Before the Deluge, Part 2

The real revolution in Germany was the inflation.

It only took four months, but here is part two (of three) of my look at Before the Deluge by Otto Friedrich (Part one is here.)

My purpose here (other than to provide myself with a reference) is to highlight passages of Friedrich’s book that jumped out at me. In reading history, I am most interested in how major events affect the populace at large, not the elites (and also any parallels to today.)

Hyperinflations - currency collapses - destroy societies - in the case of Germany setting the stage for Hitler and all the death and carnage that followed. So many today - mostly well-off folks - talk quite flippantly about inflation “being the only way out,” as if it was some dial that can be controlled. I don’t expect anything like 1920’s Germany in the U.S. anytime soon, but we should not pretend that it could never happen. Be careful what you wish for.

There are many great quotes and anecdotes and wisdom in this book, particularly on the amorality of inflation. Elsewhere in his book Friedrich uses the phrase, “a glum parody of elegance,” which I thought as was especially apt.

As Felix Somary wrote, “…state bankruptcy is a one-time surgical intervention, while inflation is a permanent poisoning of the very bloodstream of a society.”

(If you haven’t already, you may also want to check out my post, A Very Ordinary Life.)