The Sad Night

Problem solving – by government -- is a problem in itself. It adds costs and complexity... creating more problems to solve... and ultimately dooming a society to failure.

Human sacrifice before the Temple of Tenochtitlan, from The History of the Indies of New Spain, manuscript by Diego Duran, 1579. Source: Getty Images...

Wednesday, August 14, 2024 

Bill Bonner, writing today from Poitou, France

Exploitation is a normal cost of stratification... bad government is a normal cost of government...  

—Joseph Tainter 

Imagine your joy! Your chest swells with pride, just before the priest thrusts his obsidian knife in... and carves out your heart. 

You have been chosen as a special guest of honor at a great event. The old emperor had died. His son will take over. Sacrifices must be offered. 

Human sacrifices were ‘normal’ in pre-Columbian meso-America. The Aztecs did them on such a scale that historians couldn’t believe it. Did they really sacrifice twenty thousand people in one ceremony? Did they eat them all? And why? 

One theory: it was a problem-solution situation. The problem was that people in what is now called ‘Central America’ had no domesticated food sources. No sheep, cattle or pigs that they could use as sources of protein. So, they ate each other. 

More precisely, the elites and their favored supporters ate the non-elites. They exploited less powerful groups (often, captives from other tribes).  

We have no particular insight into the whys and wherefores of cannibalism. Nor do we pretend to know anything about Aztec civilization. But we know that all civilizations have their challenges…and all eventually go extinct.    

One of the theories meant to explain this phenomenon is ‘complexity.’  

We shocked visitors from America this summer. We mused about the only member of Congress of whom we approved, Thomas Massey. ‘Because he voted no on everything,’ we said. 

“What? That’s crazy,” came the reply. “These people are trying to solve problems. Of course, they miss the mark sometimes. But they’re probably right at least half the time.” 

Problem solving – by government -- is a problem in itself. It adds costs and complexity... creating more problems to solve... and ultimately dooming a society to failure. 

At least, that is Joseph Tainter’s explanation. In his ‘Collapse of Complex Societies,’ he looked at the record of ‘societal collapse’ and came to the conclusion that it was the result of problem solving. Each challenge brought a response. Each response took energy, resources and time. The accumulated problem-solving ‘investments’ left nothing for the future. 

But today, we offer a counter example. (Only because we happen to be reading Victor Davis Hanson’s book ‘The End of Everything.’) 

Aztec civilization didn’t just ‘decline.’ It came to an abrupt and final end when Hernán Cortés — a Spanish adventurer — led a small group of a few hundred conquistadors into the heart of the Aztec capital at Tenochtitlan. He was appalled and wrote a letter to Charles V in 1519: 

They have another custom, horrible, and abominable, and deserving punishment, and which we have never before seen in any place, and it is this, that, as often as they have anything to ask of their idols, in order that their petition may be more acceptable, they take many boys or girls, and even grown men and women, and in the presence of those idols they open their breasts, while they are alive, and take out the hearts and entrails, and burn the said entrails and hearts before the idols, offering that in sacrifice to them. Some of us who have seen this say that it is the most terrible and frightful thing to behold that has ever been seen. 

Cortes intended to set himself on top of Aztec civilization and exploit the locals.  But the initial visit to the capital didn’t go well. Cortés entered the city with his Tlaxcalan allies peacefully. The Aztecs judged his force too small to be a genuine threat. And they were, naturally, curious. But then, the Spaniards made their famously audacious move — capturing the ruler, Montezuma, and holding him hostage. The Aztecs were confused. But they did not submit. And it became gradually clear to Cortés that while he might hold Montezuma, he and his little army were also captive... surrounded by many thousands of Aztec warriors. 

The Aztec capital was built on an island in the middle of a shallow lake. There were causeways leading to the city, making it easy to control access. Beginning to fear that they might soon be the main course at an Aztec feast, the conquistadors attempted a breakout. 

At night, Cortés took one of the causeways out of town... but was soon detected. From hundreds of canoes, the ‘Indians’ threw rocks and shot arrows. Word went ahead to destroy the causeway so the foreigners couldn’t get away. But the Spaniards filled the gap with their own dead bodies... The Florentine Codex described it: 

Those who followed crossed to the other side by walking on the corpses. 

It was a disastrous escape, known to Spanish history as the Noche Triste (the Sad Night).  

That might have been the end of the story. But Hernán Cortés survived. And so did a few hundred of his soldiers. Despite his troops’ ‘wish to return to Veracruz and go back to Spain,’ Cortés rebuilt his alliances (su). In a matter of months, he was back on the trail... with battled-hardened veterans, fresh allies and a new strategy. He would build warships, in pieces... assemble them on the shores of the great lake... and lay siege to the city. 

Another bold move... and this time, it worked. Cortés not only won the war... he annihilated the whole Aztec civilization.  

Stay tuned...  

Regards, 

Bill Bonner 

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