DoubleD @[email protected]

Unfortunately, it seems that once welfare is made a public institution, if Rome is typical, it is only ever to be overturned by dictatorial power or by a situation in which the government is unable to provide the service in 476 AD, and there are insufficient records to conclude that it was perpetuated.

All this made me consider that famous phrase from Jesus, "The poor you will always have with you". It is an undeiable fact that poor people exist, and we don't need to talk about why they are poor; however, we have to live in a society with people who are poor. There are many things we can do to help the poor if we are so inclined individually such as the above mentioned food donations.

The practice itself is not longer practiced in the West, largely due to health regulations where businesses like bakeries are not allowed to give away bread that is stale (not moldy, just stale).

This specific practice of donating extra food after dinners was also seen throughout a great deal of the middle ages where it was seen as bad form for a wealthy individual to see that all the bread baked was eaten by their guests and family.

Prior to the dole itself being proposed, Roman Patricians were expected to be philanthropic with their wealth. This was not limited to donations for public works such as libraries, it was even a cultural practice at dinner parties to donate extra or leftover food to the poor around you.

Sulla as dictator abolished it, but it was brought back before 90 BC. Politicians quickly learned that they could win support with the populous of Rome and thus power with offices like Tribune thus giving them sway over the frequently seen street mobs of the late republic. It took dictators like Sulla and Julius Ceasar to remove or reduce the dole in one way or another.

Thread...

I was contemplating welfare and its disastrous effects in contrast with private charity.
Rome had issues with the public grain dole from its inception as a subsidized and price-fixed grain purchase and storage program in the republican era, which even though it was financed by tax increases, saw a precipitous increases in demand as all price-ceiling schemes do. Once it was implemented corruption set in and was frequently a topic of reform but not abolishment by politicians.

@sardonicsmile Agreed. Self-respect and personal honor (that is honoring yourself) are a necessity to a fulfilling life.

@Justicar That conforms to my understanding, yes.

@Justicar It needs some polish, but many pieces fit. I am generally wary of grand conspiracies, especially those which are centered on ethnic vs ideological lines. To me, it seems that specific groups of individuals, such as the Frankfurt school, are the individuals to blame because they had a desire to destroy the liberal, capitalistic countries of Europe including the USA and Russia. The institution of Communism in China was ideological. You're right that the ethnic divide is too great.

@wandering_soul That's not the point I'm making, and you know it.

@wandering_soul
Have fun, but remember that it won't protect you from false accusations of rape.

@deprecated_ii I approve. That's just good parenting.

@deprecated_ii I have a soft spot for anime girls with heterochromia iridum.

@deprecated_ii "The enemy of women"

Other women.

@deprecated_ii What's she going to say next? Finish school and get married right away to an a healthy salary man in his thirties and have six children? Such a horrible bully!

@deprecated_ii A good way to get scratches

@Justicar "The legendary pale skins, whose eyes were blue like a spring day sky, and whose hair was the color of the summer sun. The tales say they were the authors of the lyrics to the greatest songs of our ancestors, tamed lightening to their whims, and even harnessed the power of the sun to make something the ancients called "Nuck-leer" power, which turned their enemies to dust in an instant and fed their cities with endless light for the night."

@Autumn Key lime pie is delicious.