The ambiguous but utterly draining end to a costly war the senseless squandering of hard won prestige and moral standing broad disappointment over what could have been, had fools not taken things off the rails massive wealth disparities sorted along outdated social hierarchies extreme polarization of two major political factions with juxtaposed heroes and villains in their narratives and a feeble set of institutions run by managers just competent enough to keep things going but not dynamic enough to head off disaster. Germany’s post World War I republic has everything you’d want in an epic tragedy. While the last days of the Roman Republic have held some allure to me, it’s the Weimar Republic that has been my analogous meltdown of choice for some time now. Since then, some have (nostalgically, I presume) preferred a digital update to the 1960’s analog of social protest and reform (not sure if they are predicting yuppies too). At the end of 2016, the narrative was the tumultuous presidency of Andrew Jackson. Many of us have been searching for an historical reference point in which to interpret current events, a prism that might give us some insight on what comes next in the growing chaos that is modern America.
This article first appeared on the Strong Towns website on June 29, 2020.
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