The two classes are not the Labour and the Capital, the rich and the poor, the proletariat and the bourgeoisie, or the workers and the elite. The two classes are the Debtors and the Savers. “The easy money camp” and “the hard money camp”. History reveals the story of these two groups, over and over and over again. Always one is in power, and always the other one desires the power.
1. Debtors - “The easy money camp” likes to spend (and redistribute) money it did not earn, either by borrowing it, taxing the savers for it, or printing it. They like easy money because it is always and everywhere constantly inflating, easing the repayment of their debts.
2. Savers - “The hard money camp” likes to live within their means and save any excess for the future. They prefer hard money (or in some cases “harder” money) because it protects their savings and forces the debtors to work off their debts.
1789, the French Revolution, “the hard money camp” had been in power since 1720 when John Law’s easy money collapsed, and starting in 1789 “the easy money camp” killed “the hard money camp” and took back the power. This is the way “the easy money camp”, the Debtors, usually take power... by revolting against the hard repayment of their spending habits.
Only nine years later, 1797, easy money collapsed once again (as it had just done in 1720) and a new French monetary system based upon gold was again reinstated. This is the way “the hard money camp”, the Savers, almost always regain control: when the easy money collapses. On very rare occasions and only under highly favorable circumstances (like moving to a new continent!), “the hard money crowd” takes control by physically separating from “easy money” and declaring independence from the Debtors.
The American Revolution. Yes, the Constitution mandates hard money.
So just to repeat for clarity: Hard money regimes almost always end in bloodshed, when the easy money camp slaughters the hard money camp to avoid hard repayment terms. And easy money regimes almost always end in financial suffering when the easy money collapses.
The Debtors and the Savers - FOFOA
I agree. Revolution is the opiate of the envious.
Nice take on the subject.