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Will We Have to Wait for a 21st Century Peasants’ Revolt Before Seeing Any Real Change?
While everyone from Tony Blair to Nouriel Roubini is debating whether or not bankers should be hung, the Wall Street Journal and Bloomberg provide some fascinating historical context.
The journal's Jason Zweig reports:
Financial criminals throughout history have been beaten, tortured and even put to death, with little evidence that severe punishments have consistently deterred people from misconduct that could make them rich.
The history of drastic punishment for financial crimes may be nearly as old as wealth itself.
The Code of Hammurabi, more than 3,700 years ago, stipulated that any Mesopotamian who violated the terms of a financial contract – including the futures contracts that were commonly used in commodities trading in Babylon – “shall be put to death as a thief.” The severe penalty doesn’t seem to have eradicated such cheating, however.
In medieval Catalonia, a banker who went bust wasn’t merely humiliated by town criers who declaimed his failure in public squares throughout the land; he had to live on nothing but bread and water until he paid off his depositors in full. If, after a year, he was unable to repay, he would be executed – as in the case of banker Francesch Castello, who was beheaded in 1360. Bankers who lied about their books could also be subject to the death penalty.
In Florence during the Renaissance, the Arte del Cambio – the guild of mercantile money-changers who facilitated the city’s international trade – made the cheating of clients punishable by torture. Rule 70 of the guild’s statutes stipulated that any member caught in unethical conduct could be disciplined on the rack “or other corrective instruments” at the headquarters of the guild.
But financial crimes weren’t merely punished; they were stigmatized. Dante’s Inferno is populated largely with financial sinners, each category with its own distinctive punishment: misers who roll giant weights pointlessly back and forth with their chests, thieves festooned with snakes and lizards, usurers draped with purses they can’t reach, even forecasters whose heads are wrenched around backward to symbolize their inability to see what is in front of them.
Counterfeiting and forgery, as the historian Marvin Becker noted in 1976, “were much less prevalent in Florence during the second half of the fourteenth century than in Tuscany during the twentieth century” and “the bankruptcy rate stood at approximately one-half [the modern rate].”
In England, counterfeiting was punishable by death starting in the 14th century, and altering the coinage was declared a form of high treason by 1562.
In the 17th century, the British state cracked down ferociously on counterfeiters and “coin-clippers” (who snipped shards of metal off coins, yielding scraps they could later melt down or resell). The offenders were thrown into London’s notorious Newgate prison. The lucky ones, after being dragged on planks through sewage-filled streets, were hanged. Others were smeared with tar from head to toe, tied or shackled to a stake, and then burned to death.
The British government was so determined to stamp out these financial crimes that it put Sir Isaac Newton on the case. Appointed as warden of the Royal Mint in 1696, Newton promptly began uncovering those who violated the financial laws of the nation with the same passion he brought to discovering the physical laws of the universe.
The great scientist was tireless and merciless. Newton went undercover, donning disguises to prowl through prisons, taverns and other dens of iniquity in search of financial fraud. He had suspects brought to the Mint, often by force, and interrogated them himself. In a year and a half, says historian Carl Wennerlind, Newton grilled 200 suspects, “employing means that sometimes bordered on torture.”
When one counterfeiter begged Newton to save him from the gallows – “O dear Sr no body can save me but you O God my God I shall be murderd unless you save me O I hope God will move your heart with mercy and pitty to do this thing for me” – Newton coldly refused.
The counterfeiter was hanged two weeks later.
Until at least the early 19th century, it remained commonplace for counterfeiters and forgers to be put to death; between 1792 and 1829, for example, notes Wennerlind, 618 people were convicted of counterfeiting British paper currency, and most of them were hanged. Many were women.
Bloomberg provides details of one "peasant revolt" stemming from a Libor-like currency manipulation scheme:
During the “Good Parliament” of 1376, public discontent over [manipulation of currency exchange rates similar to the current Libor scandal] came to a head. The Commons, represented by the speaker, Peter de la Mare, accused leading members of the royal court of abusing their position to profit from public funds.
