John Nelson
Moderate Democrat
February 12, 2007
My fellow Athenians, it is a privilege and an honor to stand in front of this great Assembly of ours and speak. Every night I pray to Athena about, well, many things. I naturally ask for protection of my family, success in my crops, advancement in my enterprises, etc. In all of my prayers I have never failed to mention my deep gratitude for our great Assembly. It is such a blessing to have an entity that thrives on the voices and opinions of many to make decisions for our great polis. The Assembly is a very wise innovation, clearly influenced by Athena herself.
Gentlemen, right now in our dominion, sons of Athens are in anguish. As we all know too well, we suffered defeat at the hands of the Spartans. Decades of war with our nemesis has ruined many Athenian lives. Not only because our brothers were killed by Spartan hands, but also because of the aftermath of their conquest. Our oarsmen, those brave warriors who rowed our triremes, are weary. These men need help. Our workers, those selfless men who tirelessly built our municipal buildings, are disheveled. These men need help. Our farmers, our greatest resource, are hungry on account of their crops and livestock being destroyed by the Spartans. These men need help. We are all intimately familiar with the fact that many of our brothers and their families have starved to death. Countless others are slipping deeper and deeper into debt, the end result of which will undoubtedly be slavery. Men, these men do not just need help, they need our help.
So how can we help our brothers? I have said all of that to say this- we have to pay our citizens when they attend sessions of our Assembly. Whoa, everyone steady, control yourselves! Brothers please hear me. Consider this: we pay our soldiers to defend our people do we not? We pay them so they can have a source of income while they are absent from their various occupations. And do we not pay our trial jurors in the dikasteria? So then, it is not outlandish to pay our brothers to participate in the Assembly. In fact, it seems so me that we should have set this practice up a long time ago.
Many of our citizens travel from far away to attend our great Assembly. It is shameful that these men have no mercenary compensation for their dedication to democracy. Large amounts of men cannot afford to come to the Assembly, but instead must tend to their occupations tirelessly to feed their families. The poorest of our brothers are far too busy in search of food, water, clothing and shelter, to pay any mind to the deliberations and legislations of our Assembly. These men need our help. If we commit to giving our brothers due compensation, it will ensure that these men will participate in the political sphere of our democracy. Furthermore, and most importantly, we can save the lives of our people.
How can we do this? Where will the money come from? We already have the Theoric Fund to pay men to attend religious festivals. We could expand that fund to cover our need. We can also raise the tariffs on grain imported from our port in Piraeus. Why would anyone want to trade with us if we raise the tariffs on imports? If we offer military protection of our affiliates, they would graciously accept our tariff raise. Of course to do that we would have to produce more triremes. That is another topic for another day. The point is that it is economically feasible.
Consider the alternative. Citizens of Athens, men born and bred here, will be enslaved. Fathers will bury their sons who they were helpless to feed. Women will weep for their dying daughters and there is no one to wipe their tears. Children, our children with dirty faces and empty stomachs, will cry and beg out of hunger. What type of men would we be if we allowed these conditions to continue to unfold? These Athenians need our help. Let us help and compensate our fellow Athenians for attending Assembly and adding their voice to our great democracy! Thank you.
Moderate Democrat
February 12, 2007
My fellow Athenians, it is a privilege and an honor to stand in front of this great Assembly of ours and speak. Every night I pray to Athena about, well, many things. I naturally ask for protection of my family, success in my crops, advancement in my enterprises, etc. In all of my prayers I have never failed to mention my deep gratitude for our great Assembly. It is such a blessing to have an entity that thrives on the voices and opinions of many to make decisions for our great polis. The Assembly is a very wise innovation, clearly influenced by Athena herself.
Gentlemen, right now in our dominion, sons of Athens are in anguish. As we all know too well, we suffered defeat at the hands of the Spartans. Decades of war with our nemesis has ruined many Athenian lives. Not only because our brothers were killed by Spartan hands, but also because of the aftermath of their conquest. Our oarsmen, those brave warriors who rowed our triremes, are weary. These men need help. Our workers, those selfless men who tirelessly built our municipal buildings, are disheveled. These men need help. Our farmers, our greatest resource, are hungry on account of their crops and livestock being destroyed by the Spartans. These men need help. We are all intimately familiar with the fact that many of our brothers and their families have starved to death. Countless others are slipping deeper and deeper into debt, the end result of which will undoubtedly be slavery. Men, these men do not just need help, they need our help.
So how can we help our brothers? I have said all of that to say this- we have to pay our citizens when they attend sessions of our Assembly. Whoa, everyone steady, control yourselves! Brothers please hear me. Consider this: we pay our soldiers to defend our people do we not? We pay them so they can have a source of income while they are absent from their various occupations. And do we not pay our trial jurors in the dikasteria? So then, it is not outlandish to pay our brothers to participate in the Assembly. In fact, it seems so me that we should have set this practice up a long time ago.
Many of our citizens travel from far away to attend our great Assembly. It is shameful that these men have no mercenary compensation for their dedication to democracy. Large amounts of men cannot afford to come to the Assembly, but instead must tend to their occupations tirelessly to feed their families. The poorest of our brothers are far too busy in search of food, water, clothing and shelter, to pay any mind to the deliberations and legislations of our Assembly. These men need our help. If we commit to giving our brothers due compensation, it will ensure that these men will participate in the political sphere of our democracy. Furthermore, and most importantly, we can save the lives of our people.
How can we do this? Where will the money come from? We already have the Theoric Fund to pay men to attend religious festivals. We could expand that fund to cover our need. We can also raise the tariffs on grain imported from our port in Piraeus. Why would anyone want to trade with us if we raise the tariffs on imports? If we offer military protection of our affiliates, they would graciously accept our tariff raise. Of course to do that we would have to produce more triremes. That is another topic for another day. The point is that it is economically feasible.
Consider the alternative. Citizens of Athens, men born and bred here, will be enslaved. Fathers will bury their sons who they were helpless to feed. Women will weep for their dying daughters and there is no one to wipe their tears. Children, our children with dirty faces and empty stomachs, will cry and beg out of hunger. What type of men would we be if we allowed these conditions to continue to unfold? These Athenians need our help. Let us help and compensate our fellow Athenians for attending Assembly and adding their voice to our great democracy! Thank you.
posted by John Nelson | 10:12 PM
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