Herod’s Law refers to the brand of politics practiced by Herod the Great in his climb from obscure businessman to king of Judea during the period of Roman administration in 40 B.C. His ascension was characterized by corruption, extortion, embezzlement, and murder, including his personal involvement in killing his father-in-law, three of his sons, a wife and anyone who he perceived as an obstacle to his political future. His actions set an example for future tyrants.
Herod became the prototypical self-promoting political boss. The methods he used to accomplish his political rise became known as Herod’s Law: Do unto others before they do it to you. The Roman historians of 40 B.C. wrote about the political climate and the accepted predatory practices that are all too familiar in the present global community. This was particularly true for corruption that appeared to be one of life’s constants, like death and taxes. Some saw the taking of tainted money as an amoral act; but if they didn’t take it, somebody else would. One political scientist saw corruption in a different way: “The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse shall be renamed as embezzlement, bribery, greed and fraud. It is corruption that will destroy great nations.”
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The ancient Greeks first identified this species of political malfeasance and coined the descriptive word for its practice: Kleptocracy, from the Greek, kléptēs, for “thief”, and kratía or krátos, for “power and rule.” They further defined a kleptocracy as a government with corrupt leaders (kleptocrats) who use their power to exploit the people and natural resources of their own territory in order to extend their personal wealth and political powers.
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This new group of tyrants became known as the Earls of Ecocide, powerful politicians who committed unlawful acts with the knowledge that their actions would cause severe and long-term damage to the environment, defined as the Earth, its biosphere, cryosphere, lithosphere, hydrosphere, and atmosphere. The Earls of Ecocide acted with reckless disregard for the damage their actions and projects would cause to the environment, including impacts on natural, cultural, or economic resources, and animal and human life.
Their nefarious objectives included destruction of entire ecosystems, wildlife species (flora and fauna), and human beings. The kleptocratic system refined by the Earls of Ecocide and their allies involved embezzlement of funds at the expense of the wider population; a government ruled by corrupt politicians who used their political power to receive kickbacks, bribes, and special favors at the expense of the environment and populace.
Kleptocrats used political leverage to pass laws to enrich themselves and their allies, circumventing the rule of law. Kleptocracies are associated with dictatorships, oligarchies, military juntas, or other forms of autocratic and nepotistic governments where external oversight is difficult or does not exist. This control was key to the kleptocrat’s ability to manipulate the supply and disbursement of public funds. Kleptocrats continue to carry on Herod’s Law as his devoted disciples.
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Subjugation of conquered countries has always presented problems for the invader. But for every problem, there is a solution; and in this case, the solution was a weapon that would evoke terror and quell the rise of rebellion. The Hittites initiated a primitive form of this weapon in 1325 BC. The 16th century advances in biology and chemistry created the means to exterminate people more efficiently. The 20th century introduced battlefield plagues, toxic gases, and the technology to destroy hundreds of thousands with a single bomb. Invention and innovation produced measures that could render the sword, rifle and cannon obsolete. Treaties and politicians’ promises ensured a more civilized form of warfare. The international mantra was, “Nobody in their right mind would ever use these weapons.” But not everybody is in their right mind. Terrorists and tyrants wouldn’t care if tomorrow never came.
A quotation attributed to John Hollow Horn of the Oglala Lakota Nation in 1932 sums up mankind’s environmental quandary; “Some day the earth will weep, she will beg for her life, she will cry with tears of blood. You will make a choice, if you will help her or let her die, and when she dies, you too will die.”
