When looking back in time to Ancient Greece, many city-states made up this civilization. Some were big and popular like Athens, and others were small like Corinth. One city-state, in particular, was both famous and small; this was Sparta.
Even though in the twenty-first century Sparta still seems like a small and insignificant city-state, there is no denying the military power and advantage they had over their fellow polis. The Spartan military was what we can now consider the United States military of today to be.
With this comparison in mind, we can analyze how the Spartan military power was the center of the Spartan economy and by doing this, it will help us to better understand how a country set up this way could have economic problems one way or another (with a focus on how the population of both nations is affected).
Spartan Society was very abnormal when compared to the other Ancient Greece city-states. It was so different that it can be considered a step forward in the direction of how many countries in modern days are run in some respects. For instance, in Sparta all children (including females) were given an education under the state.[i]
For us to better understand why Sparta was known for being a force to be reckoned with in battle, it makes sense for us to examine the system that was set in place to hand pick the best of the best to defend this military oriented nation.
The process of picking the best soldiers for Sparta started from birth. Where the government would examine all male infants to see if they were viable.[ii]If they were deemed unviable, they would be cast out and abandoned.[iii]
Once deemed viable the male infants would be raised by their parents until the age of seven. At this age they would be taken and trained to be a soldier of Sparta.[iv]
The training that the boys went through was rigorous and hard. The young boys were made to go barefoot and nude a lot of the time. [v]They were only allowed to have one cloak and they slept on mats that they had to construct themselves.[vi] Boys were also encouraged to steal since they were given little to no food, but if they were caught, they would be punished by whipping.[vii] Though the training seems cruel, it allowed for the state to weed out the weak males and create strong soldiers.
Spartan society was filled with riches and wealth for many years but, there were multiple ways that the military oriented city state had economic problems. One of the major problems was with the dying population. The main reason for why the population was slowly but surely dying was because there were just not enough men.
The first reason why there was not enough men was that Sparta was the only state where infanticide was an established practice.[viii]
The next reason was that once males became soldiers, they were told that they should be brave and not turn their backs to the enemy and hide, if they did, they would bring shame upon their family and themselves.[ix]This motto caused many untimely deaths as the soldiers were in a way forced to stand up and fight.
A third reason why the population was dying out was because of the military housing policies that were in place. The policy was that soldiers had to stay in the barracks until the age of thirty.[x] Since this policy was in place this led to the absence of males in their houses with their wives.[xi] This in turn led to the many homosexual relations among both men and women alike.[xii]
There were also many non-military reasons as to why the Spartan population was dying out. Some include natural disasters and the emigration of men.[xiii]
In the end Sparta was a military powerhouse but the way the civilization was set up is what I personally believe is one of the biggest reason-if not the ultimate reason to why the Spartan people and their economy did not survive.
Similarly, the United States of America as a country revolves around their military. Throughout the years and the many wars, it is clear that the United States of America is currently one of the best trained and advanced military in the world.
Since they are one of the top militaries in the world it is no surprise that they spend an enormous amount of money to fund their many branches (navy, marines, army, coast guard, and air force). In 2019, they were the first ranked country in military spending (at around $732 billion USD), which was 5.3% higher than in the previous year.[xiv]
The amount of money that the United States spends on the military can be considered an abnormally big amount. That does not mean that it is not unaffordable for the population of the country.[xv]
Although the United States for the most part can afford the military budget that they have there are still some that believe the spending is too much and has many negative effects. These negative effects come from the notion that each time the budget increases by 1% the economic growth is reduced by 0.5%. [xvi]
Some of the negative effects include heavier tax, and a decline in welfare spending (like public health).[xvii]These effects can in the future lead to a lot of economic issues. For example, if the government of the Unites States kept increasing taxes this could lead to an increase of the number of families below the poverty line, since it would reduce the amount of money people have that go toward their childcare and transportation.[xviii]
The increasement of tax could also lead to an increase of homelessness. This could lead to an increase of homelessness since if people can’t afford to pay their taxes then they will eventually have to forfeit their homes. Another example is that if there is money being taken out of the public health system there will be more deaths because people will not get the care, they need sine they will not be able to afford the hospital bill.
Both Sparta and the United States are very similar when it comes to how the economy is run and their military. They both invested a lot of resources and people into making it the best the world has ever seen (in their respected time periods).
While looking at the way Spartan society was ultimately controlled by their military, we can see that they suffered a great amount in the way their economy, especially the population started to decrease more and more.
By comparing how the United States similarly is run we were able to see how their economy was affected in a different way. Instead of their population taking a tumble it was the living situations of the people and the society.
[i] Sarah B. Pomeroy, A Brief History of Ancient Greece: Politics, Society, and Culture (New York: Oxford University Press, 2020), 111. [ii] Pomeroy, 110 [iii] Pomeroy, 110 [iv] Pomeroy, 110 [v] Pomeroy, 110 [vi] Pomeroy, 110 [vii] Pomeroy, 110 [viii] Pomeroy, 117 [ix] Johnathon, Hall. “Document 7.3; Tyrtaeus 11:1-6, 11-14, 17-38” A History of the Archaic Greek World, ca. 1200-479 BCE pp.178 [x] Pomeroy, 110 [xi] Pomeroy, 114 [xii] Pomeroy, 117 [xiii] Pomeroy, 117 [xiv] “Trends in World Military Expenditure, 2019,” SIPRI, accessed November 25, 2020, https://www.sipri.org/publications/2020/sipri-fact-sheets/trends-world-military-expenditure-2019. [xv] Michael E. O'Hanlon and James N. Miller, “Focusing on Quality over Quantity in the US Military Budget,” Brookings (Brookings, June 10, 2020), https://www.brookings.edu/policy2020/bigideas/focusing-on-quality-over-quantity-in-the-us-military-budget/. [xvi] Uk Heo, “The Relationship between Defense Spending and Economic Growth in the United States,” Political Research Quarterly 63, no. 4 (2010): pp. 760-770, https://doi.org/10.1177/1065912909334427. [xvii] Uk Heo, “The Relationship between Defense Spending and Economic Growth in the United States,” Political Research Quarterly 63, no. 4 (2010): pp. 760-770, https://doi.org/10.1177/1065912909334427. [xviii] “The Impact of State Income Taxes on Low-Income Families in 2011,” Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, October 11, 2017, https://www.cbpp.org/research/the-impact-of-state-income-taxes-on-low-income-families-in-2011.
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