My phrase of the day! Food for thought!
To be politically correct in these times we live in, I almost feel obligated to warn that the author (Decimus Junius Juvenalis better known as Juvenal) was a white middle aged man, who may or may not have owned slaves, although he himself was reportedly the son or adopted son of a rich freedman. Please be aware this could be considered to be classical humanist education, which is almost condemned by some narrow minded witch hunting contemporaries!
(Caution: satire, irony)!
The interesting part about this famous phrase is its dual or ambiguous meaning (as so often in human life, the truth is a mix of both):
1) People are easily content and do not seem to aspire to much or
2) Government governs by exploiting and distracting the population
"... In a political context, the phrase means to generate public approval, not by excellence in public service or public policy, but by diversion, distraction or by satisfying the most immediate or base requirements of a populace - by offering a palliative: for example food (bread) or entertainment (circuses). ..."
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