History

Why Has the USA been “Pinnacle of Global Success” | Armstrong Economics

Posted on by johnbarleycorn12

To the shock of everyone in politics and economics who can’t get enough socialism and want to bash that the disparity of income is so evil, these Marxists are beside themselves when the World Economic Forum released a study that shows the United States is the most competitive nation on earth. They have, however, concluded that their international economic index which finds America at the “pinnacle of global success” cannot be attributed to the actions of any one leader or administration. Indeed, people fled Europe to American to get away from bureaucracy. This remains reflected in attitudes. A majority of Europeans (58%) would prefer to work as an employee rather than risk starting their own business. The promises of pensions and the social state have created a vast economic different picture between Europe and America and in Asia, we see a trend that is beginning to surpass the United States. This contrasts starkly with attitudes in the United States, where a majority (51%) say they would prefer to strike out alone. The United States allowed the property to be owned whereas in Europe the title to the property remains fixed in most of London and is leased out for 100 years where people pay the value as if they had purchased the property, to begin with. Property in London that was “freehold” was rather rare. Many fled to America which was the land of opportunity to actually own property, build wealth, and leave it to your family. Then rushes in the Marxists. They hate people inheriting wealth and call it unfair. Every generation should start at zero in their mind. Then we have the economists who argue that it is the disparity in income that suppresses the economy in Europe. So what is their solution? Regulate everything excessively and take the wealth away from those who have it and pretend you are handing it to the people if anything is left once they government gets its hands on it for their own lavish pension schemes. The United States is the venture-capital capital of the world. That will soon be displaced by China. Nevertheless, how to actually measure entrepreneurship is a very distorted view of the economy. One popular approach among economists which overlooks the depth of a nation’s economy is to count how many new businesses with paid employees start up each year, then divide them by the number of companies that are already up and running. The Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), calls this percentage the “employer enterprise birth rate.” Others just call it the “start-up rate”. From this distorted perspective, the United States scores fairly low on that definition coming in second to last when looking at the years 2007 through 2009 during the crash. The glaring flaw in this view is the fact that in the economies which are least developed come out on top, which was Slovakia and Mexico. The United States was predominantly small business also before the Industrial Revolution. Creating criteria of this nature are extremely misleading. Also, the period in question saw many young individuals start out on their own unable to find jobs with their costly degrees. They entered the self-employment segment but were not hiring people. They were breaking out and doing work in various services. The greatest economic growth follows the LOWEST taxes, developed economies, and lower regulation. When the government attacks all three areas, our computer simply shows that economic growth declines.
— Read on www.armstrongeconomics.com/history/americas-economic-history/why-has-the-usa-been-pinnacle-of-global-success/

You Don’t Need to Be Royalty to Sleep in These 10 Castles

Posted on by johnbarleycorn12

Look, we’re glad that America’s George beat Britain’s George during the Revolutionary War. But we’re a little broken up about missing out on the chance to live in a glorious castle (assuming, of course, that we’ve got the aristocratic roots to make it happen). Here’s the good news: Medieval feudalism and monarchy might have faded out of significance in most places, but all those castles are still around. Here are 10 you can spend the night in — noble bloodline or not.

— Read on curiosity.com/topics/you-dont-need-to-be-royalty-to-sleep-in-these-castles-curiosity

