Fiat started a long time ago, possibly around 5,000 years ago.^∇

Then somebody, probably in US, figured out that the demonstrations and the bribes to ‘friendly’ politicians were costing way too much.

In any case, entertainment fixed it,

• Make them confortable, just enough to be entertained
• Rise their wages, just enough to buy entertainment.

Some people used their higher wages to accumulate money and eventually the middle class came into existance.

ENDNOTES

• Tom Metcalf. Newly analyzed 5,000-year-old clay bowls unearthed in Iraq may be evidence of early government-like rule, a new study finds. 5,000-year-old artifacts in Iraq hint at mysterious collapse of one of the world's 1st governments.