A civilization which ran a chronic deficit--over-spending its
income--moved year by year, through debt, inflation, currency
degradation, and repudiation toward its own disintegration and ultimate
bankruptcy. The historical record is very clear on this point,
especially in Roman civilization and in western civilization after 1870.
Most civilizations have had a body of religious institutions staffed by
a priestcraft, which has shared power with the economic overlords.
During certain periods in the long history of Egyptian civilization the
priestcraft held the balance of power. So great was its ascendancy that
the spoils of war and the gains of peace were shared by the temple
treasury and the royal treasury. In some cases the temple treasuries had
priority.
All civilizations for at least five thousand years have had a
professional military of sufficient consequence to play a leading role
in policy making and to claim a lion's share of the spoils of military
victory. In some cases civil and military authority were merged in one
supreme commander--emperor, pharoah. At other times, notably in Rome,
after the fall of the Republic, the Pretorian Guard nominated and
appointed its emperors.
Well up toward the summit of each known civilization, four groups have
shared authority and competed for supremacy: land-lords, wealth-lords,
war-lords and priests. Where these four major shapers of public policy
and directors of public administration were of like mind, they shared
wealth and power.
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