Ochlocracy III

Cicero also helps us to elaborate the nature of ochlocracy. He paraphrases Plato (Republic, VIII, 562C-563E). Here are some highlights of Cicero's account of ochlocracy. I leave it to the reader to determine what relevance or applicability, if any, these ideas may have today.

On the nature of ochlocracy in general:

"When the insatiable throats of the people have become dry with the thirst for liberty, and ... they have drained in their thirst a draught of liberty which, instead of being moderately tempered, is too strong for them, then, unless the magistrates and men of high rank are very mild and indulgent, serving them with liberty in generous quantities, the people persecute them, charge them with crime, and impeach them, calling them despots, kings, and tyrants..." I.66.

The nature of ochlocracy with respect to the declining dignity of public office:

"...those who, though in office, try to act like private citizens, and those private citizens who try to destroy all distinction between a private citizen and a magistrate are praised to the skies and loaded with honours." I.67.

The nature of ochlocracy with respect to the general lack of restraint:

"It necessarily follows in such a State that liberty prevails everywhere, to such an extent that ... homes one and all [are] without a master..." I.67.

The nature of ochlocracy with respect to spoiled or ungrateful children:

"...the father fears his son, the son flouts his father..." I.67.

The nature of ochlocracy with respect to spoiled pets:

"...the vice of anarchy extends even to the domestic animals..." I.67.

The nature of ochlocracy with respect to the decay of shame, custom, or tradition:

"...all sense of shame disappears..." I.67.

The nature of ochlocracy with respect to disdain for instruction or correction:

"...the schoolmaster fears and flatters his pupils, and pupils despise their masters..." I.67.

The nature of ochlocracy with respect to the flattery and worship of youth:

"...youth take on the gravity of age, and old men stoop to the games of youth, for fear that they may be disliked by their juniors and seem to them too serious..." I.67.

The nature of ochlocracy with respect to the general decline of authority:

"...the final result of this boundless license is that the minds of the citizens become so squamish and sensitive that, if the authority of government is exercised in the smallest degree, they become angry and cannot bear it." I.67.

Cicero. "On The Republic" ((c) 1928 Harvard University Press, Cambridge). Translated by Clinton Walker Keyes.

Ochlocracy II

Montesquieu helps to elaborate Polybius' description of ochlocracy:

"The more men there are together, the more vain they are, and the more they feel arise within them the desire to call attention to themselves by small things. If their number is so great that most are unknown to one another, the desire to distinguish oneself redoubles because there is more expectation of succeeding. Luxury produces this expectation; each man takes the marks of the condition above his own. But, by dint of wanting to distinguish themselves, all become equal, and one is no longer distinct; as everyone wants to be looked at, no one is noticed."

From Montesquieu, "The Spirit of the Laws" Translated and Edited by Anne M. Cohler, Basia C. Miller & Harold S. Stone. (c) Cambridge University Press, 1989, Cambridge.

This is Montesquieu's description of "keeping up with the Joneses". But what is "keeping up with the Joneses" really all about in the end? Is "keeping up with the Joneses" really about anything more than being noticed? I think that one of the most important points that this short segment from Montesquieu raises has to do with the idea of wanting to be noticed.

Think about how badly people want to be noticed by others.

Think about what lengths people will go to in order to be noticed.

Think about how even children want to be noticed, almost as soon as they can speak or walk.

Think about what people are capable of doing, to themselves or to others, when they go on not being noticed for long enough.

People stress about being noticed. They lose sleep over it. They spend massive amounts of money on it, and they accumulate massive debt in the process. They show off, or act out, for their parents and friends. Sometimes, they even kill for it.

Does anyone have a generalized sense of, as Polybius says, "the disgrace entailed by obscurity"? "Histories" 57.

Does anyone see how it is possible that younger generations in established and affluent states could assign even lower value to the idea of "equality" than their parents or grandparents, and could in general "aim at pre-eminence"? "Histories", 9.

Polybius, "Histories" ((c) 1923 Harvard University Press, Cambridge). Translated by W.R. Paton.

Ochlocracy I

Much of this blog is going to focus on the nature of democracy and ochlocracy.

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According to Polybius, "ochlocracy" (literally, "mob-rule") is the last phase of anacyclosis. Ochlocracy arises out of democracy, as democracy ultimately degenerates into ochlocracy. Polybius and other writers tell us that the events that occur during ochlocracy condition the inhabitants of the state to eventually accept (or even demand) some form of monarchy.

In Book VI of The Histories, Polybius gives us two excellent, although general, descriptions of ochlocracy (one of which I included almost verbatim on http://www.anacyclosis.org/):

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I.

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But when a new generation arises and the democracy falls into the hands of the grandchildren of its founders, they have become so accustomed to freedom and equality that they no longer value them, and begin to aim at pre-eminence; and it is chiefly those of ample fortune who fall into this error. So when they begin to lust for power and cannot attain it through themselves or their own good qualities, they ruin their estates, tempting and corrupting the people in every possible way. And hence when by their foolish thirst for reputation they have created among the masses an appetite for gifts and the habit of receiving them, democracy in its turn is abolished and changes into a rule of force and violence. For the people, having grown accustomed to feed at the expense of others and to depend for their livelihood on the property of others, as soon as they find a leader who is enterprising but is excluded from the houses of office by his penury, institute the rule of violence; and now uniting their forces massacre, banish, and plunder, until they degenerate again into perfect savages and find once more a master and monarch. 9.

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II.

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When a state has weathered many great perils and subsequently attains to supremacy and uncontested sovereignty, it is evident that under the influence of long established prosperity, life will become more extravagant and the citizens more fierce in their rivalry regarding office and other objects than they ought to be. As these defects go on increasing, the beginning of the change for the worse will be due to love of office and the disgrace entailed by obscurity, as well as to extravagance and purse-proud display; and for this change the populace will be responsible when on the one hand they think they have a grievance against certain people who have shown themselves grasping, and when, on the other hand, they are puffed up by the flattery of others who aspire to office. For now, stirred to fury and swayed by passion in all their counsels, they will no longer consent to obey or even to be the equals of the ruling caste, but will demand the lion's share for themselves. When this happens, the state will change its name to the finest sounding of all, freedom and democracy, but will change its nature to the worst thing of all, mob-rule. 57.

Both paragraphs taken from Loeb Classical Library edition ((c) 1923 Harvard University Press, Cambridge). Translated by W.R. Paton.

http://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/Polybius/6*.html

Welcome

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VR,
Tim Ferguson