A particular target was the London financier Richard Lyons ....
Initially the government bowed to public pressure. Lyons was imprisoned in the Tower of London and his properties and wealth were confiscated. Other leading courtiers implicated in these abuses, such as Latimer and the king’s mistress, Alice Perrers, were banished from court.
Once parliament had dissolved and the public outcry had died down, however, the king’s eldest son, John of Gaunt, acted to reverse the verdicts of the Good Parliament. Latimer and Perrers soon reappeared at the king’s side and Lyons was released from the Tower and recovered his wealth, while the “whistleblower” de la Mare was thrown in jail. The government also sought to appease the wealthy knights and merchants that dominated parliament by imposing a new, regressive form of taxation, a poll tax paid by everyone rather than a tax levied on goods. This effectively passed the burden of royal finance down to the peasantry.
It seemed as though everything had returned to business as normal and Lyons appeared to have gotten away with it. In 1381, however, simmering discontent over continuing suspicions of government corruption and the poll tax contributed to a massive popular uprising, the Peasants’ Revolt, during which leading government ministers, including Simon of Sudbury (the chancellor and archbishop of Canterbury) and Robert Hales (the treasurer) were executed by the rebels. This time, Lyons did not escape; he was singled out, dragged from his house and beheaded in the street.
If the King had followed the rule of law - and kept Lyons and the boys in jail - everything would have calmed down. The monarchy - just like the present-day government - chose to ignore the rule of law, and protect the thieves and punish the whistleblowers.
We have argued for years that the best way to avoid violence is to reinstate the rule of law.
The Bloomberg article - written by a professor of the history of finance and a professor of finance at the ICMA Centre, Henley Business School, University of Reading - ends on a similar note:
The question now is whether public outrage at the Libor scandal and other financial misdeeds will lead to fundamental reforms of the financial sector -- such as the separation of retail and investment banking or legislation to regulate the “bonus culture” -- or just more cosmetic changes that fail to address the structural issues.
Will we have to wait for a 21st century peasants’ revolt before seeing any real change?
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frittered away literally decades of his life in the scribbling of arcane commentaries on the New Testament...
In context of the day, you gotta remember, people were not allowed to do this in their native language before. I think of it as a marketing thing, he was filling a societal demand for that day and age. We have become so accustomed to seeing bibles in every flavor imaginable, but having one in english back then could have been as bad as a conterfieter's fate in many places. Likewise, having thoughtful discourse on "arcane" stories / teachings, many attributed to the Christ himself, was all the rage in the day.
And in the end, because the survival rate of everyone drops to zero, at least the new testament held / holds out hope of something more.
jmo.
Holy crap! Very few mathematicians even weigh 20,000 pounds.
Holy crap! Very few mathematicians even weight 20,000 pounds.
no wonder he wanted to torture people.
Financial criminals throughout history have been beaten, tortured and even put to death, with little evidence that severe punishments have consistently deterred people from misconduct that could make them rich.
Not sure what this implies, does it imply it's useless to restore the rule of law? Basically the law of reaping and sowing has been mitigated by governmental interference. The rules of risk have been reduced to bare minimum, these need to be restored. Those who made foolish bets or scams must be allowed to reap the fruit of their malinvestments and go broke.
I'll get the rope.....and a keg. We'll have a jolly good time
Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire
Without a constant influx of precious metals from an outside source, and with the expense of continual wars, it would seem reasonable that coins might be debased to increase the amount that the government could spend. A simpler possible explanation for the debasement of coinage is that it allowed the state to spend more than it had. By decreasing the amount of silver in its coins, Rome could produce more coins and "stretch" its budget. As time progressed the trade deficit of the west because of its buying of grain and other commodities led to a currency drainage in Rome.
and then that was the End
Not exactly, the Eastern Roman Empire continued on for another thousand years!
