A scam
February 8th
A life-changing book. One of the few I read in my life that I know will shape my thinking and actions in the future. I mean — I think I knew most of the points made in this book already, but when everything is put together in a clear, easy to read text, going chronographically from Stone Age hunter-gatherers to modern corporations and banks, that really hits hard how a fucked up our current financial situation is.
This is a book about the history of money, the development of debt and credit, encompassing not only the Western world but the whole of humankind over the last 5000 years. I wasn’t expecting it to be so engrossing, but I read it in two evenings and just couldn’t put it down. I still have to rethink a lot of information from that book and do more reading and research about particular subjects. But one thing is clear — the financial history is just a long list of greed, violence, suffering, gambling, and stupidity. And not much more is different today. Bankers and CEOs wear suits, hang with politicians and celebrities, but in all honesty, are just degenerate gamblers. Maybe even worse than that — compulsive gamblers know that they are scum, destroying everything around them just for a chance for that one last possibility of a big win. The modern financiers want to gamble, but want to put any possible risk on us — the taxpayers (like in the financial crisis of 2008). It seems like the whole financial world everywhere in the world is just hanging by a thread from collapsing. And since all countries and institutions are intertwined in that financial web/mess, any collapse in one part of the globe will cause a global crisis.
Of course, the elite will not suffer (at worse, they might be inconvenienced). It will be us — regular folk — who will suffer the most. I really start to think that there might be a revolution to settle the scores and start anew. Actually — the revolution might be absolutely necessary. The only problem is if the people who already are somewhat comfortable middle-class can be bothered? I know who will be bothered and eager for action — those who already have nothing to lose. And there are more of that desperate people by the day.
I know that I will be on the right side when push comes to shove.
