Elite overproduction is the single most important concept for understanding the most destructive upheavals in society: 3rd-c. Rome, 14th-c. Constantinople, 18th-c. France.
"Too many Chiefs, not enough Indians."
"Too many Chiefs, not enough Indians."
The Venetians understood this implicitly. As silly as their constitutional system was, they realized the biggest threat to their republic came from intra-elite civil war.
Another way of framing this:
Do individuals gain more from the increasing societal prosperity or from increasing their own social status?
Once it becomes the latter, the value of status symbols undergoes massive inflation.
Do individuals gain more from the increasing societal prosperity or from increasing their own social status?
Once it becomes the latter, the value of status symbols undergoes massive inflation.
Which is why empires almost invariably end up ripping themselves apart in civil war. Empire can only grow so far, at which point the only way to prosper is through social advancement. Zero- or negative-sum game, once that inflation kicks in.
Elite overproduction is exactly what instigated Byzantium in the civil wars of the 14th century. The empire was being sapped of its wealth even as the Constantinopolitan middle class was rising to challenge the traditional aristocracy.
amazon.com/Midway-Through…
amazon.com/Midway-Through…
The civil wars—especially the calamitous 1341-47 war—superficially appear to be petty family disputes over the succession. They were anything but, each side representing increasingly hostile factions in a negative-sum game.
