"Our attitude… must be determined by our whole moral and emotional reaction to the future of international relations and the Peace of the World. [Right now] we take the view that for at least a generation to come Germany cannot be trusted with even a modicum of prosperity… must be kept impoverished and her children starved and crippled… …
"Our attitude… must be determined by our whole moral and emotional reaction to the future of international relations and the Peace of the World. [Right now] we take the view that for at least a generation to come Germany cannot be trusted with even a modicum of prosperity… must be kept impoverished and her children starved and crippled… must be ringed round by enemies… [must not be] assist[ed] to regain a part of her former material prosperity and find a means of livelihood for the industrial population of her towns….
If this view of nations and of their relation to one another is adopted by the democracies of Western Europe, and is financed by the United States, heaven help us all.
If we aim deliberately at the impoverishment of Central Europe, vengeance, I dare predict, will not limp.
Nothing can then delay for very long that final civil war between the forces of Reaction and the despairing convulsions of Revolution, before which the horrors of the late German war [WWI] will fade into nothing, and which will destroy, whoever is victor, the civilization and the progress of our generation…"
Keynes was quite prescient about this, as Germany almost collapsed, veered into fascism, and sterted WWII. It was a lesson learned after WWII with teh US taking a strong lead to prevent it reoccurring. The establishment of the EEC kept the peacce in Europe. It was so advantageous that Britain begged to be allowed to join, which was only possible once Charles de Gaulle was dead. 50 years later, an incompetent government and a stupidly ignorant Britain fooled by demagogues resulted in exiting the now political EU despite special advantages like a separate currency. The consequences of the Brexiteers fantasies have arrived with a vengeance.
What's even more bizarre is that the Brexit supporters either failed to see (or failed to care) that Northern Ireland, a loyal part of the UK, would be cast adrift with a tariff wall running through the Irish Sea!
You may recall that both the NI government and UK voters were lied to about this, especially by the "oven ready deal" Johnson government. The problems were pointed out at the very beginning. The right-wing Daily Telegraph had a article saying that the problem of the border between Eire and NI was illusory, and that the UK could ignore it. The "deals" for trading with the EU were to be the easiest ever made (false) and that the arrangement would be like Norway++ and similar. The real result was a horrendus amount of paperwork for exports to the EU, arguments over fisheries that worsened British fishermen's catches, and overall a bet impact on the economy that was pretty much predicted by the "Remainer" camp. Have any of the Brexit principals suffered consequences? Not that I can see.
"Our attitude… must be determined by our whole moral and emotional reaction to the future of international relations and the Peace of the World. [Right now] we take the view that for at least a generation to come Germany cannot be trusted with even a modicum of prosperity… must be kept impoverished and her children starved and crippled… must be ringed round by enemies… [must not be] assist[ed] to regain a part of her former material prosperity and find a means of livelihood for the industrial population of her towns….
If this view of nations and of their relation to one another is adopted by the democracies of Western Europe, and is financed by the United States, heaven help us all.
If we aim deliberately at the impoverishment of Central Europe, vengeance, I dare predict, will not limp.
Nothing can then delay for very long that final civil war between the forces of Reaction and the despairing convulsions of Revolution, before which the horrors of the late German war [WWI] will fade into nothing, and which will destroy, whoever is victor, the civilization and the progress of our generation…"
Keynes was quite prescient about this, as Germany almost collapsed, veered into fascism, and sterted WWII. It was a lesson learned after WWII with teh US taking a strong lead to prevent it reoccurring. The establishment of the EEC kept the peacce in Europe. It was so advantageous that Britain begged to be allowed to join, which was only possible once Charles de Gaulle was dead. 50 years later, an incompetent government and a stupidly ignorant Britain fooled by demagogues resulted in exiting the now political EU despite special advantages like a separate currency. The consequences of the Brexiteers fantasies have arrived with a vengeance.
What's even more bizarre is that the Brexit supporters either failed to see (or failed to care) that Northern Ireland, a loyal part of the UK, would be cast adrift with a tariff wall running through the Irish Sea!
You may recall that both the NI government and UK voters were lied to about this, especially by the "oven ready deal" Johnson government. The problems were pointed out at the very beginning. The right-wing Daily Telegraph had a article saying that the problem of the border between Eire and NI was illusory, and that the UK could ignore it. The "deals" for trading with the EU were to be the easiest ever made (false) and that the arrangement would be like Norway++ and similar. The real result was a horrendus amount of paperwork for exports to the EU, arguments over fisheries that worsened British fishermen's catches, and overall a bet impact on the economy that was pretty much predicted by the "Remainer" camp. Have any of the Brexit principals suffered consequences? Not that I can see.