tl;dw: The grain dole wasn’t a “welfare program” as such, its primary purpose was stabilizing the food supply in the city of Rome to prevent famines, especially in years where a bad harvest could cause thousands of people to rush to the city looking for food. Over time as Roman citizens became a minority in their own city, it became a privilege that they held over the masses.
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2 points
I think you might have posted in the wrong thread, but the Leninist take on fascism is basically that it’s what capitalism turns to to defend itself when it can no longer afford to pretend to be civilized, which I think could be called “siege liberalism” absolutely.
