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One Last Look At The Real Economy Before It Implodes - Part 6: Solutions
Submitted by Brandon Smith via Alt-Market.com, (click here for Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4, and Part 5)
All problems, all crises, have at least one solution, if not many solutions. There is no such thing as an unwinnable scenario. Some may not be smart enough or courageous enough to see it, but the solution is always there, waiting to be discovered. The only fight that cannot be won is the fight in which the enemy makes all the rules and we foolishly abide by those rules. Life is not a game of chess, and a man can choose to be more than a pawn anytime he has the guts to do so.
In the past, I have likened the liberty movement to a rebellion against not just tyrants but the game itself - a group of people willing to walk away from the chess board and make their own rules. I stand by that assertion. However, simply walking away is not enough; we must also be willing to take actions that will destroy the game entirely.
In order to accomplish this task, any rebellion against corruption of power must be self-critical - more self-critical of its own weaknesses than opposing propagandists could ever be. Most of our problems as a society are being caused by a relatively small number of elitists, but we will never be able to undo these problems without understanding our weaknesses as much as the enemy’s weaknesses. In this final installment of my six-part series, I will talk about REAL solutions to the inevitable economic implosion in front of us, but I will also discuss the shortcomings of the liberty movement as an obstacle to the success of those solutions.
Perhaps the most detrimental of weaknesses within the Liberty Movement is a propensity of some to demand action by others before they take action themselves. Not all solutions require a synchronized mass movement led by top-down leadership. Often the best solutions are implemented by individuals and small groups within the local sphere. One man alone may not be able to change the entire world, but each individual can change the immediate world around him in smaller ways each day. Activists need to stop concerning themselves with what everyone else is doing and worry more about what THEY are doing to derail tyranny.
As noted in Part 5 of this series, segments of the liberty movement have fallen into a trap of biased assumption, namely a gullible embrace of the false East/West paradigm. I find it a little sad at times when I come across freedom activists who worship the footsteps of Henry Kissinger/International Monetary Fund puppet Vladimir Putin, or those who cheer for a globalist petri dish like China, all because they hate American imperialism so much they have decided out of reactionary fervor to cheerlead for the “lesser of two evils.” There is no difference between those who buy into the false East/West paradigm and those who buy into the false Left/Right political paradigm. There is no “good guy” in the world of geopolitical maneuvering. East or West, it is all irrelevant primarily because both sides serve the same international interests. Those who refuse to recognize this fact will find themselves utterly incompetent in terms of presenting practical solutions. One cannot defeat the game if one plays by the unfair rules of the game.
Another issue within the liberty movement is an inability by some to consider where the globalist ideal will actually lead. I know very well that there are 1,001 theories out there as to what the globalists actually want to achieve, which is why I personally look at the evidence at hand. The best available evidence is the evidence the elites openly ADMIT to, as they are apt to do in random fits of arrogance. It is important to understand that the elites often cannot help themselves and are desperate to boast of their activities before said activities are a forgone conclusion. Some analysts in recent history have presented undeniable admission by the elites, yet some activists still bicker about the enemy’s intent.
Whether it be the surprising words of insiders like Carroll Quigley, or the in-depth investigations of Antony Sutton, or the quotable quotes of frothing Fabian socialists, there is indeed a distinct strategy in play and this strategy is hidden in plain sight; the strategy of order out of chaos. And in terms of economics, there is an openly admitted goal, namely the integration of national currencies into a single global basket system (the special drawing rights, or SDR) controlled by the IMF and the Bank for International Settlements. I do not “believe” this is the goal; I KNOW this is the goal because the elites have for decades openly admitted to it in articles like “Get Ready For The Phoenix” published by the Rothschild-owned The Economist in 1988, which stated that a global currency system will be established under the auspices of the SDR by 2018.
Further information on the plan for global economic reset can be found in my article 'The Economic Endgame Explained.'
