Plunder Politics

Just under a decade ago, The History Channel offered us Vikings, a historical drama set in the late eight century AD. The show, which I recently re-watched, gave us a (fictionalized) account of the lifestyle and culture of the Norsemen of that era. That society, which subsisted off farming and fishing, sought to grow its wealth by plundering other societies, most notably those of England. Indeed, as I learned in high school, "viking” was originally a verb that translates to "going on a raiding or trading voyage."

Such was a common manner of wealth acquisition prior to the emergence of the capitalistic concept of free trade. Societies ranging from the ancient to the medieval to the mercantile would seek benefit by plundering others, especially when those others were seen as weaker. This model dominated the world for most of human history. Not coincidentally, human living standards didn't much improve across that long stretch. The large majority of people lived at a subsistence level in 500 BCE, 500 AD, and 1500 AD.