Barbarians at the Gate – Then and Now
- The Chairman
- 11 hours ago
- 2 min read
Throughout history, wealth transfer — the taking of resources from those who work hard and earn them — is nothing new. But at one time, it was seen for what it truly was: barbaric.
Imagine the ancient world. Farmers like Uruk worked long, grueling days, cultivating the land, tending to crops, and building a modest life from sheer effort and perseverance. Along would come the barbarians — tribes or raiders who saw no reason to toil under the hot sun when they could simply take what Uruk had produced.
Why learn the art of farming, the discipline of storing grain, the patience to wait for harvests, when you could train instead to become a better fighter and seize it? This plundering mentality defined much of early history: wealth taken by force rather than earned by work.
Fast forward to today — and ask yourself: Has much really changed?
The Modern Barbarian: Government as Raider
We no longer see warriors on horseback storming villages to take food and gold. Instead, we see governments, using legislation and taxation, doing the plundering under the veneer of legality and "fairness."
Workers, entrepreneurs, and savers spend years building businesses, investments, and futures.
Government bureaucrats swoop in, claiming a growing share of that labor through taxation, regulation, and "redistributive" programs.
Wealth transfer today is no longer about swords and shields — it’s about laws and mandates.
The mindset, however, remains barbaric: "Why create when you can take from the creators?"
At one time, forcibly taking someone’s hard-earned property was called theft or plunder.Wanting what others have is Biblically called Coveting. Today, it is often labeled "equity," "reform," or "social justice."
But stripping the rewards from the industrious to give to the idle still carries the same moral stain it did in Uruk's time — no matter how polished the language.
Popular Sovereignty: A Forgotten Principle?
In the founding of America, popular sovereignty was a revolutionary idea:
The government operates only with the people's consent and authority.
Government was meant to protect property and freedom — not seize them. The people were the source of government power, not the government the source of the people's rights.
Yet today, the reverse often seems true. The more the government takes in taxes, redistributes wealth, and imposes mandates on private labor, the more it acts like the very barbarians it once protected against.
When government no longer serves with the consent of the governed, but instead governs to serve itself — it ceases to be a protector of civilization and becomes a raider of it.
Conclusion: Are We Letting the Barbarians In?
If history teaches anything, it is this: Civilizations collapse when producers are punished and takers are rewarded.
Uruk's lesson is our lesson: Prosperity only survives when the fruits of labor are respected, not seized.
We are at a crossroads. We must choose whether we wish to live in a civilized society that honors work, the individual, property, and freedom — or a barbarian society that legalizes plunder under the banner of "fairness." The choice is ours.
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