# ­xkcd thread

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xkcd-thread/854574>\
**Category:** Cafe Society\
**Tags:** comic-strips\
**Created:** [May 28, 2020, 12:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xkcd-thread/854574 "2020-05-28T00:57:03Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 1\
**Showing post:** 3149

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**Author:** ![Lumpy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lumpy/32/446_2.png) [@Lumpy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lumpy)\
**Post date:** [June 16, 2024, 4:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xkcd-thread/854574/3149 "2024-06-16T16:54:55Z")

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This is what undid the elite class in ancient Sparta\*. There was no path for upward mobility, only down. There wasn’t even any way for disgraced Spartiates to redeem themselves; so the elite class shrunk and shrunk until there weren’t enough to maintain the system anymore.

\*or for that matter, the Purebloods in the Harry Potter books.

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