Nero Caesar staged circuses in the Roman Coliseum to keep the populace happy.

What an excellent but scary comparison. We are lulled into a catonic state of compliance. I often wonder how much more a person could get done in the days before television, or even electricity. How does a single person's productivity compare from then and now? I'm not even sure we could measure how "productive" and individual is...I'm not saying we should all be producing world-rocking works of art or science, but I do wonder how much idle (or idol) entertainment is stealing away from us.

~mf

I do not have numbers in front of me, but it is possible to measure at least certain aspects of personal productivity, and ever since the beginning of the Industrial Revolution in the early years of the 19th century, personal productivity in the USA has, overall, increased steadily and dramatically. The incentives for these productivity gains were the abundance of natural resources and the scarcity of labor in the US during its formative years, especially vs. western Europe. It is this combination of scarcity and high individual productivity of labor that has allowed Americans the luxuries of spare time and disposable income. Time to watch American Idol and the money to do so on a plasma TV.

The problem is, resources (especially oil) are getting more scarce, which limits individual productivity gains except in spheres where brainpower offsets shortages in materials (think "computer industry" and why they, and only they, of all the fields of modern labor, retain good salaries for its people), and labor is no longer scarce (this is why "illegal immigration" is such a hot topic).

In this context we need true education, intelligent application of that education, and vigilance. Education to direct our energies most profitably, and both education and vigilance to keep those who would be powerful from using our energies for their own ends rather than the common good. Jefferson wrote of the eternal struggle between Liberty and Power both domestic and foreign, and noted that the protection of Liberty depended on the education, intelligence, and vigilant discipline of the Free.

Many 20th century writers, foremost in my mind at the moment being Aldous Huxley (Brave New World) and Ray Bradbury (Fahrenheit 451) have created or mirrored worlds in which Power used Personal Pleasure to erase Liberty. Hence this write, and others like it for which I have been responsible.