I watched this happen from across an ocean, but unlike everyone else who commented on the 'naivete' of the 'desperate Albanian impoverished masses', I knew better then and I know better now.
Various crooks in Albania put together a huge, nationwide Ponzi scheme, which resulted in the usual conclusion: a few mobsters and politicians/strongmen walked away with most of the nation's currency and wealth, and left the rest of the citizens in victimized poverty. The official line from the 'world economists' was that it had happened because, as everyone knew, those naive and ignorant Albanians had just been released from the oppressive yoke of Communism under Enver Hoxha and successors, and thought that this giant Ponzi scheme was Capitalism! Can you imagine the ignorance? How could anyone be so dumb unless they simply didn't know how real Capitalism works? Oh, those poor, deluded Albanians, suckered by schemers as a result of their own ignorance.
Or so the story goes.
However, this is not what actually happened. Anyone who delved a little deeper and talked to anyone on the ground, for real, and asked a few more involved questions would have come up with the following interview:
Q: Why did you invest your life savings in this pyramid scheme?
A: I thought I would get rich, like my cousin, and everyone was doing it! Oh, woe is me!
Q: Where did you think this money was being invested?
A: In our new, great nation of Albania! I believed in my country, and trusted men who were wolves in sheep's clothing! Oh, woe is me!
Q: Don't lie to me. Where did you really think the money was being invested?
A: (Long, suspicious pause) I knew there was no way on Planet Earth you can get returns like that, so we all assumed the money was being invested in hard drugs to sell in Europe, or maybe in some arms deals, or something similar. After all, everyone knew the men running the investment plan were crooks and mafioso. Personally, I thought I could cash out before it collapsed. I misjudged my timing. Oh well, better luck next time.
I happily compare this collapse of Albania to the current collapse in the USA, with similar, if not identical, mindset. Although here, it's unlikely to result in nationwide rioting on a tribal level, with mobs of underground cells looting military bases of every weapon in the country, with the end result of the creation of a viable KLA. Which now runs Kosovo, the most corrupt 'government' in Europe, with full blessing and support of the USA.
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