Columnists
Britain’s decision to leave EU only adds to historical mistakes
Britain’s Prime minister David Cameron
It may be too early to conclude that Britain has made a blunder by leaving the European Union. Maybe we need more time to see how events unfold after their referendum to exit the Union.
There is a possibility that critics may be disproved, especially when things just get better for Britain. If indeed this is a mistake we should only get to know that it is not the first of its kind. History tells us that the world has been swimming through bigger economic problems than this. This maybe just one of them.
In the year 301, the Roman emperor Diocletian issued an order to the business community about Prices of Foodstuffs. This edict rebalanced the coinage system and set maximums on wages and the prices of many types of goods, especially food. The penalty for selling above the stipulated prices was death.
As a result sellers withdrew their goods, unwilling to sell at the fixed prices or even risk being falsely accused of selling beyond the maximum and thus be subject to execution.
Workers responded to the wage edicts by vanishing or sitting around doing nothing. Eventually the edict was ignored and became a subject of derision and mockery which permanently lowered the prestige and authority of the empire.
On January 22, 1991, Mikhail Gorbachev, the president of the Soviet Union, decreed that all existing 50- and 100-ruble banknotes were no longer legal tender and that they could be exchanged for new notes for three days only and only in small quantities. This had the effect of instantly deleting large portions of the savings and accumulated capital of private citizens.
He followed up this genius move on January 26, by ordering that the police had the authority to search any place of business and to demand the records of any business at any time.
The union’s economic problems accelerated into a death spiral. Gorbachev resigned on December 25, and on the next day the Supreme Soviet dissolved itself and the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics.
If you have heard of Titanic then you are aware of how $ 7.5 million were lost in shipbuilding costs and the later the ship was wrecked. An inflated and adjusted total loss of $ 168 million was made. To be specific Captain Edward Smith crashed the Titanic into iceberg making one of the greatest mistake and loss in history. The passenger liner, The Titanic, sunk on its maiden voyage from England to the United States in 1912.
The Titanic was known as the unsinkable ship, specifically designed to make the long journey to America with no possible chance of sinking.
But one night, the ship crew ignored warnings of icebergs in their path and went onward. The ship hit an iceberg and scraped the entire right side, causing the boat to sink and killed 1,517 people.
In tales and our daily conversations we normally use the statement “To err is human”. We often use it to cover up our mistakes. It will hardly affect our life if we commit small mistakes! If such a mistake is committed by famous persons holding high office of responsibilities, including government offices, religious centers and others it can have serious ramifications.
It can create obstacle in the path of human’s development. A good work done by a good person leads to betterment of society. Similarly, a wrong work done by an obnoxious person can give us worsening effect. It can make our world weird.
Japan is an economical powerful country in Eastern Asia. The country used to rule all over the world. But one historical incident brought a revolution in the country in mid 19th century. In July 1853 an American Naval ship visited the coast of Japan and warned the country, either Japan allowed free entry of American goods or conflict will be take place. This time Japan agreed with the condition.
But on 7th December 1941 Japan committed a bizarre blunder by attacking on Pearl Harbor. This attacked anger US and developed hostility between two countries.
As a result US dropped a bomb in Hiroshima and few days back in Nagasaki. This was a huge destruction to Japan and there is no doubt that it was a blow below the belt to this economically powerful country.
The world will live to remember the credit crunch in 2008. Failures in finance were at the heart of the crash. But bankers were not the only people to blame.
Central bankers and other regulators bear responsibility too, for mishandling the crisis, for failing to keep economic imbalances in check and for failing to exercise proper oversight of financial institutions.
Our decisions must be checked before they can cause devastating effects to the nations and the world. If already three millions Britons have appended their signatures requesting that another referendum be held and correct what they think is a mistake, it is clear that majority of them voted with emotions instead of logical thinking.
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