WEBVTT NOTE In Gods We Trust?: Social Security Among the Ancient Incas 1 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:11.000 When we consider the problems posed by excessive political activity, we frequently begin by seeking to classify government according to types. 2 00:00:11.000 --> 00:00:19.000 There are the absolute monarchy, the limited monarchy, the democracy, the republic, and many other forms. 3 00:00:19.000 --> 00:00:29.000 Very infrequently do we hear anything mentioned about theocracy, a combination of secular and ecclesiastic power. 4 00:00:29.000 --> 00:00:35.320 Communism and socialism, both of which are not types of government, really, but economic theories, 5 00:00:35.880 --> 00:00:43.560 depend for their existence on a kind of theocratic structure. Communism and socialism 6 00:00:43.560 --> 00:00:52.200 both elevate the state to the position of a deity and combine all authority, ecclesiastic and state 7 00:00:52.200 --> 00:00:59.960 in the person of the man or the bureau, which wields total economic control, be he dictator 8 00:00:59.960 --> 00:01:07.800 or chairman of the worker's council. Communism, socialism merges the faith of the church, 9 00:01:07.800 --> 00:01:12.760 the teaching of the schools, and the authority of the federal, state, and local governments 10 00:01:13.400 --> 00:01:21.960 into a rod of iron wielded mercilessly by the man at the top, be he Inca, Caliph, Caesar, 11 00:01:21.960 --> 00:01:25.360 Führer or President 12 00:01:25.360 --> 00:01:32.040 Man's upward march toward civilization has not been a simple, natural growth. 13 00:01:32.040 --> 00:01:36.720 He has been forced to struggle valiantly in order to progress. 14 00:01:36.720 --> 00:01:42.600 And under the heel of repressive state control, man has made little progress. 15 00:01:42.600 --> 00:01:47.840 In such a condition, he has to struggle mainly to survive. 16 00:01:47.840 --> 00:01:54.320 The principal battle which has engaged humanity's attention has been the fight for power, who 17 00:01:54.320 --> 00:02:01.860 shall rule and who shall be ruled. When freedom from government was stated in the Declaration 18 00:02:01.860 --> 00:02:09.560 of Independence as an American principle, man's progress in this country became unparalleled. 19 00:02:09.560 --> 00:02:15.960 Today, with one out of three receiving some sort of financial assistance from our government, 20 00:02:15.960 --> 00:02:22.440 in the form of tax money, re-diverted to privilege groups. We realize belatedly that freedom 21 00:02:22.440 --> 00:02:28.800 from government, which was the hallmark of America, has nearly been abandoned as a national 22 00:02:28.800 --> 00:02:35.740 policy. Instead, we are rapidly re-approaching a theocratic state. The more completely we 23 00:02:35.740 --> 00:02:41.760 look to the government for our welfare, for guidance, for direction, the more completely 24 00:02:41.760 --> 00:02:53.920 Approximately fourteen hundred and fifty years before Christ, the powerful hulking 25 00:02:53.920 --> 00:03:01.120 figure of a man dominated the politics of Peru in South America. This man created a 26 00:03:01.120 --> 00:03:07.360 government which exercised greater power over its subjects than any other government of 27 00:03:07.360 --> 00:03:13.880 of which there is a trace remaining today. He was a socialist dictator, and his government 28 00:03:13.880 --> 00:03:21.640 was a theocracy. Today, Peru is a republic in South America. It is located on the west 29 00:03:21.640 --> 00:03:28.360 coast, and it is a beautiful mountainous country of nearly 5,000 square miles. On the southern 30 00:03:28.360 --> 00:03:35.560 border, 12,000 feet above sea level, is the highest lake in the world, Lake Titicaca. 31 00:03:35.560 --> 00:03:42.200 The ancient inhabitants of the Andes Mountains set up a government at Cuzco. Here they established 32 00:03:42.200 --> 00:03:49.840 what is unquestionably one of the most frightening systems of rule ever devised, state socialism, 33 00:03:49.840 --> 00:03:57.040 with the tyrant at the top who was deified. The Incas were sun-worshippers. The head of 34 00:03:57.040 --> 00:04:02.960 their government was the head of their church, and he was the same man. This combination 35 00:04:02.960 --> 00:04:09.680 Education of Religion and Politics provides a theocracy, and Manco Capac may have been 36 00:04:09.680 --> 00:04:15.280 the first theocrat in the Western Hemisphere. He was the first Inca, and he established 37 00:04:15.280 --> 00:04:22.220 a government which was intricate and highly organized. He built a colossal bureaucracy, 38 00:04:22.220 --> 00:04:29.280 the ramifications of which penetrated into every home in the land. According to his edict, 39 00:04:29.280 --> 00:04:35.520 Only those who were related to him by blood had the right to rule. Thus Manchilcapac was 40 00:04:35.520 --> 00:04:41.600 