The canary’s role in mines became so engrained in the English language that “a canary in the coalmine” is now a well-known phrase, used to refer to early indicators of potential hazards. (The Gale Review)

Great adventures in a Buenos Aires lovely spring afternoon. It was kind of a return to the era of great Argentine upheavals. At about one in the afternoon all foreign money street exchange ceased as if an invisible switch was turned off. For those old folks (like me) that have lived through most of the rollercoaster years of the Peronist age (1946 to present) the episode was reminiscent of the early years of this century when great economic instability came and went.

About a third of the country was-is in love with the ideas of Juan Peron, the man who bought inflation and began the destruction of the venerable first nationwide currency, the Peso Moneda Nacional instituted in 1881. It lasted until 1969. It went out in a hail of zeroes when the larger denominations started clogging the old computers.

Let me read this to you again. The above paragraph describes how the Peso survived without much inflation from 1881 to 1946 the year when the reckless printing of money began. Peron was the President of Argentina. One of his first political stunts was to knock off all the judges of the Supreme Court and replace them with cronies. That concentration of power on one man and the monopoly of political action that followed, facilitated the irresponsible production of pesos without a shade of backing. It took over 20 years to destroy the Argentine Peso. Other versions of the money lasted less than that. The Peso of 1881 was reduced in value beginning in 1946 losing 13 zeroes to this day. Some bills are produced without a magnetic imprint because there is no time to add the device. ATM’s cannot accept or dispense such bills. Imagine the inconvenience for common people in an economy that is heavily cash based.

But all of that is old news. Today, yearly inflation is well above 100%. One US Dollar will buy you 850 Argentine pesos or more. The informal pricing system is in a moderate chaos and suffering Argentines struggle to make a living. Half the population lives (and dies) in poverty while generation after generation of politicians and government functionaries live the lives of the rich and famous regardless of their nominally modest official paychecks. Something similar seems to happen in the United States with some entering the political system poor and leaving as millionaires. Hmm…

A somber mood prevails in the population. A silent indignation is the response to the shameless luxury of the powerful. The end of the Political Oligarchy nears. It is obvious to nearly everyone that there is no peaceful way to end this state of affairs. Argentines need to return to the God of justice who promises to liberate his people of all oppression.

“I will feed your oppressors with their own flesh, and they will become drunk with their own blood as with sweet wine; and all flesh will know that I, the Lord, am your Savior and your Redeemer, the Mighty One of Jacob.” (Isaiah 49:26)

That event seems to be maturing but no one knows when it will descend upon us.

I have a theory —I will understand if readers don’t share it with me but please, make a note of it— that Argentina is a sort of canary in the coalmine to the rest of the world. It was prophesied that the tribulation that will desolate the rest of the planet will first arise here and then extend to the rest of the world like wildfire.