From the time of antiquity until the Enlightenment, trade and the pursuit of wealth were considered sinful. “In the city that is most finely governed,” Aristotle wrote, “the citizens should not live a vulgar or a merchant’s way of life, for this sort of way of life is ignoble and contrary to virtue.”1In Plato’s vision of an ideal society (the Republic) the ruling “guardians” would own no property to avoid tearing “the city in pieces by differing about ‘mine’ and ‘not mine.’” He added that “all that relates to retail trade, and merchandise, and the keeping of taverns, is denounced and numbered among dishonourable things.” Only noncitizens would be allowed to indulge in commerce. A citizen who defies the natural order and becomes a merchant should be thrown in jail for “shaming his family.”
The Syrian government has been accused of carrying out a chemical attack, using two types of gases, in Douma. While Damascus has denied the allegations, the US said that if the reports are confirmed, the international community will need to react immediately.
Douma after an airstrike (archive) Photo Credit: EPA-EFE
Several Syrian rebel groups and humanitarian organizations accused Damascus of carrying out a massive chemical attack in Douma on Saturday evening. The groups also flooded social media with graphic images and footage of the victims. The Syrian government has denied that it launched a chemical attack on the city.
“Seventy people suffocated to death and hundreds are still suffocating,” Raed al-Saleh, the head of the Syrian aid agency White Helmets, told Al Jazeera. According to al-Saleh, chlorine gas and a stronger gas that has yet to be identified were dropped on the city in Eastern Ghouta.
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