represented in the provinces by governors of the royal blood. Officials were placed 41 00:04:41.600 --> 00:04:47.840 above ten thousand families, one thousand families, and even ten families, on the principle 42 00:04:47.840 --> 00:04:53.920 that the rays of the sun entered everywhere, and that therefore the light of the Inca must 43 00:04:53.920 --> 00:05:04.800 Manco Capac was apparently skilled in architecture and engineering. He and his workers pushed long, 44 00:05:04.800 --> 00:05:11.960 straight government trails through vast mountains and bridged seemingly impossible gorges with 45 00:05:11.960 --> 00:05:18.320 magnificent government spans which today are still in use. They also built long, 46 00:05:18.320 --> 00:05:24.400 Long, straight government roads, which are as serviceable as today's improved macadamized 47 00:05:24.400 --> 00:05:31.000 surfaces. They had not developed the wheel, so all inclines called for stairs. The Inca 48 00:05:31.000 --> 00:05:38.480 people and their sturdy beast of burden, the llama, plotted up and down thousands of steps. 49 00:05:38.480 --> 00:05:44.260 They erected huge government temples and government palaces, which were adorned with gold and 50 00:05:44.260 --> 00:05:50.340 and silver, with countless images and ornaments. Sumptuous government baths were supplied with 51 00:05:50.340 --> 00:05:55.460 hot and cold running water by means of pipes laid in the earth. 52 00:05:55.460 --> 00:06:00.740 The luxury of the Inca chief and those who were related to him have caused some writers 53 00:06:00.740 --> 00:06:08.480 to feel that the Incan civilization was highly advanced. In truth, it was not. Comforts may 54 00:06:08.480 --> 00:06:14.940 May have been a lot of the politicians, but anything except comfort prevailed for the subjects. 55 00:06:14.940 --> 00:06:22.960 There was no such thing as personal freedom. Without freedom, a slave culture emerges. 56 00:06:22.960 --> 00:06:31.080 Every man, woman, and child had his status and identity, the Inca Social Security number, 57 00:06:31.080 --> 00:06:37.840 branded on him at birth. Since this was a complete welfare state, each person was naturally 58 00:06:37.840 --> 00:06:42.800 the responsibility of the government, and the government had to look after its property 59 00:06:42.800 --> 00:06:48.540 and maintain an accurate inventory of its assets. 60 00:06:48.540 --> 00:06:55.280 Status identification was the logical means to this end. Each was under constant surveillance, 61 00:06:55.280 --> 00:07:01.840 as much as were the lamas of the royal herds. Individual effort was unheard of. A man's 62 00:07:01.840 --> 00:07:08.360 Man's life was planned for him by the authorities from the age of five years. Even the woman 63 00:07:08.360 --> 00:07:15.160 he was to marry was selected for him by the government officials. Manco Capac was opposed 64 00:07:15.160 --> 00:07:21.640 to individual liberty on principle. In his mind, freedom was an attribute belonging only 65 00:07:21.640 --> 00:07:29.920 to those who ruled. Everyone else must be ruled. This ancient Inca was intent on molding 66 00:07:29.920 --> 00:07:43.920 Socialism is conformity to a centralized plan carried to its ultimate end, and under Manuil 67 00:07:43.920 --> 00:07:51.240 Capac this socialist theocracy reached its greatest development. Every man, woman, and child belonged 68 00:07:51.240 --> 00:07:57.120 to the state. A government official determined where each one should live, and children were 69 00:07:57.120 --> 00:08:04.120 The Inca were not permitted to live with their parents. Being wards of the state, they became state property. 70 00:08:04.120 --> 00:08:12.120 Quarrels, originating even within a household, were settled by a police officer, a relative of the Inca. 71 00:08:12.120 --> 00:08:18.120 Men who were of the proper age to marry had a mate selected for them by a government official. 72 00:08:18.120 --> 00:08:22.120 Women who lost their husbands were mated the same way. 73 00:08:22.120 --> 00:08:29.480 No one owned any private property. The Inca owned everything and everybody. All production 74 00:08:29.480 --> 00:08:35.920 was his, all land, all improvements on the land. He assigned inhabitants to the various 75 00:08:35.920 --> 00:08:40.760 dwellings, nor were they allowed to settle there indefinitely. Reassignments were made 76 00:08:40.760 --> 00:08:48.120 every year, so that the people were periodically split up, segregated, divided, and thus unable 77 00:08:48.120 --> 00:08:52.980 ever to organize resistance to the Inca. 78 00:08:52.980 --> 00:09:00.200 Tasks were assigned to each human being from the age of eight years. There was full employment. 79 00:09:00.200 --> 00:09:04.960 Most were required to work in the fields, and only the barest of subsistence was retained 80 00:09:04.960 --> 00:09:12.940 by anyone for his own use. Even worse, if possible, was the Inca system of education. 