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It is interesting how this percentage of 1% is refers to those with all the wealth. Compared to years ago this number may actually be a great improvement in equality. The epic of Gilgamesh, or Homers Iliad were written when only philosophers, priests and nobles could read. It would not be until about the 2nd century CE, in Rome that private libraries and bookshops become relatively common. Derveni papyrus, the oldest surviving "book" in the Western tradition, it dates from about 340 BC. Cuneiform tablets date from the fourth millennium B.C. The Dead Sea Scrolls, which contain books of the Bible and other texts, date from 250 B.C.-100 A.D. By comparison, in these ancient times far less than 1% of the people were able to read, and wealth was concentrated in even fewer people. Ignorance is enslavement. We do this to ourselves, we created a society based on greed and materialism, what could we expect. |