"Toto , I Don't Think in Kansas Anymore"
Revealed: Monetary Allegory of "Wizard of Oz" Inspired by Free-Silver Movement /Bi-Metallism and Wlliam Jennings Bryan's "Cross of Gold"
The twisted Broadway smash "Wicked" tells us we don't really know what happened to make the putrid green Wicked Witch of the West wicked and the counter-narratives on all the major characters and props. Life is complicated as our Secetary of the Treasury has quickly found out. It is a reminder that as the almost-lovable prison guard Seargent Shultz (the perfectly gutteral John Banner) on Hogan Heroes used to say "I know nussing!" So what do we really know about well....anything? Obviously "nussing"!
Here's a clip of Hogan's Heroes and Shultz that have been uploaded to youtube for you nostolgia fans.
And just in case you thought the Wizard of Oz was all about lions and tigers and bears. Well it really was about bears. But not the fuzzy huggable type. Rather the the ones that lived on Wall Street. Here is a link to one of the many speculative but compelling monetary allegory interpretations of what the the Wizard of Oz was really about. Oz stands for "ounce" and the yellow brink road is about the gold standard as opposed to silver and the proposed switch to bi-metalism which wasn't well received. Click here to read this essay. Even if it isn't accurate, it is sure fun to think about. Read on. It is wickedly provocative.
For you monetary history buffs here is a cool link to William Jennings Bryan's Cross of Gold Speech including both audio and transcript.
Oh btw, here is a youtube video clip for all of you conspiracy theorists regarding a purported suicide by one of the munchkins unknowingly caught during filming. Only 2 million people have watched this video on youtube so far! I think if I watch it 2 million times I will probably see the dead munchkin swinging from a tree as well.