8 CRYPTOCRACY: THE QUEST TO REPLACE POLITICS WITH TECHNOLOGY

"The whole country was in the hands of a few persons, and if the tenants failed to pay their rent they were liable to be haled into slavery, and their children with them."2 Aristotle in his Athenian Constitution describes how the ancient city state was once ruled by ruthless oligarchs. Government administrators were perceived as corrupt and untrustworthy, offering no recourse to the oppressed. The situation became untenable: Since … the many were in slavery to the few, the people rose against the upper class. The strife was keen, and for a long time the two parties were ranged in hostile camps against one another.… A surprising resolution to the conflict was found in the appointment of a poet to devise a new system of government for the country: at last, by common consent, they appointed Solon to be mediator and Archon, and committed the whole constitution to his hands.