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.
One thing is painfully obvious– the situation on the ground is worse than ever.
The unemployment rate in Portugal hit a record high of 18% in May. The rate eased slightly by late June to 17.6%… but only because (you guessed it) the government simply stopped counting people.
Or, more appropriately, so many people vanished.
Source, Zero Hedge, read the full post here:
Jim Rogers is a bestselling author, financial commentator and successful international investor. Rogers was a co-founder of the Quantum Fund (considered to be the first truly international fund of its kind) and is the creator of the Rogers International Commodities Index (RICI).
