Hauntingly Beautiful Girls

"This Is How They Get You (Part 2)"

"One feature of this 'equal justice' culture was that it was applied to all.

Imagine you were a farmer and had goods to send for sale far away.

If that village or town applied, a tax or tariff on those goods just for passing through it would cost that farmer more. The farmers nearest the place of sale would have an advantage.

The nearby farmers might like the idea of taxes and tariffs in their towns (applied only to out-of-town travelers).

This led the king to consider if it was 'equal justice'.

The king established rules to make things fairer. He created 'King's Hiways'. No local town could tax people that travelled on the 'King's Roads'.

It made commerce more profitable for those willing to travel to get a good price.

There was a need to keep thefts under control. Robbers could be selective in who they assaulted. Robbers could become an unregulated tax on travelers.

So the king and troops worked to support law on the 'King's Roads'.

People felt those things were fair, and the land prospered.

It made trade safer, so more goods could spread. Interesting goods, unusual books, things created in places beyond the waters.

Innovation grows quickly in a place where people think things are fair and new things show up often.

We can call this a time when things were good. A time when things were not miserable."