THE FUTURE OF DEMOCRACY. Steve Zolno

In 1682 they established Louisiana, named after Louis XIV, which eventually was sold under financial stress by Napoleon to the US under President Thomas Jefferson in 1803.¹⁹⁵ The Louisiana Purchase included areas from the Gulf of Mexico north to Canada, which nearly doubled the territory of the United States.¹⁹⁶

      In the early 1700s a coalition of six northeast tribes formed an alliance to work together for their mutual benefit. They created an oral constitution called the Great Law of Peace by which they all were bound. The tribes – which were headed by women – agreed that all major decisions would be made by consensus, which in many cases took a long time, but avoided war. When matters of the greatest importance were being decided the will of the people was sought. For the most part, individuals in native societies valued their freedom. They did not understand or see the need for the strict laws and customs of the Europeans who soon moved in. Because of the egalitarian nature of their society, they were unable to get used to the idea that any person was superior to any other as the Europeans tried to teach them.¹⁹⁷

      In 1648 The Treaty of Westphalia created an agreement between European countries that had been struggling against each other for over thirty years. Much of Europe had been devastated – in Germany villages and farms were in ruins and the population was substantially reduced. The treaty established an uneasy peace between France, Germany, Austria, the Swiss, the Dutch, Spanish and Italians, and attempted to guarantee religious toleration between Catholics and Protestants. This treaty laid the foundation for the resumption of trade that started Europe on a path to greater prosperity.¹⁹⁸

      Louis XIV, the “Sun King,” consolidated the monarchy in France as it never was before or afterwards. After assuming the throne in 1638, he made the aristocracy totally dependent on himself at Versailles, the largest palace in France. His rigorous routine included long days of meetings with ministers to plan the details of administering his kingdom. Despite his absolute hand, he believed himself a father to his country and usually endeavored to treat all his subjects fairly. Louis expanded the country’s influence abroad, increased trade, and promoted art and music in a way that had not previously been done. He also engaged in wars that left the treasury broke by his death. When he revoked the Edict of Nantes in 1685, he drove out 200,000 Protestants who had been an essential part of the economic backbone of the country.¹⁹⁹

      Under Louis, there were divisions between aristocracy, bourgeoisie, and peasants who barely considered themselves a part of the same country. Government offices were sold to the highest bidder by an administration that continually was strapped for cash. Enforcement of government tax policies was rigged for the elite who thought it beneath them to pay taxes that therefore fell on the peasants. The king was not dependent on the Parliament to make laws – he could force through any laws he considered important.²⁰⁰

      During the reign of Louis XV there was a general increase in prosperity due to improvements in industries such as coal-mining, metalworking, and textiles, and a new network of roads was begun. Trade with colonies such as Guadeloupe and Martinique brought a degree of success from sugar and the slave trade. But France already was functioning under weakened economic conditions – including war with an England that dominated the seas – that were to place a burden on the next monarch, Louis XVI, and contribute to his downfall.

      In 1651 Thomas Hobbes wrote that human life in the state of nature is filled with chaos and anxiety – it is “nasty, brutal and short.” He claimed that states exist to bring greater stability to human existence.²⁰¹ In the late 1600s and 1700s, John Locke,²⁰² Jean-Jacques Rousseau,²⁰³ and Voltaire²⁰⁴ – members of the European “Enlightenment” – declared that freedom is our natural condition, but we sacrifice much of it to enter into a “social contract” that provides mutual protections and allows us to live together in a more peaceful and stable society.²⁰⁵

      According to these writers, governments and laws exist to provide better security than we would have in our natural condition where – as individuals, families and tribes – we would need to struggle continually for survival. They believed that when states achieve their purpose they create a system that provides us with more control over our lives than we would have without it. Locke and Rousseau also held that when a state becomes oppressive we have the right to replace it with another that is capable of providing more freedom and choice. At about the same time, the theories of Isaac Newton on the nature of the universe led to a new faith in science as a route to understanding.²⁰⁶

      Throughout Europe in the early 1700s, there was a growing wealthy professional and commercial class, as well as an artisan class, but also an increase of poverty in the cities. In England, the Enclosure Movement took land that had been worked by peasants.²⁰⁷

      In 1707, the Act of Union was signed by England and Scotland, creating a united Parliament and free trade between the two countries, while England assumed Scotland’s debts. But the birth of Great Britain did not end the rebellions of the highlanders who wanted an independent Scotland. This culminated in the Battle of Culloden Moor in 1746, in which over 1,000 were killed. After this the Gaelic language was forbidden as well as Highland dress, followed by the Clearances over the next 100 years which decimated the Highland culture.²⁰⁸ Ireland had periodic religious wars between native Catholics and Protestant English settlers from the time of Henry VIII. It remained a nation apart which did not participate in England’s legislative or industrial progress until forced into the United Kingdom through the second Act of Union in 1801.²⁰⁹

      The Industrial Revolution, roughly corresponding to the period 1700-1850, saw greatly increased production on farm land from inventions such as horse-drawn plows and reapers. This led to an improved food supply and population gains. The need for fewer people to work the land resulted in an enlarged labor pool, which eventually migrated to the cities to participate in increasingly mechanized manufacturing, made possible at first by steam engines and later by coal. The appearance of factories to produce cloth and clothing contributed to a grim landscape saturated with grit. Factory workers were numbed by long hours and repetitive work.²¹⁰

      1776 saw the publication of Adam Smith’s The Wealth of Nations, a turning point in the history of economics, and his famous summary of the “theory of capital,” later known as capitalism. Smith believed that the “invisible hand” of the economic market would function best to provide general prosperity if left largely untouched. The division of labor, Smith argued, would create more efficient manufacturing and farming, and thus greater prosperity for all.²¹¹ Yet he also was concerned with justice. In the days before the great revolutions of America and France, he held that it was up to the monarchs to maintain justice for all in their realm. He describes: “The second duty of the sovereign, that of protecting, as far as possible, every member of society from the oppression of every other member.”²¹²

      

The World of Wine

      In April 1663, the famous London diarist Samuel Pepys tasted a wine that inspired him to write a long description in his diary. He had drunk “a sort of French wine called Ho-Bryan” that had a “good and most particular taste.” He was referring to Chateau Haut-Brion in Bordeaux, later recognized as one of the Grand Cru (great vineyards) in the Classification of 1855.

      References in documents referring to Haut-Brion go back to 1435. Haut-Brion, and Bordeaux wines in general, had their origins in the Middle Ages when it was discovered that the gravelly/clay soils of the region produced, in good years, magnificent long-lived wines made of the blends best suited to the region: Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Petit Verdot, and Cabernet Franc. At that time there was not the same concept of France that we have today. The Bordeaux region, in the Southwest, was part of Aquitaine and ruled by English kings. The main “road” between Bordeaux and Britain was the sea route; overland travel was much more difficult and likely to result in spoilage. Haut-Brion, Pages 2-4

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