81 00:09:12.940 --> 00:09:17.860 Thought control was thoroughly understood and practiced, and all children came to learn 82 00:09:17.860 --> 00:09:23.520 that their sole purpose in existence was to serve the state. 83 00:09:23.520 --> 00:09:28.580 Groups of individuals, usually the most handsome children, were herded off at an early age 84 00:09:28.580 --> 00:09:32.380 to become victims of sacrifice later on. 85 00:09:32.380 --> 00:09:37.700 They were taught intricate dance steps, how to utter mystical prayers, and to participate 86 00:09:37.700 --> 00:09:43.960 in an Awesome Ceremony, the culmination of which was their own death. And this they rehearsed 87 00:09:43.960 --> 00:09:50.360 for years, until the moment of supreme sacrifice. The slightest infraction of rules brought 88 00:09:50.360 --> 00:09:57.420 a public flogging, many times continued, until death ensued. And the greatest crime of all, 89 00:09:57.420 --> 00:10:03.620 according to the historical records available, was the crime of blasphemy against the Son, 90 00:10:03.620 --> 00:10:10.380 or in other words, of disagreeing with the government. In the minds of the Andean people, 91 00:10:10.380 --> 00:10:15.180 the government and their God were one. 92 00:10:15.180 --> 00:10:20.980 Today we look with horror at such barbaric practices as human sacrifice, totalitarian 93 00:10:20.980 --> 00:10:26.780 government, and complete regimentation. We marvel that the Inca people could have been 94 00:10:26.780 --> 00:10:33.800 and so superstitious as to fall under such despotic control. Yet today, under the urging 95 00:10:33.800 --> 00:10:40.560 of professional politicians, many in America, this land dedicated to freedom, have become 96 00:10:40.560 --> 00:10:47.740 convinced of the value of socialism, which insensibly leads to the same conclusion. 97 00:10:47.740 --> 00:10:54.700 For socialism can be defined as that theory of economic and political action, which provides 98 00:10:54.700 --> 00:11:01.040 that all property and all means of production and distribution shall be controlled by a 99 00:11:01.040 --> 00:11:04.900 centralized authority. 100 00:11:04.900 --> 00:11:11.700 The American theory of self-government began as an assumption that each man had a right 101 00:11:11.700 --> 00:11:17.960 to control himself. He did not have to be controlled and if left to his own devices 102 00:11:17.960 --> 00:11:21.660 could provide for himself and his dependence. 103 00:11:21.660 --> 00:11:27.480 The American theory was so effective that in the three hundred odd years it was even 104 00:11:27.480 --> 00:11:33.720 partially practiced, it revolutionized all standards of living and elevated them to peaks 105 00:11:33.720 --> 00:11:38.760 beyond anything ever dreamed of by the ancient theocrats. 106 00:11:38.760 --> 00:11:44.680 The American dream of freedom is based on the Declaration of Independence, which proclaims 107 00:11:44.680 --> 00:11:50.520 that each human being has certain inalienable rights. 108 00:11:50.520 --> 00:11:56.440 In theory, the government of the United States was established to provide for domestic tranquility 109 00:11:56.440 --> 00:12:02.520 its sole function to protect the lives and properties of Americans. But when government 110 00:12:02.520 --> 00:12:09.760 considers itself and its laws in the nature of divine decrees, then regiments its people, 111 00:12:09.760 --> 00:12:14.680 and by means of taxation, praise upon the property of these people, where can one go 112 00:12:14.680 --> 00:12:16.680 for protection? 113 00:12:16.680 --> 00:12:23.280 The ancient Inca civilization, although it left traces of magnificence and splendor, 114 00:12:23.280 --> 00:12:28.880 was hacked to pieces by the swords of the conquering Spanish invaders who met with little 115 00:12:28.880 --> 00:12:30.640 resistance. 116 00:12:30.640 --> 00:12:35.720 History tells us that the Inca people themselves had little spirit when it came to defending 117 00:12:35.720 --> 00:12:37.060 their homes. 118 00:12:37.060 --> 00:12:42.160 They were so accustomed to being ruled that the thought of resistance to authority never 119 00:12:42.160 --> 00:12:44.000 occurred to them. 120 00:12:44.000 --> 00:12:51.860 Their civilization perished, and their record should stand as a timely warning to us. 121 00:12:51.860 --> 00:12:58.580 That in which we place a blind trust is inevitably our god of the moment. 122 00:12:58.580 --> 00:13:04.860 If we place our trust in the care of politicians, government decrees, centralized planning, 123 00:13:04.860 --> 00:13:11.860 and look to a government agency for our security, our welfare and our support, we are in fact 124 00:13:11.860 --> 00:13:17.320 abandoning freedom and accepting a pagan faith. 125 00:13:17.320 --> 00:13:22.940 If this nation is to endure, it must endure as one of free men.