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Columnist Lee Cataluna beats a pretty good drum too!
| Banana Republic is a pejorative term for a country that is politically unstable, dependent on limited agriculture, and ruled by a small, self-elected, wealthy, and corrupt clique. The first known use of the term banana republic was by American author O. Henry in his 1904 book of linked short stories, Cabbages and Kings. The book is based on Henry's 1896-97 stay in Honduras, while hiding from federal authorities for embezzlement in the United States. The term was originally invented as a very direct reference to a "servile dictatorship" which abetted (or directly supported in return for kickbacks) the exploitation of large-scale plantation agriculture. -- Wikipedia |