

THINKING ALLOWED
Essays on Issues, Ideas and Reflections on the Times. Published Now and
Then. Opinions Pro or Con Are Welcome.

LET US THINK ABOUT DRACO AND HIS MEASURES

This morning's NY Times Op Ed piece by Thomas Friedman contained references
to "draconian" acts. Draco was a ruler of late 7th Century b.c.e. Athens
who used extreme harsh measures to punish and enforce his extreme harsh
laws. "Draconian", used to describe the extreme extension of military law
to civilians during wartime, means measures that would ordinarily make
ordinary citizens of a democratic country uneasy.

We do not study history seriously anymore and we do not expect our children
to be able to sort out the 20th century wars any more than we would expect
them to distinguish between diametrically different forms of ancient
governments. But a study of Ancient Greece and knowledge of the
experimentation that took place among its city-states would help
particularly when we are contemplating replacing the Taliban draconian state
in Afghanistan with something more like ours.

It has taken a lot of history for us folk in the U.S. to learn that
although other countries use constitutions based on ours they do not have
the history and the ingredients that have made our experiment so successful
and so frail at the same time. "Eternal vigilance" is the price of
"liberty", so the words of one of our founding fathers state. We do not
educate our children to be afraid of elite monarchies. We do not tell them
that there is a problem with aristocracies, plutocracies and anarchy. We do
not explain the fine differences between each of the fundamentalisms that
are burgeoning in poor countries today. Nor do we teach that totalitarian
states and states with dictators still exist that make our messy democracy
look puerile.

We should take time to teach that there are meritocracies and technocracies
that flirt for our attention. Instead of relying on ordinary people we are
trying to teach four-year-olds to read and step up the ladder to
extraordinary leadership in the Brave New Worlds of the future. We have yet
to have a Philosopher King, a contribution of Socrates and Plato in 5th
Century b.c.e. ancient Greece. Creating a livable world with a rational
government run by representatives of all people is needed.
Carol's Evaluation: 10 out of 10.