New Discovery Proves History Books Were WRONG! | Armstrong Economics

Posted on by johnbarleycorn12

I have previously written how the academics have REFUSED to revise history even when the evidence has been right in their face. I have previously written that the date for the eruption of Vesuvius could not possibly historically correct based upon a single coin that was discovered in the dig. My position based upon a single coin has now at last been confirmed by writing on a wall recently discovered. This time, they have NO CHOICE!!!! Coins have often called into question recorded history. The date of the destruction of Pompei near Naples has been a classic example of how the academic community has defended old interpretations and refuse to revise previous assumptions. The history books have written in stone that Vesuvius erupted burying Pompeii definitively on August 24th, 79 AD as the date carved in stone. This date has been interpreted from a letter to the historian Tacitus some 25 years following the event. This was his old friend Pliny the Younger who provided an eye-witness account of the eruption. He states that the eruption took place on Nonum Kal September (the ninth day before the Kalends of September), which has been calculated as being August 24th. However, Tacitus was translated during the 16th Century which remains questionable on many points. The ancient historian Cassius Dio directly states that the disaster took place “towards the end of the harvesting season” which would be in October, not August. The excavation of Pompeii revealed that the stores were selling fruit that would not have been seasonal for August. There were amphoras filled with wine after the harvest which had been sealed and ready for transportation and sale. Many of the people discovered were wearing warm clothing. That has been dismissed as they just wanted to cover themselves for maintaining a wrong interpretation for decades. But during excavations of Pompeii’s “House of the Gold Bracelet” in 1974, 180 silver and 40 gold coins were discovered with the bodies of a group of victims. The coins were buried with the people attesting to their link with the eruption. The coins were never cataloged until 2006. There was one coin that confirmed that the date for the eruption of Pompeii was incorrect and that the account of Cassio Dio was closer to fact than Tacitus. Titus (79-81AD) was emperor at the time of the eruption and he was remembered for the relief efforts. Titus’ administration was marked not by military or political conflicts, but by disasters. His first disaster was the eruption of Vesuvius. The eruption destroyed the cities and resort communities around the Bay of Naples in addition to Pompeii and Herculaneum which were buried under many feet of stone, ash, and lava. Titus appointed two ex-consuls to organize and coordinate the relief effort. He personally donated large amounts of money for the relief effort and he even personally toured the region the following year like presidents do today after such disasters (human nature never changes). A single silver denarius was discovered among the 180 silver coins in 1974. When it was cataloged, it overturned history and has ever since been buried again in the Naples Museum rather than rewrite the history books. Titus’ father Vespasian (69-79AD) died on June 24th, 79 AD. Therefore, any coin of Titus as emperor would have to have the very first recording of his power “IMP VIIII” or 8th Imperator, which was a title that meant ‘leader of the army’ to the Romans. The award was generally given at this point in history for a particularly important victory that was celebrated. In some cases, these subsequent awards, denoted by a numeral following IMP, which also allows dating of coins to a very short period. The coin discovered in Pompeii had the legend “IMP XV,” which was granted to Titus for the war in Britannia where he sent Gnaeus Julius Agricola who pushed further into Caledonia and managed to establish several forts there as recorded by Tacitus (Agricola 22). Therefore, Titus received this title of Imperator for the fifteenth time for this event, according to Cassius Dio (Roman History LXVI.20). This took place we know in September 79 AD about 3 months after becoming emperor following his father’s death. Obviously, if any coin was discovered in the ruins of Pompeii with “IMP XV” in its legend, then this provides absolute proof that the date for Vesuvius of August 24th, 79 AD cannot be correct as I previously wrote. Archeologists in Pompeii have discovered a remarkable inscription written in charcoal which has survived the catastrophy confirming that the eruption of Mt Vesuvius indeed took place in October 79AD as confirmed by the coin discovered and ignored. The charcoal writing, discovered on the wall of a villa during a new phase of excavations, adds weight to a theory that the volcano destroyed the town in October 79AD rather than August of that year in line with Cassio Dio and the denarius of Titus. The Italian authorities said the new discovery “rewrites the history” of Pompeii proving that the August 24th date was WRONG! The inscription reads, in Latin, XVI K NOV – the 16th day before the first day of November in the Roman calendar, in other words, October 17th. The inscription may have been written by a builder or architect who was working on the restoration of a villa a few days before the eruption, possibly as a way of recording the work he had done. Remarkably, it survived the catastrophic eruption of Vesuvius now confirming October 24th. Archeologists recently discovered that a worker had inscribed the date of “the 16th day before the calends of November”, meaning October 17, on a house at Pompeii. “Today, with much humility, perhaps we will rewrite the history books because we date the eruption to the second half of October,” said Italy’s Minister of Culture Alberto Bonisoli. At last, the single silver denarius discovered, and which has been ignored for so long, has been finally vindicated. The coins won!!!!
— Read on www.armstrongeconomics.com/history/ancient-history/new-discovery-proves-history-books-were-wrong/

