How to escape the crisis Aragorn's Style
The problem wasn't easy to solve: a kingdom which has been in recession and waning for over a millennia, strong competitors right on your frontiers,
A very weak foreign policy, alliances unattended, contracting demographics and an old political establishment reluctant to change. How this remarkable man tackled and solved this dreadful situation?. Lets study his method and delve in his wisdom.
First Step: Bravado and Strong Propaganda (or the Hitler Manoeuvre)
Aragorn knows the first step to take is to motivate people, shake them out of their apathy. To raise the population's morale and give them purpose. And what better way to do so that the old and trusted "messiah" card, the predestined man sent to lead his people out of the dangerous and hopeless position they are in. He starts with his trusted band of unconditional followers, his greyshirts company. With their help, and being an awesome and powerful orator, he delivers a memorable and historic speech at Erech, in which he conjures terrible visions of war, past grievances and revenge upon his enemies, they are of course scared witless with such terrible menace and flee. This way, through intimidation and unashamed bravado he achieves his first and unbloodied victory, which he quickly capitalizes to rally more followers to his banner. Then he bides his time and arrives to discharge the finishing blow over a now bloodied enemy, as a result he emerges Victorious, the internal opposition is mostly death over the battlefield, the external enemy is routed for the moment. After the convenient arson of a public building, which seals the fate of the internal opposition, he is acclaimed leader by the population, oblivious to the facts that he isn't even a national, and that his claim is more than a thousand years old and 30 generations apart. He is now The Man, he will lead unopposed.
Second Step: Investors and Business partners (or the Capitalist Connexion)
He is now the undisputed leader, but the situation is still dire though the war had been won by his allies, mainly without his intervention. The kingdom is still bankrupted and a lot of it in ruins, a large infrastructure rebuilding program is needed but there are not enough resources to do it. The solution is simple, you seek for foreign investors. He calls upon his elves and dwarves friends to provide him with the resources and workforce so sorely needed, in exchange they will receive ample concessions on the kingdom's natural resources (Ithilien forests, Gleaming caverns), which they will quickly exploit. Not a bad deal in the end, he gets his rebuilding program on tracks and gets the qualified workmanship to do it, all for the price of some woods and gems. It matters little the missing employments for the nationals, everybody knows those little dwarves works harder and cheaper… they are more productive.
Third Step: the Hunt for Resources (or Imperial Warmongering)
The business is going but there are still problems to solve: the economy is in deficit, high unemployment rates and you have to satisfy those pesky investors. Where to find the resources to balance your economy?..., obviously in the sands of Harad, it is known there lie hidden untold riches. So you call on your allies and launch a preventive war against them (everybody knows they are just a bunch eager Sauron's terrorist minions). He will win the war of course, and war is a business that fuels itself, so there will be next another war, and another, and another… whats the problem? The spoils feeds your economy deficit, you create employment (a big strong militia), you free the world of evil terrorist. You have pushed the kingdom out of the crisis
Conclusion
We have learned that:
- Charismatic and opportunistic leaders capitalize moments of crisis to seize the power.
- In moments of crisis there is always someone who makes a profit
- Crisis often births War
Have a nice day.
