|
Silvio Gesell (; March 17, 1862 – March 11, 1930) was a German merchant, theoretical economist, social activist, Georgist, anarchist and founder of Freiwirtschaft. During the year 1900, he initiated the magazine ''Geld-und Bodenreform'' (Monetary and Land Reform) but it soon closed for financial reasons. During one of his stays in Argentina where he lived in a vegetarian commune, Gesell initiated the magazine ''Der Physiokrat'' together with Georg Blumenthal. During 1914, he had to close it because of censorship. The Bavarian Soviet Republic, in which he participated, had a violent end and Gesell was detained for several months on a charge of treason, but was acquitted by a Munich court after a speech he gave in his own defence. Gesell promoted his ideas in both German and in Spanish. ==Life== Silvio Gesell's mother was Walloon and his father was German, originally from Aachen, and worked a clerk in the then-Prussian district of Malmedy, now part of Belgium. Silvio was the seventh of nine children. After visiting the public ''Bürgerschule'' in Sankt Vith, he attended Gymnasium in Malmedy. Being forced to pay for his living expenses from an early age, he decided against attending a university and received work for the ''Deutsche Reichspost'', the postal system of the German Empire. He did not like this profession, so he decided to start an apprenticeship to his merchant brother in Berlin. Then he lived in Málaga, Spain for two years, working as a correspondent. He then returned to Berlin involuntarily to complete his military service. After this, he worked as a merchant in Brunswick and Hamburg. During 1887, Gesell relocated to Buenos Aires, Argentina, where he initiated a franchise of his brother's business. The 1890 depression in Argentina, which hurt his business considerably, caused him to think about the structural problems caused by the monetary system. During 1891, he released his first writing on this topic: ''Die Reformation des Münzwesens als Brücke zum sozialen Staat'' (German for: ''The reformation of the monetary system as a bridge to a social state''). He then wrote ''Nervus Rerum'' and ''The nationalization of money''. He gave his business to his brother and returned to Europe during 1892. After an intermediate stay in Germany, Gesell relocated to Les Hauts-Geneveys in the Swiss canton of Neuchâtel. He established a farm in order to finance his living expenses while continuing his economic studies. During 1900, he initiated the magazine ''Geld- und Bodenreforn'' (''Monetary and Land Reform''), but it failed during 1903 for financial reasons. From 1907 to 1911, he was in Argentina again, then he returned to Germany and lived in the vegetarian commune ''Obstbausiedlung Eden'', which was initiated by Franz Oppenheimer in Oranienburg, north of Berlin. Here, he initiated the magazine ''Der Physiokrat'' (''The Physiocrat'') together with Georg Blumenthal. It was ended during 1914 due to censorship as World War I began. During 1915, Gesell left Germany to return to his farm in Les Hauts-Geneveys. During 1919, he was asked to participate with the Bavarian Soviet Republic by Ernst Niekisch. The republic offered him a job as one of the ''Socialization Commission'' and then appointed him the ''People's Representative for Finances''. Gesell chose the Swiss mathematician Theophil Christen and the economist Ernst Polenske as his assistants and immediately wrote a law for the creation of Freigeld, a new type of currency system he had developed. His term of office lasted only 7 days. After the violent end of the Soviet Republic, Gesell was detained for several months until being acquitted of treason〔 by a Munich court because of the speech he gave in his own defense. Because of his participation with the Soviet Republic, Switzerland denied him the opportunity to return to his farm in Neuchâtel. Gesell then relocated first to Nuthetal, Potsdam-Mittelmark, then back to Oranienburg. After another brief stay in Argentina during 1924, he returned to Oranienburg during 1927. Here, he died of pneumonia on March 11, 1930. He promoted his ideas in German and in Spanish. Villa Gesell, a seaside town in Buenos Aires Province, Argentina was initiated by his son Don Carlos Idaho Gesell, who named it after his father. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Silvio Gesell」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
|