The ‘haves’ declare war on the ‘have nots‘

WHEN we look at history and examine the art of warfare we can see one tactic always prevails.

As a central plank of their strategy the princes sacrifice a substantial percentage of the troops as cannon fodder. It is rationalised away as collateral damage.

After the bloody slaughter those who remained impregnable in their ivory towers emerge to reap the spoils of war. These elites thrive as there are now far fewer poor mouths feeding off the state’s resources and consequently they and their offspring grow richer and plumper, hold all power and dispense largesse as they see fit. The princes may suffer a frisson of conscience before dispatching the young and the peasants to the slaughter, but it is only a momentary quiver – the lower rungs on the societal ladder are always expendable.