This evening I opened a well thumbed volume of The Economic Consequences of the Peace, J M Keynes prescient warning on the harsh reparations imposed on Germany at Versaille. The effect of a thousand deferential fingers shows on the yellowed paper. The edition, printed in 1924, was donated to the LSE library from the effects of Sir Montague Burton, a prominant Jewish industrialist knighted for his services to industrial relations - he fed and provided free dental and eyecare to his textile factory workers. Turning to the preface of the book, I noticed that it has been signed, in grey-blue ink, by "JM Keynes 18 May 1938" - touched by the man himself just as his pessimism saw effect and the world descended into war, again. He writes:
"In this autumn of 1919, in which I write, we are at the dead season of our fortunes. The reaction from the exertions, the fears, and the sufferings of the past five years is at its height. Our power of feeling or caring beyond the immediate questions of our own material well-being is temporarily eclipsed. The greatest events outside our own direct experience and the most dreadful anticipations cannot move us. We have been moved beyond endurance, and need rest. Never in the lifetime of men now living has the universal element in the soul of man burnt so dimly."
"In this autumn of 1919, in which I write, we are at the dead season of our fortunes. The reaction from the exertions, the fears, and the sufferings of the past five years is at its height. Our power of feeling or caring beyond the immediate questions of our own material well-being is temporarily eclipsed. The greatest events outside our own direct experience and the most dreadful anticipations cannot move us. We have been moved beyond endurance, and need rest. Never in the lifetime of men now living has the universal element in the soul of man burnt so dimly."
No comments:
Post a Comment