Pericles Funeral Oration: What is democracy?
At the end of the first year of the Peloponnesian War, Pericles gave a funeral oration, a speech which, as reported by Thucydides, has become the classic description of Athenian democracy. But what I find fascinating is that many of the virtues he ascribes to democracy echo my belief in the virtues of the market economy.
He begins with the classic definition of democracy, where administration is in the hands of the many and not of the few. Immediately afterwards he adds that the law secures equal justice to all in their private disputes, thus linking the rule of law with the belief in democracy. However, he then qualifies this, by admitting that when a citizen is in any way distinguished – and he is surely thinking of the election of generals – he is preferred for the public service though he hastens to add that this is not a matter of privilege but as a reward of merit. He then adds that poverty is no obstacle, but a man may benefit his country whatever the obscurity of his condition. Nothing is exclusive in public life
He then turns to private life and says we are not suspicious of one another, nor angry with a neighbour if he does what he likes. This surely is the essence of a market-based community, that money gives us choice, and allows us to follow our own path. He adds that we do not put on sour looks which, though harmless are not pleasant, which surely has a resonance with the modern concern with speech that some may consider hateful but is nevertheless legal.
Pericles then goes on to describe the limits to laissez-faire, saying that while we are unconstrained in our private business, a spirit of reverence pervades our public acts, where we are prevented from doing wrong by respect for the authorities and the law: the market system is not perfect but is based on the rule of law. Indeed, he then goes on to say that we should also have special regard to what I would call ethics, what he calls the unwritten laws which bring upon the transgressor the reprobation of general sentiment.
Interestingly, he then goes on to claim that we have not forgotten to provide relaxation for our leisure time, with games throughout the year. Is it perhaps not stretching this too far to claim that the invention of organized sports during the Industrial Revolution – the invention of football, of rugger, of cricket, of tennis and of golf are among the many highly successful inventions of the Industrial Revolution? He concludes this section with a virtue that will please those who believe in the benefits of free trade, where he says that because of the greatness of our city, the fruits of the whole earth flow in upon us so we can enjoy the goods of other countries as freely as of our own. This may be becoming unfashionable in the 21st century, but I at least still agree.
On to The Open Society – and its Enemies
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On to the Heart of Athens, the Marketplace