The Greek Dark Age & Climate Change | Armstrong Economics

Posted on by johnbarleycorn12

QUESTION: Mr. Armstrong; You mentioned that the environment was the primary cause of the Greek Dark age between the Heroic and Hellenistic periods. Can you elaborate on that at all? Thank you. They do not seem to connect the dots as you say in school MG ANSWER: What is most interesting is the fact that they do not connect the dots which are so glaring for that period of time. The Bronze Age Collapse was a Dark-Age in the Near East, Asia Minor, Aegean region, North Africa, Caucasus, Balkans and the Eastern Mediterranean. This encapsulated the transition from the Late Bronze Age to the Early Iron Age, which was violent, sudden, and a major setback for civilization as a whole. We seem to focus on the fall of Rome, but not the catastrophic collapse of the Bronze Age. The political economy of city-states that dominated the Aegean region and Anatolia region (Modern Turkey), simply disintegrated much like Rome whereby people abandoned cities and formed small isolated village during the Greek Dark Age. This takes place about 51.6 years following the cultural collapse of the Mycenaean kingdoms, of the Kassite dynasty of Babylonia, of the Hittite Empire in Anatolia and the Levant, and of the Egyptian Empire. We also see the political-economic destruction of Ugarit and the Amorite states in the Levant. Over in the Luwian states of western Asia Minor, we also see a collapse in civilization. There was also a period of tremendous political-economic chaos in Canaan (Israel). This wholesale collapse of all of these city-states resulted in the collapse of trade routes as we saw with the collapse of Rome. This also manifests in the reduction of literacy in much of the known world. Hattusa became the capital of the Hittite Empire in the 17th century BC. The city was destroyed, together with the Hittite state itself, around 1200 BC, as part of the Bronze Age collapse. The site was subsequently abandoned. Modern estimates put the population of the city between 40,000 and 50,000 at it’s the peak. The dwelling houses which were built with timber and mud bricks have vanished from the site, leaving only the ruins of the stone built temples and palaces. The lost city was rediscovered at the beginning of the 20th century in central Turkey by a German archeological team. One of the most important discoveries at the site has been clay tablets, consisting of legal codes, procedures, and literature of the ancient Near East. In the first phase of this fascinating period, we witness the complete violent destruction, and abandonment of cities such as Hattusa, Mycenae, and Ugarit. This all takes place within just one 51.6 year wave of the Economic Confidence Model at the end of the 13th century and the beginning of the 12th century BC. Civilization seems to collapse on a grand wholesale basis with almost every significant city in the eastern Mediterranean world is then destroyed, many of which were never again to ever be occupied again. Assyria and Elam appear to survive the Bronze Age Collapse and then even Elam is nearly completely destroyed by Nebuchadnezzar I who revived Babylonian Empire briefly before he in turn suffered a series of defeats by the Assyrians. After the death of their leader, Ashur-bel-kala in 1056 BC, then we see Assyria began an economic decline for about 112 years. – but by the end of the 12th century BC as it really fell back to just a city-state but it did survive the Bronze Age Collapse just greatly reduced by around 1000BC. By the end of the ensuing Dark Age that engulfed the entire region, the former Hittite Empire appears to be broken apart in separatist movements and what eventually emerges is independent city-states in Cilicia and the Levant (Syria). This period seems to be great migrations as people began to move south due to climate change. Bu the mid-10th century BC, we see Aramaeans moving into the Levant and the Philistines then settle in southern Canaan where the Canaanite-speaking Semites. From 935 BC after the worst of the collapse in sunspot activity, Assyria began to reorganize and once more expand outwards reestablishing the Neo-Assyrian Empire (911-605 BC), which the Egyptians even feared. Phrygians, Cimmerians, and Lydians arrived in Asia Minor, who were Greek in origin. The Colchians (Georgians) also emerge at this time. The various people of this region appear to reform civilization with the warming becoming the Iranian peoples such as the Persians, Medes, Parthians, and Sargatians. These groups all appear in Ancient Iran soon after the Sunspot low. In the Aegean, this is the reappearance of the Classical Greece Era. This is the period of the Great Migration South as I call it. They are known as the Sea People who invaded Northern Africa which corresponds to the colder climate up north. The Sea Peoples remain unidentified and have remained a source of much speculation. In the archaeological record, the Philistines first appear in the early 12th century BC with the Bronze Age Collapse. Their arrival is signaled by artifacts that belong to what is clearly an extraordinarily different culture from other local populations at the time. Their pottery closely parallels to the ancient Greek world. They also use Aegean rather than a Semitic script. They also eat pork as well as the occasional dog. Several passages in the Hebrew Bible describe the interlopers as coming from the “Land of Caphtor,” or modern-day Crete. Keep in mind that Crete fell to Mycenae who also conquered Troy after Thera erupted and destroyed much of the Minoan economy. I believe the Sea People were of Mycenae in origin. There is a lack of contemporary historical explanation documenting this period. However, correlating it with the weather, it appears that we are dealing with a Climate Change where the Earth entered into a very cold period and crops failed forcing a migration south.
— Read on www.armstrongeconomics.com/history/ancient-economies/the-greek-dark-age-climate-change/