This post
is one that I wondered about. Not
because it would have been full of the kind of rude words that normally stud my
lipreading when watching TV football, nor because of views on highly sensitive
matters, for example on Muggletonianism (see Wikipedia) which may have caused
some angst.
It is
because it is a long and hefty piece that appeared on the Naked Capitalism web
site that takes time to read. It is not
difficult, but complicated and is a survey of the development of what we call
“capitalism” from the past to the present.
Essentially,
it takes us from a world when finance was more restricted and limited in
ambitions to the present day when democracy is dying, if not dead, and
individuals, communities and governments are faced with insupportable debt.
The title
of this post is taken from “Paint Your Wagon” with Lee Marvin and Clint
Eastwood (see Youtube); a parable for our times.
It is drawn
from Michael Hudson’s recent book “The Bubble And Beyond: Fictitious Capital,
Debt Deflation And Global Crisis” that attempts to describe how we got where we
all are today, like it or not.
The
question that he does not answer and may not be able to because nobody can is
where we will all finish and what will or can happen in the next five years,
let along the next fifty.
The most
risible thought is that either Obama or Romney can handle any of this or indeed
begin to understand it.
We can
safely assume that Merkel and Hollande do not.
Nor can any of the leaders of the BRIC countries, notably India
And as for
Cameron, Clegg, and Miliband etc. do stop laughing.
We know how it will end badly what we do not know is when. I suspect sooner rather than later. The euro crises was useful in that it made visible the cracks and flaws in the EU and nation states economic and social structures. Having exposed them our dear leaders should at once taken the hint and radically reformed those structures and diluted the social democracy policies that were being followed and in many cases reversed them (crucially they should have reversed centralisation). They did not and will not thereby exacerbating the problem. The euro may well be the catalyst that eventually brings the whole rotten lot tumbling down. Not something to wish for as it will adversely affect us all.
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