GOLD AND LATIN: TWIN PILLARS OF WESTERN REJUVENATION

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The natural order

by Antonius Aquinas

After Brexit, there has been a growing number of voices within the European Union and among various nationalistic groups, arguing that English should be replaced as the official language since now only Ireland and Malta retain English.

The loudest quarter calling for a change has come from the French who, not surprisingly, want their own tongue to become the lingua franca of the EU. Eric Zemmour, a French conservative commentator, asserts, “I think this is the time to launch a counter-offensive in favour of French, to recall that French was the original language of EU institutions.”

A return to French, however, has its difficulties with other nationalist groups particularly those from the EU’s dominant economic power, Germany.

An interesting and most logical solution to the seemingly intractable problem has been suggested by an article in the magazine Le Figaro, which calls for a return to Latin as the EU’s lingua franca. 

Why Latin?

A return to Latin makes the most sense, since the Romance languages of the EU nations – Italy, France, Spain – developed out of Latin, and the Germanic tongues contain a large amount of Latin words in their vocabularies. It would thus be relatively easy to bring back Latin as an international language. 

Latin has a long and successful history stretching back to Antiquity as the language of law, commerce, science, and religion. Latin fostered social cohesion among ethnic groups and cultures, while it facilitated the exchange of ideas and customs. 

While Latin is par excellence a lingua franca, an international monetary system based on gold would accomplish many of the same benefits for the economies of Europe (and for that matter the world) that Latin has done for communications and interrelations. Many of the same arguments which have been applied to Latin can be used for a metallic monetary order. 

Why gold?

A one-world commodity standard allows for integration and the extension of the division of labor since all prices are expressed in terms of gold/silver. Costs, too, would be calculated in terms of one general medium of exchange which makes economies more efficient. National currencies, fully backed and redeemed in gold, would do away with the cumbersome exchange ratios which currently exist. 

Just as important, a monetary order based on a gold standard would make it extremely difficult for governments and central banks to inflate the currencies which ultimately leads to the dreaded boom and bust cycle. The inability to create “money out of thin air” would reduce governments’ debt-creation powers since central banks could no longer monetize debt by simply printing money and expanding credit.

With an inexhaustible supply of paper money that can fund and underwrite any state project, government power and control over the economy and social life has grown exponentially since the gold standard was eliminated. A world on a gold standard would reduce state power. The vast social engineering schemes and war-making capacity have been made possible through unrestrained money printing and debt creation. 

If the nations of Europe would adopt a gold standard, it would attract foreign capital since creditors would be assured that their investments would not be debased through inflation. Domestic savings, too, would sizeably increase which would generate an authentic economic boom based on wealth generated not by money printing, but through the abstention of consumption – savings. 

Gold and Latin are both “natural” mediums which do not require state largesse and involvement for their use. Artificial monolithic political constructs like the EU and monetary institutions like the IMF and World Bank, which are nothing less than engines of inflation, are unnecessary under a monetary order based on gold. 

It would be difficult to deny that gold and Latin did not possess Providential qualities. The amount of gold in the world and its inherent qualities have made it the “perfect” medium of exchange. Its supply is not too plentiful nor too scarce while its qualities – durable, portable, divisible – satisfy all the qualities that a money requires. 

The fact that Rome and its language arose, creating the greatest empire to have ever existed, which also paved the way for the spread of Christianity and the development of European civilization, is not by happenstance. Latin bounded Rome and its provinces together, no matter how far apart geographically and culturally. Some authors have noted that the appearance of the Savior came at the time of the Pax Romana – “the Roman Peace” – which provided the perfect conditions to accomplish His mission.

While modern man vainly seeks to create unity through the dictates of the State, with its countless laws and regulatory agencies to enforce them, there exists institutions and gifts of nature, which, if used, can provide a natural universality. For a just social order to be attained, the most sublime human language must once again return to its place of prominence, while the most honest and efficient money ever used must again become the world’s general medium of exchange. 

Also published at Antonius Aquinas