You forgot "transfer of wealth" and "concentration of wealth" enjoyed by a few as the masses were enslaved. Just like today. They need to be hung
And their wealth my lord? What shall the peasant revolutionary brigades do with it?
Spend it on drunken debauchery I'm sure. There is a reason the poor are poor. All this socialist drivel makes my stomach churn.
They were born that way. dumb fuck
You rich cocksuckers never engage in drunken debauchery, I'm sure
At least they have the presence of mind to do it in private
I think in reality if the financial class were hung a second shooting war would erupt because the peasants themselves do not share a common vision of what sort of world they want to live in.
You could hang every single person in the financial industry and government, there will still be no common ground between the likes of Georgia and Massachusetts or Texas and California on how to proceed from there.
you certainly don't have to leave a state to experience the lack of common ground. I would venture their is more common ground between Texas and Northern California than there is bewtween Nor Cal and So Cal. I believe it is generally Urban versus Rural where the big divisions lie (though I am sure there are plenty of Urban commandos with rural thinking tendencies). It is readily apparent in the red county - blue county political division maps of the US.
... which is exactly why central government of any type makes no sense.
Scotland, Ireland and Wales don't wish to have their culture determined by London bureaucrats ... neither do the Brits or Hungarians wish to have their economics determined by Brussels bureaucrats ... and so on, all around the world.
Hang em high
"Bowels in...or bowels out? Never mind. I'll decide..."
Hannibal?
The threat of punishment doesn't work with psychopaths. You just have to go ahead, disembowel and boil them, and get it over with. Draping their entrails in the public square for all to see does not deter the new batch of bankers coming into their own. They will not get caught; they are to smart you see. This time will be different. The cycle repeats.
When the Russian Christian peasants revolted against the jew supremacist bolsheviks in the Tambov Rebellion in 1920 it had a very bad ending-and remember the gang that took over Russia in 1917 is the same gang that has taken control of America today:
"Chemical weapons were used "from end of June 1921 until apparently the fall of 1921", by direct order from leadership of Red Army and Communist party.[4] Publications in local Communist newspapers openly glorified liquidations of "bandits" with the poison gas.[4]
Seven Concentration camps were set up. At least 50,000 people were interned, mostly women, children, and the elderly, some of them sent there as hostages. The mortality rate in the camps was 15-20 percent a month.[2]
The uprising was gradually quelled in 1921. Antonov was killed in 1922 during an attempt to arrest him. Total losses among the population of Tambov region in 1920-1922 resulting from the war, executions, and imprisonment in concentration camps have been estimated as at least 240,000.[4]"
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tambov_rebellion
How many of those peasants had years of military service, and had been trained in 4th generation warfare (including training others)? I'm guessing not many.
But we sure have a shitload of them here.
If they try it here, their tools will be turned against them.
Seems a little insulting to psychopaths. These monsters should be given the old "Spartacus toss off a cliff" at birth
Spartans, not Spartacus. The latter lead a revolt of slaves against the roman empire, merely unsuccessful.
Leave him alone he's on a roll.
Noted financial writer John Mauldin just put out a piece saying there's not much point in fighting a tyrannical America ... you face jail or death with little hope of victory - He writes:
« Face the facts – Free No More. Contrary to popular delusions, the United States is no longer the Land of the Free – either in terms of its judicial system or its market structure.
Rather, it is the land of the paranoid, the state-dependent, supporters of Guantanamo and permawar… with the highest incarceration rates in the world, militarized police and… and… and…
Call me a coward, but in my view it's far better to switch than to fight ...
The idea of America in its youth was amazing, especially considering the era in which it was birthed. But that idea has been so diluted at this point to be almost meaningless… here in the United States. ... Do I relate to the idea of America? Of course ... But during this philosophical dark ages for freedom in the United States, what practical purpose does clinging onto that idea serve? ... »
John Mauldin, 'Paying Lip Service to Liberty'
http://www.caseyresearch.com/cdd/paying-lip-service-liberty
Written by David Galland not John Mauldin
I read that article. There was a very nice link in it to a retirement in South America that looked interesting...
