If you lived in Rome during the decline and fall, and knew that the Roman Empire was collapsing, would you take the bread, and would you watch the circuses?  This is one of those trick game theory questions.  It does not say where in the Empire you live, nor does it say what class of people you are in, nor does it explain whether you belong to a close-knit group of people capable of repelling outsiders’ noses from your business.  It does not say whether Rome is burning as we speak, or will collapse 40 years from now.  It does not say if the bread causes ergot poisoning, or if you have other means of feeding yourself.

Different people in different circumstances will respond to the question differently.  Perhaps you are a circus performer yourself.  Perhaps you are part of the Legion.  Perhaps you are high up in the Emperor’s household or staff.  Perhaps you are a slave.  Perhaps you are a trader from outside of Rome, living there temporarily while you collect your wares.

These are the kind of thoughts that flit through my mind, as I run through the forest on the wide paths.  A woman walking her dogs warns me that there have been bear sightings in the area.  She is glad that there are a lot of people on the trails.  Being in larger groups makes her feel safer, I suppose.  Yet, there are limits to safety in groups.  Too large a group, and you’ll be less safe, because the bystanders will do nothing.  Too small a group, and you’ll be at risk of predatory behavior.  Does being in a large group make me feel safe?

I hate large groups of people.  So, the answer to the question of whether I’d go watch the circuses, is a big NO, unless it was vital to my business affairs.  I remember the scene from The Life Of Brian, where the People’s Front of Judea, or was it the Judean People’s Front, met at the coliseum to plot and plan, or gripe and complain.  I don’t go to football games.  I don’t watch baseball games or basketball games.  I hardly ever go to the movie theater.  I haven’t watched a single episode of Game of Thrones, or Supernatural, or whatever it is that people watch these days.

However, I do take the bread.  I live in upper-middle-class suburbia.  Raising livestock is forbidden by ordinance.  I can grow some plants, and I do, but ultimately I depend on the grocery store, and I take full advantage of their rewards card.  Some of you don’t, both because you grow a lot more of your food, and because you value your privacy over your money.

Agriculture is not sustainable.  Or is it?  Climates have changed, and droughts and floods have completely changed the landscape.  What was sustainable in the past, the traditional local land management permaculture practices, is no longer sustainable now.  Things have changed too much.  Perhaps I should qualify that: monoculture oil-based agriculture is not sustainable.  There are other farming methods which are also not sustainable.  Do they build the soil or deplete it?  Do they build diversity, or reduce it?

Do bread and circuses build soil?  Do they build biodiversity?  Are there more species of fungi living and breathing as the soil or less?  What do bread and circuses do to the trees?  Are the trees healthier because you took the bread or went to the circus?  It is possible for the answers to these questions to be yes, although not very probable.