by John » Sat Feb 13, 2010 10:49 am
browner55 wrote:
> I agree that Germany is/will be reluctant to bail out
> Greece. However, your logic that the reason has to do with having
> "a very strong national memory of the hyperinflation that occurred
> in the early 1920s, when it took a barrel of money to buy a loaf
> of bread" seems to go against the logic of generational
> dynamics. In other words, wouldn't the Germans actually NOT have a
> strong national memory of hyperinflation since many of those who
> were alive during that period have died?
It's not the Generational Dynamic concept that major events in
history are totally forgotten, as if wiped out from memory. After
all, Americans frequently refer to the Revolutionary War, the Civil
War, WW I, WW II, the Vietnam War, etc.
What DOES happen is that the memories are reduced to "sound bytes"
that may or may not represent what actually occurred. Here are some
examples:
- A lot of people believe that WW II would have occurred without
Hitler. I like to ask these people why Hitler decided to bomb Pearl
Harbor. (That's a joke, but for some reason, no one ever laughs.)
- A lot of people believe that the 1929 stock market crash took
place over one or two days. (That's actually something that I
believed for much of my life.) Actually, the stock market crash took
four years.
- Even historians seem to know little about WW I. Most people seem
to think that it was an early version of WW II. Actually, WW I was
much more similar to the Vietnam War than to WW II.
** Politicians commemorate Battle of the Somme, July 1, 1916
** http://www.generationaldynamics.com/cgi ... 02#e060702
- Most people think that Abraham Lincoln started the Civil War to
abolish slavery. Actually, the war was started by the South for
economic reasons.
So in the case of the hyperinflation of Germany in the 1920s, Germans
have a collective memory of it, especially the image of barrels full
of money. But few are aware of what was really going on.
** The bubble that broke the world
** http://www.generationaldynamics.com/cgi ... rett071009
John
[quote="browner55"]
> I agree that Germany is/will be reluctant to bail out
> Greece. However, your logic that the reason has to do with having
> "a very strong national memory of the hyperinflation that occurred
> in the early 1920s, when it took a barrel of money to buy a loaf
> of bread" seems to go against the logic of generational
> dynamics. In other words, wouldn't the Germans actually NOT have a
> strong national memory of hyperinflation since many of those who
> were alive during that period have died?[/quote]
It's not the Generational Dynamic concept that major events in
history are totally forgotten, as if wiped out from memory. After
all, Americans frequently refer to the Revolutionary War, the Civil
War, WW I, WW II, the Vietnam War, etc.
What DOES happen is that the memories are reduced to "sound bytes"
that may or may not represent what actually occurred. Here are some
examples:[list]
[*] A lot of people believe that WW II would have occurred without
Hitler. I like to ask these people why Hitler decided to bomb Pearl
Harbor. (That's a joke, but for some reason, no one ever laughs.)
[*] A lot of people believe that the 1929 stock market crash took
place over one or two days. (That's actually something that I
believed for much of my life.) Actually, the stock market crash took
four years.
[*] Even historians seem to know little about WW I. Most people seem
to think that it was an early version of WW II. Actually, WW I was
much more similar to the Vietnam War than to WW II.
[i][url=http://www.generationaldynamics.com/cgi-bin/D.PL?xct=gd.e060702#e060702]** Politicians commemorate Battle of the Somme, July 1, 1916[/url]
** [url]http://www.generationaldynamics.com/cgi-bin/D.PL?xct=gd.e060702#e060702[/url][/i]
[*] Most people think that Abraham Lincoln started the Civil War to
abolish slavery. Actually, the war was started by the South for
economic reasons.[/list]
So in the case of the hyperinflation of Germany in the 1920s, Germans
have a collective memory of it, especially the image of barrels full
of money. But few are aware of what was really going on.
[i][url=http://www.generationaldynamics.com/cgi-bin/D.PL?d=ww2010.i.garrett071009]** The bubble that broke the world[/url]
** [url]http://www.generationaldynamics.com/cgi-bin/D.PL?d=ww2010.i.garrett071009[/url][/i]
John