Oh, but you had to love golf... and polo...
Mauldin's got a point. America is turning into what it is because either the majority of people want the security of a slightly paranoid totalitarian state, or they don't really care about the direction the government takes. Unlike individuals such as Gerald Celente who believes that a vocal 20% minority can sway the course of government, I don't really think that path the US is going to change. I guess that if a person can't comfortably live within the system, they always have the choice to leave...at least right now. Interesting that the saying, "America -- Love it or Leave it.", has taken on a slightly different meaning.
It's sad, but I think the grand experiment that started in 1776 has come to it's conclusion. Nothing lasts forever -- change is the one constant in this world.
Coward
I'd rather fight than switch.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RB6C3o_-RdE
A very small number of musket toters fought the American Revolution compared to the rest of the colonists.
I ain't much inclined to go chasing the rascals around hill and dale but I'll content myself with the ones I can pick off from my porch.
With a light wind, I can cover the town hall.
Many 'musket toters' did the same thing. Addressing the red coats when they showed up in the district.
See, the problem is, as was pointed out in John Mauldin's, 'Paying Lip Service to Liberty' editorial:
There are no foreign soldiers marching through town. The 'redcoats' are many of your friends and neighbors and even family members; and you are vastly outnumbered.
Enjoy the show!
pretty much...
Well Indrid - in the places I've lived in rural America, it is not like you describe. Have you ever lived in rural America? I don't think so. If you did, you would know that in the good times, in most places, the deputies [that's right pilgrim, sherrif's deputies] are spread way thin on the ground. They tend to be polite and look to get along with people because otherwise, they could be alone in an awful large wilderness. Now is not the good times btw, counties are laying off staff.
Been there, done that, found myself surrounded by conservative statists. Lawn Order types. Spent a lot of time trying to explain why drug war was a war on them. Didn't work.
Regarding the rural local LEOs, I agree - they are outnumbered and more likely to be tied to the community, which is why we weren't supposed to be subject to a distant power.
But, sad to say, in this modern democracy the guvmint has the power that the majority thinks it has or ought to have.
And, I was merely trying to emphasize the differences between then and now - and now, more than ever, our neighbors, friends, and family often accept the loving embrace of the state.
[...found myself surrounded by conservative statists.]---Indrid Cold
Never seen anyone couple "statists" with "conservative" before. You wanna to walk that one back? Do you KNOW the meaning of these terms?
Spent a lot of time trying to explain why drug war was a war on them.
Huh? Where did you say you were hanging out??
OBAMANOMICS - Foodstamps for Jewish Billionaires
Vive Le Revolution
Fascism, same thing.
Go Man City
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J_DfmnDcxi0
from AIG to GM ....... you cannot make this fucking shit up !!!!!!
We know where they all live!.....?......:)
THAT is why they want to take our guns.
Syria Arrests Turkish Army General in Aleppo
TEHRAN (FNA) - The Syrian Army announced that it has recently apprehended a Turkish general who commanded the terrorists trying to seize control of Aleppo.
According to an informed source in Syria, the Turkish general was arrested during the Syrian Army's clashes with the terrorists in Aleppo.
News reports said that the Turkish general has been taken to Damascus for further interrogations.
Earlier, Turkish media also reported that Syria has detained 40 Turkish military officers in different parts of the country, and said that efforts to release them have failed.
Turkey along with the US, Saudi Arabia and Qatar have been supporting terrorists and rebel groups in Syria.
PS
These Turkish military officers are not POWs. They are terrorists and must be dealt accordingly.
Holy shit.
IMO they are very, very valuable bargaining chips, and tremendous propaganda assets.
NATO really screwed the pooch on this one. Sheeeeeeee-it!
Didn't know that Immelt was a member.