The origins of democracy
A long time ago, in the time when the past was still present and the present was still a distant future, there were ten robbers far far away.
Robbers, at that time, were still real robbers, the kind who, when robbing unsuspecting travelers, actually checked whether the victims had secretly swallowed gold pieces. So quite dirty work.
Now the work was not only dirty, but sometimes dangerous. Many victims strongly objected to the robbery and murder of their persons. Some were even so attached to their lives that they tried to defend themselves with weapons.
In a somewhat unfortunate encounter between the robbers and a victim of the latter category, the leader of the robbers, also known as the robber captain, was forced to suddenly stop all his activities.
Now it had become a tradition in the robber groups that the leader was allowed to divide the loot as he saw fit.
Because the robber chief was a thrifty person, the group mainly shared in the joy of the loot obtained. As a result, the robber chief left behind a considerable amount of gold and other valuables.
The robbers had put the valuables in a large heap and were now all sitting around them with the problem of "how to divide the loot without a robber captain".
The robbers sit silently around the loot. After sitting like this for some time, one of the robbers comes up with a proposal: "What if we divide the loot into nine equal parts, and each take our share".
Of course you understand the reaction of the other robbers. There is loud laughter, as only robbers can. "To each an equal share... are you now a robber?...That is fair sharing, where is your honor as a robber?"
After it turned out that this was not a feasible solution, after some time a second robber stood up and proposed: "I have it. I have dé solution. I take everything and you get nothing. Then the problem immediately arises...". He went no further. If there is something you should not imagine with heavily armed robbers from that time, it is that you want to take their loot. Robbers then respond in a way that only robbers can respond.
Anyway, to spare the details, after the various parts of the corpse had been cleared away, the eight robbers sat in silence again around the treasure left behind.
It took a little longer now for someone to have an idea. But eventually someone came up with a proposal. It read as follows:
"The two robbers sitting next to me each get 1/5the share of the loot. The two robbers sitting next to the men sitting next to me each get 1/5th of what is left. I'll get the rest." With the exception of only three robbers, everyone agreed with this proposal.
The three less fortunate robbers refrained from taking action against the majority for health reasons, so the loot could be divided according to this ingenious distribution key.
This solution created a first form of democracy, which is based on the following principle: "You must always propose a solution that is most favorable to yourself and that is acceptable by a majority of the decision-making participants".
JM 1989
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