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Notes -
They were not particularly moral, but they didn't pretend that they were equal to the lower classes and that the lower classes could freely do what they did without suffering extra consequences. Quod licet Iovi, non licet bovi is a good thing because it stops people who can't handle the consequences from doing things that will damage them with very high probability. This meant that the lower classes mostly kept to values that were better long term for someone who doesn't have a huge safety net.
One of the biggest problem with modern elite "liberals" (note they aren't really liberal) is that they treat the lower classes as equal to themselves, or at least their words say that. Then they tell the lower classes that they too can do what the upper classes do without suffering extra consequences but that is very much not true. The elite liberals have their safety net which means that even with the degeneracy they still come out fine in the end, the lower classes are not so lucky though and society slowly disintegrates.
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