and it was volatile by its very nature of being a representative, meritocratic organ of gov't

you could think it was a matter of time before they overthrew an ineffective or unpopular king

but how would you have it any other way?

which episode is this?

the first 15 or so

I think I'll start on it tomorrow

sounds interesting

and a lot more relevant than Roman history

I think roman history is relevant too

in a general sense

Not in the sense that you can relate to modern politics though

you begin with a state that had the political strength to survive the loss of 200,000 of its strongest, bravest men

and still come out on top

produce leaders like cincinnatus, construct a navy from scratch, produce an innovative system of gov't that worked for 400 years

not as relevant compared to Revolutions

only to degenerate into nigger tier coups, extralegal exceptions, street fighting, and civil wars

like the podcast lol

idk

I think it's very relevant given that Rome was a republic for half of its history

and I think that all republics have to deal with authority, distribution of power, constitutionality, and the rise/decline of the institutions over time

Well for sure, the lessons that Rome taught were incredibly important

Yeah but the details are nowhere near as important

yeah the details are only there to inspire general theory

But you can say the English Civil War was directly influential to America's founding

but I don't think it makes it any less important if you're really trying to understand politics

oh absolutely

what do you think inspired Locke to write his two treatises of gov't?

people really underestimate how influential locke was to the American colonists, also how disproportionately influential he was

That's one thing they get right in school

there was all sorts of thinkers at the time, with all sorts of works of varying popularity circulating the colonies, but for such an age of enlightenment, people weren't really as well read as the period is often portrayed

I remember looking at some primary documents about harvard students in the 1700s

a dorm burned down and the school was filing claims to restore property to the students

so you could see what every student claimed as his property, including the books that they had

lots of bible

lots of random textbooks

some john locke

everything else in very small quantities

honestly, it's kind of like today