Recession

A recession is not about gas prices or the cost of corn. Recessions do not pop up overnight, and their greatest effect is not a dip in the gross national product or the per capita income.

Consumer spending droops, causing corporate spending to drop as the think tanks go into survival mode. Governments cut interest rates to encourage spending but ultimately this puts more money into circulation and causes inflation, simultaneously devaluing the currency and slowing the rate at which savings accrue interest. Days get shorter, working parents get more tired, and politicians lose approval ratings.

Kosovo

Kosovo is a small landlocked country in the Balkans. Yes, it’s a country. Kosovo declared independence from Serbia on February 17 2008, and was immediately recognized by a number of countries who had not had to deal with serious separatist movements in many years.

Kosovo was part of the Roman empire, later overtaken by the Byzantine empire, lost, and retaken again. It was then conquered by the Serbian Empire, and finally by the Ottoman Empire.

This is where our modern drama really begins, way back in the 15th century. We take an ethnic group that, after all that conquering, has developed a pretty cohesive racial identity, and proceed to force them to convert to a new religion through political sanctions against the Orthodox Christian faith. The stage is set for a long and troubling tragedy, and it will be played out.

Fuedalism

Feudalism is the system of social order that produced the knight. It is the subject of fantasy, but also a symbol of oppressive government and corruption. Also, it isn’t as much a thing of the past as you might think.

Feudalism is in many ways the most basic type of government conceivable. It is reflected in the classical organization of the Italian Mafia, and its vestiges remain in the majority of the world’s governments. The simple premise is that one person enters a binding contract with another. The first person offers land, money, or other goods or rights capable of supporting them permanently, and in return the second person is bound to come to the assistance of the first in times of trouble. Seems simple enough, but let’s not forget what we’re talking about. The first person is called a “lord” and the second is called a “vassal.”