Authored by Mike Krieger via Liberty Blitzkrieg blog,
We find ourselves at a moment where the financial and political systems that have dominated for decades are failing in a spectacular and irredeemable fashion. Those who pull the levers are (as usual) attempting to take advantage of the situation by rapaciously snatching and consolidating more wealth and power, while leaving the general public to rot. When faced with such a historic moment, one should assume a certain degree of responsibility to make sure the next paradigm ends up better than the one we’re leaving. If we fail to think deeply about an improved vision and framework for the future, someone else will do it for us.
From my perspective, humanity remains stuck within antiquated paradigms that generally function via predatory and authoritarian structures. We’ve been taught — and have largely accepted — that the really important decisions must be handled in a centralized manner by small groups of technocrats and oligarchs. As a result, we basically live within feudal constructs cleverly surrounded by entrenched myths of democracy and self-government. We’d prefer to be lazy rather than take any responsibility for the state of the world.
Empires are not democratic.
The U.S. is an empire.
The idea the U.S. is a democracy is a myth. https://t.co/LlCvzbgzbL— Michael Krieger (@LibertyBlitz) April 20, 2020
We’re now at a point where simply recognizing current structures as predatory and authoritarian isn’t good enough. We require a distinct and superior political philosophy that can appeal to others likewise extremely dissatisfied with the status quo. My belief is humanity’s next paradigm should swing heavily in the direction of decentralization and localism.
Decentralization and localism aren’t exactly the same, but can play well together and offer a new path forward. The simplest way to describe decentralization to Americans is to look at the political framework laid out in the U.S. Constitution.
As discussed in the 2018 piece, The Road to 2025 (Part 4) – A Very Bright Future If We Demand It:
At the federal level, a separation of powers between the three branches of government: the legislative, the executive and the judicial was a key component of the Constitution. The specific purpose here was to prevent an accumulation of excessive centralized power within a specific area of government…
Beyond a separation of powers at the federal level, the founding founders made sure that the various states had tremendous independent governance authority in their own right in order to further their objective of decentralized political power.
Localism takes these Constitutional ideas of political decentralization and pushes them further, by viewing the municipality or county as the most ethical and logical seat of self-governance. The basic idea, which I tend to agree with, is that genuine self-government does not scale well. A one-size fits all approach to governance not only ends up making everyone unhappy, it also entrenches a self-serving political and oligarchical class at the top of a superstate which makes big decisions for tens, if not hundreds of millions, with little accountability or oversight. This is pretty much how the world functions today.
While localism implies relative political decentralization, decentralization is not always localism. One of the best examples of this can be found in bitcoin. Unlike traditional monetary policy, which is handled in a topdown manner by a tiny group of unelected technocrats working on behalf of Wall Street, there’s no bitcoin politburo. There’s no CEO, there’s no individual or organization to call or pressure to dramatically change things out of desire or political expediency. The protocol is specifically designed to prevent that. It’s designed to operate in a way that makes all sorts of people uncomfortable because they’re used to someone “being in control.” We’ve been taught that centralization works well, but the reality is political and economic centralization concentrates power, makes the public lazy and ultimately winds up in a state of authoritarian feudalism.
Bitcoin also demonstrates how decentralization and localism, though not quite the same, can complement each another well in an interconnected planet. Imagine a world where governance is largely occurring at a local level, but global trade remains desirable. You’d want a politically neutral, decentralized and permissionless money to conduct such transactions. Similarly, a free and decentralized internet allows the same sort of thing in the realm of communications. Regions that can’t grow coffee will still want coffee, and people in New York will still want to chat with people in Barcelona. Decentralized systems allow for the best of both worlds — localism combined with continued global interconnectedness.
The big question all of us should be asking ourselves right now is: When should small groups of people be making extremely important decisions for the masses? My answer would be almost never, yet that’s the world most of us live in irrespective of which nation-state we call home.
The pendulum has swung so far in the direction of centralization, oligarchy and authoritarianism that the whole thing is breaking down down under its own weight.
Those in charge are doing everything possible to keep it going in that same direction, but we can’t let that happen. What we need is a new era defined by decentralization and localism.
* * *
For more, see my 5-part series on localism.
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Looks like PA is getting to do some rocking in the free world . True patriots one and all.
America On The Brink? Shocking Images Show “Pennsylvania Militia” Rolling Up To “Reopen America” Rally
https://www.zerohedge.com/political/stunning-images-suggest-america-brink-social-unrest
Shocking Images?
Shocking images will be when we see hot lead flying.
Revolutions are occasions that spill blood. People are not that angry yet.
Any man still toting a nutsack is ” shocking” to the fag infested press, including Zero Hedge.
