The first panacea for a mismanaged nation is inflation of the currency; the second is war. Both bring a temporary prosperity; both bring a permanent ruin. But both are the refuge of political and economic opportunists. - Ernest Hemingway, “Notes on the Next War”, Esquire, 1935 image

Replies (7)

I wish that I had a copy of this after every time I asked a person if they know anything about Bitcoin and was met with an incredulous manner.
Chicken Legs's avatar
Chicken Legs 2 months ago
Man.. Nearly 100 years later and he’s still on point.. If politicians don’t feel confident that a war can’t hurt them personally, then they’re far less likely to start one. So with multiple military powers being more than capable of an attack on anyone’s soil, the major militarised governments will keep on the proxy wars and inflation. They’ll hurt any bystanders to retain their power.
'no country but one's own is worth fighting for' is not applicable, especially for so-called 'democracy'; the last one is a licence to exploit others - what if you're 'the other' in your own country?
H's avatar
H h@nostr.my.id 2 months ago
Few, if any countries founded before WW2 did so without a war. Peaceful independence with stable, internationally respected borders is a modern and likely very temporary phenomenon