The demands of the poor
Let me tell you a little story:
In the beginning of farming, there were these two people Larry and Linda, and they farmed some land all alone. For a while they lived fine, from the plants they harvested, but then a year came with not enough rain. That year, Larry and Linda and their kids lived on stored grain (not very well). But then the next year it didn't rain either. So Larry and Linda and their kids starved to death.
Well, that's how it was at first. Then people began to live in villages. Now instead of starving to death when there was no rain, Joe and Jane could ask their neighbors for food. They had these neighbors, Maria and Roberto, who had really good land and worked hard, and they always seemed to have enough food to give Joe and Jane. So they didn't starve, and they were really grateful to Maria and Roberto and gave them presents in return as much as they could.
Then after a while, when there was a bad year Joe and Jane went to Maria and Roberto to ask for food, and Maria and Roberto were just getting sick of lending Joe and Jane food all the time, and they said, "Okay, but you will have to pay us back TWICE as much food when you have some." Of course rather than starve Joe and Jane agreed. So then when the rain fell, Joe and Jane worked hard to pay back the debt. But their land wasn't that good, and they had a lot of kids, and they just could not seem to ever get that debt paid off.
Then another bad year came, and again Joe and Jane
went to Maria and Roberto to ask for food. This time, Maria and Roberto
said, "Okay, but you already owe us a debt, you know. This time, if
you don't pay off the debt we will take your land, okay?" And Joe and
Jane said okay, because otherwise they would starve.
But again they couldn't really pay off the debt. One day Maria and Roberto
came with some big mean guys who worked for them and took the land.
But they said Joe and Jane could still live there, only now they would
have to pay rent on it to Maria and Roberto.
Well, the next time a bad year came, not only did Joe
and Jane owe Maria and Roberto money, but they also got behind on the
rent. Maria and Roberto said, " We'll give you food, but if you don't
catch up on the rent and pay off your debts, we'll make you and your
kids our slaves, okay?" And Joe and
Jane said okay, because otherwise they would starve. But they didn't
feel so friendly toward Maria and Roberto anymore.
But again they couldn't really pay off the debt. One day Maria and Roberto
came with some big mean slaves of
theirs and said that now Joe and Jane and their kids were all slaves.
They could stay on the land and keep farming it, but all the food would
go to Maria and Roberto, and they would just give back just enough to
keep Joe and Jane and their kids going.
Well, when Roberto decided he wanted to be tyrant,
and asked Joe and Jane to support him, he asked them what he could do
for them in return. And they said: "Cancel our debts, make us not be
slaves anymore, and give back our land!" and those are exactly the demands
that poor people always made, all around the Mediterranean, whenever
they got a chance.
Some examples are Greece under Solon and Pisistratus, and Rome in the time of Tiberius Gracchus.
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