The masses of people, “the commons,” were kept in check through a dual system of fear and enforced ignorance. All learning except the most rudimentary was controlled and strictly regulated by the priests.

    The commons (about 95% of the people) were forbidden to learn to read or write—not even an alphabet—and often were punished or put to death for doing so.

    The people were also forbidden to learn Latin, the language of the Bible. This effectively enabled the few priests who could read to interpret the scriptures any way they pleased for about 1,200 years, until the reformation in Europe, circa 1600.

    To prohibit knowledge, people were literally kept in the dark, without a piece of paper to write on. The monasteries preserved and guarded hemp’s secrets. They saw that it held two threats to this policy of absolute control: papermaking and lamp oil.

    Something had to be done.

the authorized on-line version of Jack Herer’s “The Emperor Wears No Clothes”
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