As I have shown with ample evidence throughout this series, the U.S. is on the verge of fiscal collapse, the dollar is already in the process of losing its world reserve status, the East is just as subservient to the reset plan as the West, and all of this is in preparation for an engineered disaster that will anesthetize the masses and prepare them for a shift toward total centralization.
Solutions require us to first grasp the fundamental nature of the greater threat. The cold, hard truth is that we as a movement for freedom are alone in the fight against globalization. There are no nation states to fall back on. There is no safe region on the planet to run away to. No white knight is coming to our rescue, and any embrace of the East will end only in co-option and defeat for liberty activists.
Believe it or not, though, I am still an optimist.
Knowing the scale of the threat gives clarity to our response. The movement stands alone, therefore, we must act without naively waiting for outside aid. We must take on an attitude of self-reliance.
The gravity of our situation also reveals to us what solutions actually have merit and which "solutions" present false hopes. I have seen numerous attempts at silver-bullet solutions in the movement over the past decade, from useless and intangible crypto-currencies to pyramid schemes designed to generate enough revenue to “sue” the Federal Reserve to blind armed marches on Washington planned by tactically retarded spokesmen to even more national election drives wasting even more money and more energy on candidates that may mean well but have no chance at defusing the economic time bomb already ticking away.
If the solution presented seems too easy, then it is probably nonsense. If someone is trying to sell you on the idea that no sacrifice, no struggle and no pain will be required to defeat globalism, then they are probably a con man trying to take something from you, whether it be your money or your common sense. Throughout history, the only real solutions to real problems — economic, social or political — require much pain and sacrifice. To change the world for the better, to fight for the truth, you must be willing to take risks up to an including risking your life, otherwise failure is guaranteed.
I do not believe in silver-bullet solutions. I do not believe there is a path of “least resistance.” The following methods are not academic. They are not philosophical. They will not appeal to the egghead libertarian portion of the movement, obsessed with theory rather than practice. And they will not appeal to self-proclaimed pacifists terrified of consequence and public perception. These are difficult actions requiring the will to endure. Every response listed here is a response I am applying in my own community, and I would not suggest a solution that I would not undertake myself.
Localism
If you want to undermine a concerted campaign of globalization, you must generate an opposing system. The opposite of tyranny is voluntarism. The opposite of collectivism is individualism. The opposite of globalism is localism.
Localism is economic organization based upon the methodology of self-reliance. While globalism forces people, cities, states and countries to become interdependent and unable to survive or prosper without each other, localism brings internal economic stability and removes dependency. If all communities were based on localism and independent fiscal strength, such redundancy would make widespread financial collapse a thing of the past.
While globalism is a top down model in which all decisions and power bottleneck at the peak of the pyramid, localism is a bottom up grass-roots initiative completely voluntary in nature. It is a methodology in which no one has power over the lives of others. That said, in order for localism to become a reality, these things must be accomplished first...
Real Preparedness
Self-reliance requires preparedness. There is no way around it. There is no such thing as crisis for those who are prepared. This means placing oneself in a position to provide the necessities of life so that one does not become a slave to need. Desperation often leads to moral relativism, and tyrants thrive on the moral weakness of a population. The more prepared an individual is, the more likely he is to fight back against despotism. The more prepared a community is, the less that community will feel inclined to request aid from those who might leverage such aid to oppress that community.
Preparedness can also in some cases include commodity investment by individuals and networks of individuals. While beans, bullets and Band-Aids are a priority, no one can deny the trend of foreign central banks stockpiling precious metals. And this stockpiling is clearly being done as a parallel measure to de-dollarization and the rise of the SDR basket. Metals are useful during windows of time just before collapse and after rebuilding has begun. They are a back-up. They are not a solution by themselves.
