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By Root 1444 0

exploded with grandeur. The Greeks, who began with almost nothing, perfected Art, poetry, literature, political values, science, philosophy, warfare, and other areas of Western culture. Greek sculpture is copied even today; modern philosophers still argue with Socrates, Aristotle, and Plato; Herodotus and Thucydides founded the study of history; Homer’s writings about the history of the Trojan War founded epic poetry; the Greek heavily armored civilian soldiers (hoplites) founded the military principles with which Alexander the Great would conquer the East. Athens laid the foundations of democracy, which were eventually passed down to Europe and America. Greece was the foundation for the Western world we know today. And even today, in philosophy, sculpture, history, political thought, poetry, and literature the Greeks remain unsurpassed.

Individual Greater than the State

Most of these new ideas came from Athens. Athens was a democracy where, for much of its history, every male citizen could vote on critical issues of the day in a public assembly. This reflected a new idea, an idea foreign to rulers in the East. The idea, which spread to the Western world from Greece, was the individual is greater than the state. From the point of view of Western democracy this was the greatest political idea ever discovered. It is still the defining factor in governments, both East and West.

A much older idea ruled the East, where the great rulers of Babylonia, Persia, Egypt, and many others always held on to the opposite: the state is greater than the individual. In Athens, a person could oppose the city (read “the government”) and demand satisfaction from the group of gathered Athenian citizens rather than give in to an order from a ruler. Greek citizens considered themselves free men, and they participated in the governance of their cities. One man’s word was not the law. In the East, the old idea of rule by one person maintained its sway. An oriental king could have anyone, one man or an entire army, put to death on his word alone.

If we stop to think about our world in 2010, we see the concept of one person (or perhaps a small group) autocratic rule is still paramount in China, Southeast Asia, North Korea, Russia, the Middle East, Africa, and many places in South and Central America including Cuba. The idea that the individual is more important than the state took hold in England, France (to some extent), Germany (finally), Italy, Greece, Austria, Spain (well, kind of . . . at least since Franco died), some areas of the Balkans, some parts of Eastern Europe (Poland, Latvia, etc), India, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, and the United States. The reader will note that the English colonies are the primary nations that practice democracy and believe the individual is more important than the collective (United States of America, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, India, and England itself). This idea divides the world even now.

Of Gods and Governments

The linkup of god and government is a powerful combination for controlling individuals.[23] We do not know when this amalgamation first occurred; however, once the linkup was secure, making god and the state one, any decision became impossible to challenge. Anyone opposing the government was both a traitor and a heretic. This is the pattern for most of history. The oriental dictators of Egypt, Babylonia, Persia, and so many others, coupled religion and leadership of the state; thus, the ruler was anointed by the gods, guided by the gods, and in touch with the gods so his decisions were also anointed by the gods. The priesthood confirmed, on behalf of the ruler, that god (or the gods) agreed, and the common person lacked any power to challenge this powerful duet.[24]

The Greeks broke this pattern. Greek government leaders were not considered gods, or god’s appointees, so their decisions could be openly questioned. It took more than mere opposition to the government to make a person a traitor or a heretic. A person could question the wisdom of the leaders without fearing reprisals; well .