Thursday, October 24, 2013

Versailles, from Louis XIII to the French Revolution and afterwards



            The Beauty and Waste of Versailles

The palace of Versailles is one of the most recognized landmarks in Western Civilization.  Built by Louis XIV, it is a striking artistic and architectural achievement, rivaled only by the marvels of antiquity.  Yet, the palace is also a prime example of government waste and corruption and the problems of political and economic centralization.  

The French economy crumbled following two expensive wars in the 18th century (The Seven Years War and The American War for Independence), not to mention the constant warfare under Louis XIV, and the bureaucracy of Louis XIV was a snake pit littered with intriguing courtiers and self-interested aristocrats.  No one but the “Sun King” could manage it successfully.  The court arrogated both power and wealth to the center through its heavy-handed mercantilist programs and dominated the provinces and the French legal system under the model of a unitary state.  

During the reign of Louis XVI, Charles Alexander de Calonne proposed a series of reforms which would have transformed the French economy (free trade, hard money, reduced taxes on the 3rd Estate), but the 1st and 2nd Estates rejected it out of self interest.  A political safety valve did not exist in France–the Estates General had been suspended in the early 1600s–and the economic and political problems spilled over into Revolution.  Pre-revolutionary France offers fine examples for modern society to avoid: debt, waste, continual wars, centralization, corruption, a detached and decadent political class, inflationary monetary policies and central banking.  We should heed the warnings.

 More @ Liberty Classroom

2 comments:

  1. "Pre-revolutionary France offers fine examples for modern society to avoid: debt, waste, continual wars, centralization, corruption, a detached and decadent political class, inflationary monetary policies and central banking. "

    Haha!

    Say whatever what you want about autocrats, but the European monarchs and, later, the US robber barons did promote artistic beauty. Once art and architecture became democratised, we got this:

    http://nonprofit.chass[dot]ncsu.edu/about/our-location/

    Since other forms of art have no standards left, there really isn't one link that demonstrates what it is.

    The conflict of autocratic insistence on standards vs the anything goes of the mob has shaped all of history, and is especially apparent in art history.

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    1. Standards. Reminds me of the Bill Whittle video I just posted.:) Man, would I like him for P.

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