True.
I was charmed by Andrew Dickson Whites political pamphlet "Fiat Money in France" published in 1896.
Fiat money in France: how it came, what it brought, and how it ended : White, Andrew Dickson, 1832-1918 : Free Download, Borrow, and Streaming : Internet Archive
The work has come down from the days when peoples intellect was respected a bit more I think, no matter what level they had achieved. Arguments were made simple and clear, and presented in such a way that the opposing view could latch on to something and make a counter argument. All very civil imho.
Take the 1920's cowboy movies for example. There was a story, and the audience had to quickly latch on to the main elements to avoid confusion. Thus the good guys wore white hats and the bad guys black hats.
ADW on 1789. << "There was a general want of confidence in business circles">>
ADW on the character of the hard currency faction: Necker (white hat)
<<" The Minister of Finance at this period was Necker. In financial ability he was acknowledged among the great bankers of Europe; but he had something more than financial ability : he had a deep feeling of patriotism and a high sense of personal honor. The difficulties in his way were great, but he steadily endeavored to keep France faithful to those financial principles which the general experience of modern times had established as the only path to national safety.">>
now onto the Journalist Loustalot and Marat the Newspaper proprietor
<<"As difficulties arose, the National Assembly drew away from him, and soon came among the members muttered praises of paper money; members like Allarde and Gouy held it up as a panacea — as a way of "securing resources without paying interest." This was echoed outside ; the journalist Loustalot caught it up and proclaimed its beauties">>
&
<<"Marat, in his newspaper, also joined the cries against Necker, picturing him — a man who gave up health and fortune for the sake of France — as a wretch seeking only to enrich himself from the public purse.>>
Fairly confident those are the black hat guys in the story -g-
But is was fun to read these arguments, entertaining too. No matter which side of the argument you are on.
Pity those days are gone. It was the height of the British Empire too. A silver three penny piece (about a gram of silver) bought two pints of beer and a loaf. What a deal !!
How much does all that cost these days? |