Decentralization and localism – it’s better to call it what it actually is – Anarchism.
I thought that is what we have now. People are just acting on what has been established. Isn’t this why you cut and run when you did?
“Vulture capitalism” can be defined as the owners of businesses and industries that collude with each other, also in collusion with the “money types” (banksters) and even governments, depressing wages solely to increase their stockholder “profits” at the top while impoverishing those who actually WORK, producing their products.
Wall street sees “labor” as being a necessary evil, its true value to be minimized at all cost while valuing the CEOs and “stockholders” above and beyond their true worth.
This especially applies to CEOs, that run their corporations into the ground while still receiving massive “rewards” for their “expertise”.
Let’s not forget the corporate vultures (a la Mitt Romney) that specialize in parting out viable businesses in order to maximize their “profits”.
Henry Ford “got it right” when he CREATED a market for his cars by making them inexpensive while paying his workforce a decent wage. He realized that a well-paid workforce would be able to buy his products, among other things. It could be safely argued that Ford, CREATED the middle class.
Automobiles, once “playthings for the rich” were made affordable for the “ordinary common man”.
Henry Ford KNEW who the banksters and vulture capitalists were and made no bones about calling them out and naming them, Father Charles Coughlin did the same thing and was ostracized by the Catholic Church for pointing out the TRUTH about our vulture capitalist society.
All one has to do is look at today’s CEOs, even in failing companies, being paid exorbitant salaries, along with stock options and other “perks” while pleading poverty, pushing down wages for their employees.
Today’s capitalist “mantra” is that labor costs must be as cheap as possible while the “value” (profit) to the stockholder must be as great as possible. Sacrificing labor on the altar of “maximum profits” for those at the top NEVER works in the long term.
Of course, in the short term, with cheap Chinese goods flooding the market, the economy looks, good, but without CONSUMERS who hold jobs that pay reasonably well, all bets are off. There needs to be a balance between profits and labor.
Presently, labor is looked upon as a “necessary evil” to be minimized at all costs. The problem arises-without labor there are no consumers. As I previously stated, a “balance” must be maintained. Labor is not evil, but a necessary component of capitalism.
Pre-WW2 Germany’s economic successes and the rapid rise of the German economy was predicated on labor being assigned “value”and monetized-something that is (and has been) missing in capitalist societies today.
If labor costs need to be trimmed to assure “profit” at the top, something is seriously wrong. In fact, in the well-paid American automobile industry, labor costs account only for approximately 10% of total costs.
Offshoring production results in consumers (customers) being “lost”.
As to “tariffs”, the American country ran on tariffs from its inception until 1913, when the “income tax” and “federal reserve” was established.
The American economy is being propped up by the “social safety net” which obscures the TRUE economic situation in the U S .
Usury is the problem, always has been, which is why it was outlawed by the Catholic church. It will , does and is destroying entire nations. Succinct primer on it here.
https://youtu.be/5p3gHme2SfI
Flash.
And Woe to the leader who bans Usury.
He’ll be made supreme ruler of the World, fer’ shure’… after all the killing is over.
I like Mike, but let’s have a 30 day moratorium on *Libertarians* and enjoy what’s left of lock-down before the real hangover hits.
The pendulum will begin to swing the other way.
The financial system is crashing. It began it’s crash before the virus hoax. The reason; I intuit, is the banks in their present condition cannot support the total economy. That is why it was shut down.
There is no way the FED or the federal government can bail out all the local and State governments across the land.
Soon the pendulum will begin to swing the other way. When this happens de-centralization will begin. Then we will see two things happen. We will see both government and corporate bankruptcies. People can then rebuild small business without government interference and corporate monopolies.
The jig is up. Don’t listen to propaganda that says different.
As an aside the lawyers will be kicked out of public office as administrative law itself is dismantled and thrown into the dustbin of history along with the administrative lawyers who ruined this system.
but, but, but, the FDIC will come to our rescue, won’t they?
I’d like a monetary system that doesn’t depend on electricity. Bitcoin still unsettles me.
Most of that is spot on except for the bitcoin faith. I still don’t think that is money. Currency, maybe. Not money.
Gold is money, everything else is credit.
Big Mike 2020!
Bathhouse Barry won’t let it happen; too much work and risk to get elected this time plus Trump will call her out in a lot of different ugly ways. Now, in 2024 she will be a shoo-in. Also, four years goes quickly when you are living the life of royalty-why hurry?
Because contrary to both his admirers and detractors, I see who he really is. There’s a reason he still maintains a permanent presence in DC. No one with a shred of dignity and who isn’t otherwise from there would stay.