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pikesfan
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EINSECHS, EINKOMMA (531-492 B.C.) : Political philosopher. Born in the outlying province of Sverige [mod. Schwedreich], the clever young lad Enkomma Ensju, as his name was originally in his local dialect, was sent by the Tempelmeister of Uppsala [mod. Obensaal] for further education in the capital, where he was assigned a job in the Große Schiftrollehaus.
Over the years he studied all that was written about the governmental systems of the world, and in about 495 B.C. wrote his treatises Regierungen der Welt, which compared all the governments of the known world, both civilized kingdoms, small tribes, and wandering barbarians, and Die Monarchie, oder die Alleinherschaft in which he set forth that the ruler would have a better and richer rule (culturally, economically, and scientifically) if he devolved some of his powers onto the local Personages, who, instead of perpetually having to be appointed by the ruler, would be able to inherit their positions from their fathers.
It is generally theorized that he called this system of government "Alleinherschaft" as opposed to "Persönlichkeitenherschaft" (the usual name for it among the Asian peoples) in order to flatter the Despot or at least not appear seditious. "Monarchie" is a word from the Sverige dialect, "monarki", which was borrowed from the Greeks (Sverige was near the ancient Greek realm).
He also wrote Swensk, mein Sprache, a treatise on his local dialect, in which he preserved many of the ancient sagas of the locals. Much of our knowledge of this extinct German dialect with its quaint rules about not spelling all nouns with a capital letter comes from his treatises, for he also translated his political treatises into the Schwedreich dialect, Regeringarna av världen and Monarki, eller ensamherravälde.
He also wrote in Die Monarchie that "it is not a good idea for the ruler to sacrifice more than half the people of a town in building something, no matter how useful, for the ungrateful people will grow weary and hateful of the rulers' vanity and the town will be perpetually difficult to rule, even to the point of endangering the Despot himself." The despots of the Bismarck dynasty paid dearly for not bothering to read that advice, for in 473 B.C. the people of München, led by Ludwig of Wittelsbach, rose up against Otto VIII for the building of a too-lavish courthouse. The "Gerichtsgebäudekrieg" spread throughout the realm and overthrew the Bismarck dynasty.
Ludwig, who had read Die Monarchie, soon got the chance to put Einsechs' ideas into practice, for he became ruler with the new title of Könung. Other historians, however, say he was forced to put the ideas into practice because he lacked the ancient legitimacy of the Bismarck dynasty and was obliged to depend on the local Personages for support. Nevertheless, he inaugurated the 500-year rule of the Wittelsbach dynasty, until it was overthrown in the year 1 by Karl von Bismarck who reestablished the Bismarck dynasty and changed the calendar to commemorate its [permanent] return.
Einsechs died in 492 B.C. of a surfeit of "surströmming", a bizarre dish of sour local fish enjoyed by the ancient people of Schwedland which fortunately is no longer eaten today.
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15-02-2002 07:18
Guess I'm slow 
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