The Rules for the Venetian Aristocracy
Modern aristocrats have no constraints on their lives… this must end
The Serene Republic of Venice lasted from approximately 805 AD to 1797 AD, more than 900 years. The government of Venice was an oligarchy, one in which the nobles of Venice selected the members of the ruling council, which in turn selected the Doge (Duke) of Venice. There were initially some 100 major noble families in Venice, and at it’s largest (in 1340) the electors of the council numbered more than 1,200 men. [See John J. Norrich, A History of Venice, pg. 184].
The nobility of Venice ruled the city, via the council who elected the Ten, and the Doge, who was elected when the previous Doge died or resigned his office. No other Venetians had a say in the laws of the Venetian Republic [p. 185].
One might think that all this power in the hands of a small number of inter-related families would lead to corruption and unfettered use of power, but this is not correct. The Venetian nobles placed many stringent rules upon themselves, rules that bound the nobility to the City of Venice.
Rules on the Venetian Nobility
A member of the nobility had to lead the Venetian war fleet. Whenever the Venetian fleet was at sea, its commander was a member of one of the noble families. There were no exceptions. Being the commander of the Venetian fleet was always a dangerous job. The Venetian fleet was either at war - against Genoa, the Eastern Roman Empire, the Islamic states, the Ottoman Empire, the Barbary cities - or it was guarding many Venetian merchant ships, filled with rich cargo. Usually there were many Venetian nobles in the fleet each time it sailed, either as ship captains or navigators or quartermasters. Thousands of Venetian nobles lost their lives at sea, fighting with the enemies of Venice. [p.85]
None of the Venetian nobles could leave the territory of Venice without permission from the ruling council. The Venetian government insisted on knowing where the nobles were at all times. Visiting Florence, or Paris, or Rome, or Vienna for fun, for pleasure, required official approval. In a real sense, every member of the Venetian nobility was an official of Venice. [p. 604]
Every member of the Venetian nobility, when they were out in public, had to wear noble silks. They were distinctive in public, they had to be. If not, they could lose their status as nobles. If the common citizens of Venice were unhappy with the leadership of the state, they knew who was responsible, and they could see who these people were, almost every day. [p. 596]
The nobles of Venice were not allowed to buy luxury goods from other nations except under very rare circumstances. Generally speaking, if you wanted a fine Florentine marble inlay desk, you needed to have it shipped into Venice, put on sale by a merchant, and then you could buy it. If it wasn’t made in Venice, it had to come in via the standard trade.
The behavior of the modern oligarchs:
Modern oligarchs do not serve the public in any capacity. They do not run for elected office nor do they (or their children) serve the US in the army or in any governmental position. In the past, the rich behaved as though they were part of the USA. John F. Kennedy’ a oldest brother was killed in World War II, and JFK himself nearly died when his PT Boat was cut in two by a Japanese destroyer during the war. Their family was one of the richest families in the USA at the time. Both of the Kennedy sons had more than enough wealth to avoid serving in World War II, or if they wanted their father could easily have arranged desk jobs in Washington for them. By contrast, the children of today’s ultra rich, as a group, have done nothing for the USA. None have served in the military, none have done anything in terms of public office. (Mike Bloomberg is the only exception I can think of, since he was born in 1942, he is of the older generation of Americans who still had some patriotic feelings.) The idea that the children of Gates, or Ellison, or Jobs might actually serve in the US military is almost laughable. Yet the Venetians required it from their oligarchs.
Modern oligarchs not only leave the USA whenever they feel like it, they own houses all over the world, especially in safe, out-of-the-way locations like New Zealand. If things go badly in the USA, you can be sure they will simply fly off to some safe residence and enjoy the remainder of their lives, secure in their person, with their fortunes largely intact. The Venetians viewed this behavior by their nobility as treason against the Republic. No Venetian noble was allowed to own property outside of Venice and it’s territory.
Modern oligarchs dress badly, they blend in with the crowd. No one can tell you are worth billions of dollars and can control the country when you wear some cheap T-shirt, baggy pants, and dark glasses. In the photo at the top of this essay, that’s the 7th richest man in the world (as of 2022), Sergey Brin, walking next to Prince Mohammad bin Salman, the defacto ruler of Saudi Arabia. Brin is dressed anonymously in clothing which suggests he may not have enough money to even live in Silicon Valley. Again, Venetian nobles had to stand out. The people they ruled had a right to know who ruled them.
The oligarchy of the present era have no skin in the game. They can promote the stupidest policies for the USA, while suffering none of the ill effects. They can demand their paid-for politicians support wars which they will never have to fight, nor will their children ever have to suffer from.
This is a pernicious state of affairs. Venice lasted for 900 years because it’s rulers knew their lives and fortunes were bound up with the good of their state. What was good for Venice was good for them. What destroyed Venice, would destroy them also.
The modern oligarchs don’t care about the USA. They are safe from anything short of global nuclear war. If the USA falls apart, they don’t care - their wealth is diversified in every major national economy. Many of our oligarchs have multiple passports, they can fly to New Zealand, or Malta, at any time and renounce their US citizenship. Larry Page (the other founder of Google) flew into New Zealand in January 2021 during the lockdown, avoiding New Zealand’s rules about foreign entry thanks to an alleged medical emergency. He, and the other American billionaires, are above the law.
How China Handles the Ultra-Rich
To begin with, not all the ultra-rich in China are the oligarchs. The oligarchs are the top leaders of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). Many of them are rich - or their families are rich - but some are not. In 1980, there were no Chinese billionaires. Today there are more than 500.
So, how does the Chinese government control it’s ultra-rich?
The CCP has and can arrest, imprison, and confiscate the wealth of Chinese billionaires. The CCP is the law. The legal system and the judges in China work for the Chinese government and they do what they are told to do. If you disobey the CCP, or anger the top leaders, you can lose all your Chinese wealth.
The CCP disallows any Chinese citizen from owning additional passports from some other nation. The CCP does not recognize dual-citizenship. In fact, the CCP sometimes does not recognize former citizens claiming another nationality.
If you own a business in China, you must live in China. Chinese who want to live in some other nation soon find they have lost legal control over their business in China.
The CCP does not hesitate to apply pressure to the families of Chinese billionaires. Ultra-rich Chinese who think they can escape the CCP’s control just by moving to France or Australia have to consider how or if they can also move their parents, their children, their former wife, their grandparents, or their close relatives, because the CCP can and will punish the relatives if the main target of their ire has fled the country. Collective punishment is and has been part of the Chinese legal system for more than 2,500 years.
The Chinese oligarchs are part of China. They are not allowed to espouse independent political ideas, nor are they allowed to just live in other nations while keeping their Chinese wealthy. In theory, a Chinese billionaire could liquidate their assets, move their entire family out of China, and then do whatever they wanted with their wealth. So far, none of the Chinese billionaires has followed this path and perhaps it can’t be done.
The bottom line is: Chinese ultra-wealthy have skin in the game while our ultra-wealthy do not. This needs to change.