Re:Can too many brainy people be a dangerous thing?
by rjsw on Thursday October 29, 2020 @08:20AM
(#24929694)
Spain fixed the problem of too many landless knights by encouraging them to go off and invade South America.
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Re:Can too many brainy people be a dangerous thing?
by Balgair on Thursday October 29, 2020 @10:52AM
(#24931088)
Most of Europe did that with their 2nd and 3rd sons. I can't seem to find the source, but I have heard that the flag of South Carolina has a crescent moon on it due to all the minor sons that came there to find their riches (Crescent Moons were common on the heraldry of minor sons).
San Domingue, now Haiti, was also a place where these nobles went off to get rich.
The new world was filled with these kinds of guys.
Re:Can too many brainy people be a dangerous thing?
by rjsw on Thursday October 29, 2020 @11:11AM
(#24931339)
One problem with the Jamestown colony seems to have been that the settlers were only this kind of people, not people who could do useful stuff.
Re:Can too many brainy people be a dangerous thing?
by dalbasal on Thursday October 29, 2020 @08:45AM
(#24929891)
I'm sure we could write a whole social theory around this.
Arguably, the spanish tradition continues under more modern institutions with the British and Dutch trade monopolies. Nobles and wealthy commoners could go off and stake their claims in the colonies. A more diverse elite.
Instead of being a knight that can either farm (limited number of hides) or crusade, you could also be a textile merchant. You could be a ship captain, VOC clerk or mior Raj.