A politician’s point collapsed in ruins when he invoked Roman history – 8 epic takedowns
Douglas Carswell was a Conservative MP who defected to UKIP, before going Independent, then losing his seat. It’s that age-old story we know so well.
Although he has a degree in History, he probably could have done a little more research before taking this stab at the principle of a Universal Basic Income.
Well-known expert on that era in history, Mary Beard, immediately pulled him up on his bad take.
Sorry, hope you don’t mind if I object here. But the point of Gracchus’ subsidized grain was a very long way from Universal Basic Income. And it really doesn’t figure among the (very complex) causes of the fall of the republic. But we could start a great thread on this.
— mary beard (@wmarybeard) March 26, 2020
She wasn’t the only one.
1.
Mum! The politicians are at it again… pic.twitter.com/6FC8KFsqJ1
— Greg Jenner: 'DEAD FAMOUS OUT MARCH 19TH!' (@greg_jenner) March 26, 2020
People rubbished his understanding of the specific incident.
2.
Love the idea that giving adult male citizens a monthly opportunity to buy a gallon of grain at a subsidised price is somehow exactly the same as UBI https://t.co/lUBIXXyYmB
— Finn Conway (@Finn_Conway) March 26, 2020
3.
https://twitter.com/TheSinanKose/status/1243174861494763520?s=19
And his grasp of the wider history of the Roman Empire.
4.
That's funny, I thought it was an oligarchy with pretensions towards autocracy combined with slavery, a perpetual underclass that could only be escaped through military service, and dictatorial manipulation of notions of populism heading into the First Triumvirate. https://t.co/EDMZPoyu7I
— Thomas Lecaque (@tlecaque) March 26, 2020
But, mostly, they weren’t at all on board with his logic that a thing that had failed in the distant past might not be more effective in the very different circumstances of modern society.
5.
I don't believe in fire because when cavemen did it with sticks they got eaten by a mammoth
— Fred Delicious (@Fred_Delicious) March 26, 2020
6.
Universal Basic Income? The Romans tried it from 123BC and where are they now? All dead. https://t.co/3JptovAqgf
— Mollie Goodfellow (@hansmollman) March 26, 2020
7.
"tried it 2143 years ago, didn't work, next"
— Jonathan Fisher (@fishplums) March 26, 2020
8.
The National Health Service?
It was tried by the Mesopotamians and it destroyed their city state.
Yes I also just made this up. https://t.co/3XXTJAzVyq— Sir Norman of Nowhere. 🏴☠️ (@Normanjam67) March 26, 2020
It isn’t the first time he’s failed to do the required reading.
Douglas Carswell's latest claim that the Roman republic was destroyed by a universal basic income reminds me of the time he said experts were wrong about the moon causing ocean tides https://t.co/UIfc2q4srP
— Jon Stone (@joncstone) March 26, 2020
For future reference, we should all take note of this.
Hello, this is your regular warning that any time you see a political figure invoking the past to influence the present, they mostly likely have no idea what they're talking about.
— Greg Jenner: 'DEAD FAMOUS OUT MARCH 19TH!' (@greg_jenner) March 26, 2020
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Source Douglas Carswell Image BBC