A house of cards is a fragile structure that can collapse easily. John Milton coined the phrase to highlight not only structural flaws but also the pagan nature of playing cards. The collapse of the US economy in the late 2000s is an example of a modern-day house of cards. Companies or organizations with flimsy structures can also be considered house cards.
A house of cards is a fragile structure that appears to have the stability needed to hold its shape. However a puff of air, a hit on the cards, or even a shift of the table the cards sit on tends to bring the whole structure down. Today, anything that has outward stability, but the possibility of complete or near total collapse, based on the fall of one side, can be seen as a house of cards.
John Milton, who coined the phrase, originally intended not only to highlight the structural flaws of a house of cards but perhaps also the pagan nature of playing cards. In many parts of the world in Milton’s time, playing cards was viewed as an evil. Thus the house of cards was not only structurally unstable, but also morally unfounded. Her prediction of his destruction was as religious as it was practical. In fact, Milton’s usage may refer to biblical parables in which Jesus speaks of houses built without foundations.
Building houses of cards can be a fun activity and there are several ways to do it. The way each house is built relates back to the sentence. Each card depends on the placement of the other cards to stay standing. Milton is certainly not the only one to notice the fragility of these card houses. There is a memorable Brady Bunch episode in which children attempt to build a house of cards to determine who gets to spend their expiring collectible stamps. As with any house of cards, the Brady Kids Structure can only be built so high before it falls.
In a modern sense, few people see playing cards as an evil, but the phrase can still be applied to systems where each party depends on the others for stability. It’s easy to see this in action when you look at the collapse of the US economy in the late 2000s. It could be called a house of cards, because as one part fell, other parts fell as well.
A brief example of the US house of cards economy might look something like this:
1. Subprime loans have created high foreclosure amounts
2. High foreclosure amounts have resulted in falling home prices and a glut of available homes on the market.
3. The inability to collect taxes on these vacant homes meant that states had to cut budgets.
4. A higher mortgage that was flipped led to lower consumer spending at the same time.
5. Both low tax collection and reduced spending lead to fewer jobs.
6. Fewer jobs meant people couldn’t buy houses.
It’s easy to see the dependence of one system on another. If one falls, everyone can fall. The phrase house of cards can also be used to gauge the strength of companies or organizations. Those with flimsy structures can be considered house cards because they are likely to fall over.
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