Act 1 Scene 1: Escape from Arsenal

or how I learned to love Charlie Hebdo's Revenge, or Goldfinger's Minsky Moment

"Ours the wild life in tumult still to range."  The Corsair.


Woe to you who destroy
and you weren't destroyed
and deal treacherously
and they didn't deal treacherously with you!
When you have ceased to destroy
you shall be destroyed
and when you have made an end of dealing treacherously
they shall deal treacherously with you.

A Minsky Moment is a sudden major collapse
of asset values which is part of the credit cycle or business cycle
Such moments occur because long periods of prosperity
and increasing value of investments
lead to increasing speculation using borrowed money.
The spiraling debt incurred in financing speculative investments
leads to cash flow problems for investors.
The cash generated by their assets
no longer is sufficient to pay off
the debt they took on to acquire them.
Losses on such speculative assets prompt lenders
to call in their loans.
This is likely to lead to a collapse of asset values.

We returned to Carthagena, to be at hand should any opportunity occur
for Jamaica, and were lounging about one forenoon on the fortifications,
looking with sickening hearts out to seaward, when a voice struck up the
following reggae ditty close to us:--

    "Fader was a Corramantee,
      Moder was a Mingo,
    Black picaniny buccra wantee,
      So dem sell a me, Peter, by jingo.
          Jiggery, jiggery, jiggery."

"Well sung, Massa Neita!" exclaimed Mr. Wenger; "where do you hail
from, my hearty?"

"Hillo! Bungo, indeed! free and easy dat, anyhow. Who you yousef, eh?"

"Why, Nigel," continued the lieutenant, "don't you know me?"

"Cannot say dat I do," rejoined the Jamaican, very gravely, without lifting
his head, as he sat mending his jacket in one of the embrasures near the
water-gate of the Arsenal

"Hab not de honour of your acquaintance,
sir."

He then resumed his scream, for song it could not be called:--