Opinion - On The Brink Of Another Great Depression And Another World War?

The stock market crash of 1929 brought about the world’s worst economic depression in history and led to the outbreak of world’s most destructive war in history, World War II, a mere ten years later.

The financial crisis occurring in America today and slowly spreading throughout the rest of the world, shares many similarities to the infamous crash of 1929.

Could the world be experiencing a reincarnation of the 1929-1938 time period in the early 21st century?

Yesterday evening I spoke with a man whom I will refer to as “B” in this article. This man, who is now 83-years-old, left France for the United States at the age of 15 in 1940. Five years after arriving to America, he was a B-26 Bomber fighter pilot in the United States Air Force.

As we spoke the man recounted to me his personal experiences as a fighter pilot in World War II, bombing military facilities in Germany and taking part in the destruction of the Third Reich.

While listening to this wise, older man, still so sharp and full of spirit, I began to feel a deep sense of admiration for the hero seated next to me.

I began to think of the many young Jews at that time, who dreamed of becoming soldiers, fighter pilots and tank commanders to confront the Nazi enemy.

Yet this Jewish man had not only dreamed, he had acted and became a real fighter in the war.

While answering my many questions about his experiences, he told me a secret.

He looked straight into my eyes and said “Today, we are in the same place we were between the years of 1929 and 1938. The current economic crisis will only lead to an extremely volatile and dangerous time period for democracy and for the world as a whole. Iran and Islamic fundamentalism, combined with other forces, will soon be the most serious threat to the world.”

In this context, the financial crisis, even after the injection of 700 billion dollars from the U.S. federal government, will not all of a sudden come to an end.

The financial crises shows the fragility of banking systems, America’s dependence on credit and loan services which it does not managed with foresight - thereby producing a massive snowball effect.

History has shown that financial crashes which lead to economic crises often produce radical political upheavals, with extreme ideologies, that lead to unprecedented military conflicts.

These situations are always exploited by extremist leaders who always claim to know "the root of the evil and solution to the problem."

Last week, in front of the entire UN General Assembly, Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad accused the “Zionist elements” and the State of Israel of being directly responsible for the financial crisis affecting the United States.

Mahmoud Ahmadinejad inciting, malicious and nonsensical comments were clearly only meant to throw more gasoline on the fire – a fire between Israel and Iran which keeps getting dangerously closer and closer to the powder keg.

Ahmadinejad, like Hitler, knows the mechanisms that work to mobilize the Islamic masses and to create a "guilty" scapegoat who will be punished when the time comes.

As I spoke with B, he told me that Iran represents an existential threat for Israel and the world, which when taken in context with the global financial crisis, could be a threat of similar power to that of Nazi Germany over 60 years ago.

Yet, as much as I agreed with many ideas and emotions expressed by B, I could not agree with this interpretation.

I replied that while I agree a nuclear Iran under Islamist leadership, is a very serious problem, the whole situation was not comparable to the 1929-1938 period.

He asked me why.

I said that today, despite the existential threats that threaten the region, despite the global financial crisis which is still only in its infancy, there is one fundamental difference: the State of Israel exists.

The scapegoats of yesterday can now defend themselves and most importantly, those who try to exploit the Jewish people or the State of Israel in the name of finding "Final Solutions" for their own problems, should know that what happened once will never happen again.

Dear B, I understand your concern, I respect your experience, I thank you for your vigilance and your care, but things are and will always be different from the eve of World War II. Now the State of Israel is here to make sure that what happened once will never happen again.

Shana Tova And A Happy New Year To All

 09/28/08

Olivier Rafowicz