THE COLLAPSE OF ANTIQUITY IBD

Sinopse

The Collapse of Antiquity: Greece and Rome as CivilizationâÇÖs Oligarchic Turning PointááThe Collapse of Antiquity, the sequel to MichaelâÇÖs '...and forgive them their debts,' is the second and latest book in his trilogy on the history of debt. It describes how the dynamics of interest-bearing debt led to the rise ofárentieráoligarchies in classical Greece and Rome, causing economic polarization, widespread austerity, revolts, wars and ultimately the collapse of Rome into serfdom and feudalism. That collapse bequeathed to subsequent Western civilization a pro-creditor legal philosophy that has led to todayâÇÖs creditor oligarchies.áááIn telling this story,áThe Collapse of Antiquityáreveals the eerie parallels between the collapsing Roman world and todayâÇÖs debt-burdened Western economies. EndorsementsááááááááááááááScopeááThe Collapse of Antiquityáis vast in its sweep, covering:ááthe transmission of interest-bearing debt from the Ancient Near East to the Mediterranean world, but without the 'safety valve' of periodic royal Clean Slate debt cancellations to restore economic balance and prevent the emergence of creditor oligarchies,ááthe rise of creditor and landholding oligarchies in classical Greece and Rome,ááclassical antiquityâÇÖs debt crises and revolts, and the suppression, assassination and ultimately failure of reformers,áááthe role played by greed, money-lust (wealth-addiction) and hubris, as analysed by Socrates, Plato, Aristotle and other ancient writers,áááRomeâÇÖs 'End Time' collapse into serfdom and pro-creditor oligarchic legacy that continues to shape the West,áthe transformation of Christianity as it became RomeâÇÖs state religion, supporting the oligarchy, dropping the revolutionary early Christian calls for debt cancellation and changing the meaning of the LordâÇÖs Prayer and 'sin,' from a focus on the economic sphere to the personal sphere of individual egotism,ááhow pro-creditor ideology distorts recent economic interpretations of antiquity, showing increasing sympathy with RomeâÇÖs oligarchic policies.