I’m reading about Lebanon and what it has been through, especially in the last several years. Inflation is out of control, where salaries are meaningless and grocers don’t even bother pricing their items because they can’t keep up with the changing rate. Basic human services like trash collection and electricity are not available. Citizens resort to holding banks up at gunpoint to get their own money out.
What happens when a country collapses? What does that really mean? What happens to all its people?
Edit to add another question: Is it actually possible for a country to be so mismanaged that its people literally all die out or leave?
In: Other
It simply means the government collapses, not the people (imagine thousands of people suddenly falling on the ground lol). It depends on how this was achieved but architects of the collapse, or those with means, usually start vying for power and legitimacy. This is sort of what happened with China-Taiwan (it’s more complex than this ofc). A country is only legit if the people consider the government legit. Some dude saying “I’m king of this country” has no bearing unless people actually start believing that this dude is the king (and acts accordingly). It’s why country recognition by the UN and other countries is VERY important. Even if it’s a symbolic gesture, a government’s legitimacy offers tangible benefits for that government.
Included in this collapse is money/currency. Paper bills have no inherent value. It’s value is largely dependent on the stability of the government (even tho it may be based on different things like gold or pegged to the US dollar or something). What basically happens is the value of money becomes so worthless you can’t use it for transactions anymore. The few times this has happened, people resorted to a barter trade system for a while till either the currency inflation gets fixed, or a different currency is introduced. That’s why there’s a lot of death and suffering when a country collapse. Resources to function are still there (mostly), but you can’t exchange money for goods and services because no one trusts the value of the currency anymore (because the government has collapsed). So goods can’t flow, transactions can’t happen, and the economy stagnates (which is a death knell for an economy).
Latest Answers