This morning, Zerohedge pointed me to a recent article that Jim Quinn wrote on his site, The Burning Platform. He does an excellent and singular job of summarizing the current era of U.S. pathologies: societal, political, economic. He gives a rundown of decades of consequences of war, currency manipulation, debt, foreign interventionism, media corruption, increasing national and global controls, and the creation and mismanagment of perpetual crises,… in sum, the culmination of “folly.”
He starts by analyzing U.S. folly in the pursuit of empire by reviewing some of the works of Pulitzer Prize winning journalist and historian Barbara Tuchman, of whom I should probably be embarrassed to admit I was unaware. So, not only is Mr. Quinn’s article excellent for understanding our current state, but he inspired me to order 7 of Ms. Tuchman’s books (mostly used and very affordable from thriftbooks.com). Time to pick up the reading pace!
I highly recommend a thoughtful review of the article. Here’s just one nugget:
“Foolish acts, foolish interventions, and foolish policies are enacted by fools and supported by fools. The history of government folly makes perfect sense when you realize mediocre men with small minds and a lust for power are drawn to politics and passionately inflict their idiocy on the masses who were too stupid or too apathetic to care about who they chose to lead them.”
In my opinion, these days, as in certain perilous times throughout history, call for healthy skepticism, a dedicated pursuit of information and insight, and a proactive plan for self-preservation. Wishing you productive reading! – mtr