Exclusive ownership of irrigated fertile land is a classic source of power. More than 3,000 years ago, as you once explained, the Dorians swooped down from the north upon the Greek peninsula. Because they had iron weapons that the Mycenaeans lacked, they took over the good land. Once they had it, they acquired power over those who had lost it. And until fairly recently, it was that precise combination – of land and sophisticated weaponry – that decided who did what to whom; who had power, and who had to obey. This was feudalism. Then something strange happened: power decoupled from land and
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