But we may also note that states, like all other things (animals, plants, and inanimate instruments), have a definite measure of size. Any object will lose its power of performing its function if it is either excessively small or of an excessive size. Sometimes it will wholly forfeit its nature; sometimes, short of that, it will merely be defective. We take the example of a ship. A ship which is only 6 inches in length, or is as much as 1,200 feet long, will not be a ship at all; and even a ship of more moderate size may still cause difficulties of navigation, either because it is not large enough or because it is unwieldily large. The same is true of states. A state composed of too few members is a state without self-sufficiency (and the state, by its definition, is a self-sufficient society). A state composed of too many will indeed be self sufficient in the matter of material necessities (as an uncivilized people may equally be); but it will not be a true state, for the simple reason that it can hardly have a true constitution. Who can be the general of a mass so excessively large? And who can give it orders, unless he have Stentor’s voice?
- Aristotle Politics Book VII Chapter 4
After some consideration, I’m taking a few posts to circle back around to what makes a Polis what it is - what exactly we’re talking about in the discussion. I think I need to familiarize newer readers, I want to explore new thoughts I’ve had, and point to how the concept is useful in modern times.
A polis is made up of three things, in order of importance:
A Nation built on blood ties that -
recognizes itself as a unified whole -
and governs itself.
“WHAT!?” I hear the modern reader say.
Yes. Aristotle held that a nation wasn’t anything other than people tied by blood, rising from families, to a tribe, to a village, town, and kingdom. What is Scotland, if it was populated by the Danes? Would it then be more correct to call it New Daneland?
But, dear readers, we obviously cannot stop here.
You see, the average American pushes back on this because they themselves don’t have the first, or, if they do, they absolutely don’t have the second.
The only groups In America I’ve come across in my years on this Earth that do are Native Americans, recent Immigrants, and Jews.
In other words - everyone not white.
I’ve started trying to tell people that are white - we’re not racist enough. People usually think of white as ‘Anglo-Saxon.’ Did you or you ancestors, dear reader, come from the counties of Saxony or Angles when they conquered Normandy? While I am sure some do, it’s less than usually are thought of. The rest of the “whites” of this country were treated like dirt, besides the Brits. The Irish and Chinese were worked to death on the railroad because they were valued less than blacks. They were the ones to light the TNT. The Poles and Italians were treated nearly as bad in warehouses and steamships.
But, the desire to assimilate drove all of that under, and destroyed all of it.
So yes, they have to have a unity. They have to have an in group preference. Otherwise they’re just a bunch of people living in a specific geographical location with nothing in common, able to be disassociated with each other and out competed by other groups with that in group preference, as we’ve seen.
Lastly, they have to have self governance.
Notice I did not say state. I specifically mean a people able to rule themselves, provide for the needs of their people, without being formally recognized on the formally recognized upon the geo-political stage. While Aristotle would probably still call that a state, I’m just not going to quibble over it at this time. Nor am I positive he would, as you’re about to see…
So, if a territory of an Empire delegates self rule of a territory to that same territory, aside from taxes and some basic laws to bring it in conformity with the rest of the Empire, I am still calling that a Polis.
A good example of this that everyone in the West will know is Israel in the time of Christ. There were Roman laws they had to adhere to, but, as long as they did so, they had their own King, and ruled themselves.
My arguments are that we….
In the land of Libertas,
Equalitas,
and Fraternitas….
Have no Polis in sight.
And if you haven’t caught on by now.
My whole dream is to make one.
Stone,
By stone.
Law is a system of order; and a general habit of obedience to law must therefore involve a general system of orderliness. Order, however, is the one thing which is impossible for an excessive number. The creation of order for an infinite number is a task for the divine power which holds together the whole of this universe, where beauty is usually found attending on number and magnitude.
- Aristotle Politics Book VII Chapter 4