'In the 1920s, there was one bankrupt country. And the consequences still define the world we live in.
Today there are at least half a dozen insolvent nations, including some of the largest economies in the world– Japan, Spain, Greece, Portugal, the US, etc.
And while major economic decline can take years or even decades to unfold, history shows that the consequences affect almost everyone… especially when people look to a man on a white horse to save them from their desperation.'<blockquote>'As far back as ancient times, whenever civilizations fell into great crisis, people in desperation have almost invariably turned to a single individual who promised them better times.
Both the Greeks and Romans often conveyed dictatorial powers to someone in whom they entrusted people’s security and livelihood. Typically this was a battle-hardened general who could lead a city’s defenses and beat off an invading horde.
Of course, history is full of examples of men who did not give up power willingly once the crisis passed.
The ancient historian Herodotus lists as many as fifty ‘tyrants’ in his writings, a word that has its origins in ancient Greek despotic rulers.
For thousands of years, ambitious men have always taken advantage of crisis, social turmoil, and economic downturns to solidify their positions and take control… often creating even more destruction in their wake.
As an example, the 1920s economic crisis in the Weimar Republic had a huge impact in the rise of Adolf Hitler’s National Socialism.
One of Hitler’s key tenets was to abrogate the Treaty of Versailles, and in particular section 231– the ‘war guilt’ clause that stuck Germany with debilitating war reparation payments.
His message resonated with millions of Germans who had seen their entire lives turned upside down by economic stagnation and one of the worst episodes of hyperinflation in history.
The rest is, as they say, history.
I’ve been thinking about these stories quite a bit during my current travels across Europe’s most bankrupt nations.
..
These conditions are eerily similar to the Weimar Republic during the rise of National Socialism.
The country is bankrupt, the government has collapsed, the economy is in ruins, the debt burden is suffocating, and they’re controlled by foreigners. People are starting to call out for someone to deliver them from this chaos.
To be clear, I’m not suggesting that some new Hitler is lurking in the shadows about to take over a European nation-state (though there are some disturbing trends, especially in Greece).
But it’s important to understand that there are serious, often historical consequences when major developed nations go bankrupt.
In the 1920s, there was one bankrupt country. And the consequences still define the world we live in.
Today there are at least half a dozen insolvent nations, including some of the largest economies in the world– Japan, Spain, Greece, Portugal, the US, etc.
And while major economic decline can take years or even decades to unfold, history shows that the consequences affect almost everyone… especially when people look to a man on a white horse to save them from their desperation.
- Simon Black,
Beware the man on the white horse… July 16, 2013</blockquote>
Context (Haptopraxeology) - '..Alfvén’s predictions .. cannot be ignored..' - '..the faculties necessary to perceive it.'<blockquote>
'..there’s too much left unlearned from the Fed’s checkered 100-year history.' - '..made the Second World War possible, though not inevitable..''..the stakes are high.''..They were ambitious university-educated men, aged around 30..' - '..nigh-prophetic portrait of Albert Speer..' - Geert Mak
'According to my grandfather, as told to me around 1910, Carl Menger [1840-1921] had made the following remarks:
The policies being pursued by the European powers will lead to a terrible war ending with gruesome revolutions, the extinction of European culture and destruction of prosperity for people of all nations. In anticipation of these inevitable events, all that can be recommended are investments in gold hoards and the securities of the two Scandinavian countries.
Menger's savings, in fact, were invested in Swedish securities.
One who so clearly foresees disaster and the destruction of everything he deems valuable before his fortieth year cannot avoid pessimism and depression. Ancient rhetoricians were careful to consider the kind of life King Priam would have had, had he at the age of twenty already foreseen the fall of Ilium![5] Carl Menger barely had the first half of his life behind him when he recognized the inevitability of the demise of his own Troy.
..
..Austrian economics is a discipline that concerns human action..'
- Ludwig von Mises,
Mises Introduces the Austrian School'..het zou me niet verbazen indien de volgende, nog grotere en daarmee economisch fatale crisis wordt gevolgd door een religieuze revival.'
- Joris Luyendijk (
Source, July 11, 2013)</blockquote>