The ancient Hebrews were brilliant crafters and describe making an Ark, or secure vessel, to hold their tablets and proofs. Exodus 37.
Wealth can be grown and drawn from many different sources. The single most reliable source of multiplying wealth is Human Effort, and the layer of society which is able and willing to make wealth is what we call “the Middle Class”. The Rich and the Poor simply do not make much wealth. The Rich have wealth, and are motivated to keep it. The Poor are unable to for lack of resources or due to the fact of their enslavement. The Middle Class has both motivation and capacity.
Historically, the rise of a Middle Class is more than just good luck. It is also often a result of a deliberate cultural effort — “human effort”— involving a robust confidence in cooperation and hopes. The essential ingredient is not Resources. Many regions and times of depletion show flourishing communities. The essential ingredient is humans willing to “trade” and improve the way they do things, in a sharing economy.
Most “trading” requires trust. The Sumerians 8000 years ago were trading almost entirely on “credit” — the hope that a buyer will eventually pay for goods in an exchange.
The tradition of trade trust and cooperation is always threatened by violence and fraud. The pirate and the con-artist are a great threat to prosperity. We often point to the time of the Golden Age of Rome. We see evidence of this Age in the bottom of the Mediterranean Sea: After the reign of Caesar Augustus, huge fleets of trading ships suddenly emerge, and the whole world prospered.
Global trading could not happen earlier on a large scale because of plunderers. It took Augustus’ great friend, Agrippa, to systematically clear the Mediterranean of pirates. Agrippa did not just go after the pirate ships in the sea, he went to their shoreline fences and crucified the oligarchs and feudal lords who were subsidizing them. Within a decade, a huge population of people were able to participate in trade—the largest middle class ever known began to flourish.
Compare the role of the Ancient Hebrews whose primary source of wealth was an educated “middle class”. Their culture began teaching at least the eldest son how to read and write regardless of social station. In the absence of abundant resources or vast fertile fields, the Levant became famous for crafts and trade. The land of Canaan, Ha'Aretz Ha'Muvtachat, was famous for inventions, musical instruments, and jewelry, things requiring mastery of technology and science. Exodus 35:30 ff.
Almost no other culture in 1000 BC educated the poor. In Athens, for example, although it also developed an early Middle Class, education required wealth. Even Plato could not break the “class barrier” with a demonstration that a servant-boy could be taught to read, write and calculate Pi.
Have you ever wondered where all the gold of the Pharoahs and King Solomon went? You probably suspect it was pillaged, right? Your suspicions, we all share, are almost certainly correct. Marauders, highwaymen, pillagers and scammers eventually get all the good stuff.
Here is a picture of the most valuable artifact described and revered by the Ancient Hebrews. Exodus 37. The Ark of the Covenant became a symbol for the mutual promises of God with the people—all the people, not just the Lords and Priests. Like most of the measurements of ancient Scripture, the details are precise, of priceless value, and impossible to build or locate. No one has ever found this treasure.
The biggest mistake of the Middle Classes is our failure to understand who is about to pillage us. Usually, the attacker is a surprise to us. We do not see him coming, and we are always unprepared. Wise people have often warned us. The Zadokite (Canaanite) and Levite Priests warned the Hebrews about the transgressions of their own Lords, the greed of their rulers. Ezekiel, Isaiah.
And Adam Smith, author of Wealth of Nations (1776), describes the middle class in a representative republic as the most likely source of perpetuating robust prosperity. He warns us that the biggest danger to a republic is the Private Stock Corporation (PSC). Especially when located “offshore”, such Corporations will inevitably bleed the middle class dry. The PSC’s also plunder public resources and attack weaker susceptible operators. They break their covenants, because they brook no recourse, and cannot help “helping” themselves.
