New Keith Woods and Joel Davis video on popular sovereignty - some criticisms

submitted by NeoRail from self.debatealtright

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[–]NeoRail[S] 1 insightful - 1 fun1 insightful - 0 fun2 insightful - 1 fun -  (3 children)

I can acknowledge the valid and traditional elements of Venice, just like those of any other medieval state, but I feel like it is a serious stretch to compare any of the merchant republics with Rome. Rome was a spiritual ideal, whereas Venice, in my view, hardly differed from a commercial corporation. The role of the state was to guarantee the income of the rich, and the rich could use their wealth to buy their way into controlling the state. Venice was a very durable plutocracy, but it was still just a plutocracy.

[–]Rakean93Identitarian socialist 1 insightful - 1 fun1 insightful - 0 fun2 insightful - 1 fun -  (2 children)

That's because the liberal storiography hijacked Venice for the large public. It wasn't a "merchant Republic", the patricians were involved in the same activities that involved the rest of the nobles of that age. They were landlords with commercial interests, not different from the Germans, the Italians or the french nobility. Venice was an example of early aristocratic nationalism, which sometimes shows elements of ethnic nationalism. I put a little bit of titles in the other comment, you can check them.

[–]NeoRail[S] 1 insightful - 1 fun1 insightful - 0 fun2 insightful - 1 fun -  (1 child)

I know that there was a more traditional faction of feudal landowning aristocrats, particularly those living outside the city of Venice itself. To my knowledge, most of the wealth of the city was generated by trading in the eastern Mediterranean, though, hence why Venice was a commercial empire.

[–]Rakean93Identitarian socialist 1 insightful - 1 fun1 insightful - 0 fun2 insightful - 1 fun -  (0 children)

Everyone was dealing with commerce while using the lands to get a revenue, that's how the nobility would gain money.