Real Production
Americans, in particular, will have to become producers again. And by production I mean useful items, useful skills and useful ideas, rather than frivolous attempts to sustain our avarice and empty materialism. Do you have the skills to produce food, clean water, shelter, warmth or energy? Are you able to invent or reimagine useful tools? Can you repair useful items? Do you have any experience with hard labor whatsoever? If you have answered in the negative to these questions, then you have a lot of work ahead of you to learn what you can in the time we have left. If you were to approach a group of people today and try to convince them of your value as a producer, what would you tell them? If you were thrust into an economic system in which barter was the primary means of wealth circulation, what would you trade that people would actually want? It is not about being "communally useful", but it is about supply and demand. What can you provide that is commonly in demand during faltering fiscal conditions?
This is not necessarily a call for Americans to revert back to 18th century living; it is a call for Americans to reclaim their heritage of entrepreneurship and adaptability. Globalism is merely feudal mercantilism wearing a modernized mask. It is globalism that is taking us back to the Dark Ages. And only localism can bring us into a future where technical achievement works for the common man rather than against him.
Real Community
Humans are social beings, but there are healthy forms of social organization, and unhealthy forms. At this stage in our society, collectivism has nearly decimated all vestiges of true community. Today, people have no clue who their neighbors are and most of them do not want to know. They have little to no interaction with their surroundings beyond superficial consumerism, and they see every other person around them as a competitor rather than an ally. Their idea of the “greater good” is a mentally deranged one. For them, the state is the root source of safety and communal coherency rather than the citizenry, and the people around them are not to be trusted.
Collectivism isolates people from each other to the point that their only means of feeling a connection with their fellow man is to do so through support of the establishment control grid. Participation in the totalitarian framework becomes a shallow replacement for participation in the world around us. By paying taxes, blindly supporting a war, giving to impotent international charities and voting once every two to four years in the farcical election process, we fool ourselves into believing we are a part of a “team” and that our civic duty has been fulfilled.
This terrible cycle can be broken, but it takes the effort of individuals going out and actively building relationships with others of like mind off the grid, so to speak. The liberty movement in particular should be forming groups and associations all over the country — not just to complain about the condition of the nation, but to take tangible actions. Mutual aid and barter groups, neighborhood watches and community preparedness teams, business ventures and engineering projects are all useful means of organization. These organizations will not form themselves. YOU must make them happen.
Real Self-Defense
As I discussed in my article 'If You Are Not Thinking Tactically You Are Not A Survivalist,' self-defense is an imperative that simply cannot be denied. This defense must include preparation for all enemies, foreign and domestic, and corrupt government is not excluded.
Economic collapse is very often followed by an increase in oppressive state power. And in the end, the establishment does not relinquish power over the citizenry unless it is forced to do so. Because of this reality, all honorable people should endeavor to become dangerous people, the more dangerous the better.
Voices expressing nihilism and futility in self defense are rarely constructive and should be ignored. Frankly, I find such cowardice stomach churning. There may very well come a day in which you will have to decide between freedom or absolute slavery. The size, strength and technological advancement of the enemy should have NO bearing whatsoever on the choice to fight for freedom; it should only have bearing on the applied strategy. Again, there is no problem without a solution if you have the courage to seek it. I hope that my joint project with Oath Keepers on how to build a working thermal evasion suit, due to be released in the next few weeks, will provide a good example as to why a technologically advanced tyranny is still vulnerable to a resourceful citizenry.
Real Grass-Roots Expansion
There has always been a lot of talk within the liberty movement of “nullification.” But ultimately, the philosophy of nullification is useless unless it comes from a position of strength. Federal overreach will not stop simply because a state happens to pass a bill denying the establishment full access. Here in Montana, medical marijuana legalization was crushed by the Feds despite state recognition. They simply marched in and arrested on drug charges anyone who dared open up shop, and the state did nothing to stop it. This is just one example of many in which nullification failed because people refused to accept that written law is meaningless unless it is backed by a vigilant public. Words on paper alone have never stopped the ascendance of totalitarians.
I suspect that as the overall economic implosion becomes more obvious to average people, there will be some counties and states that develop a desire for nullification on a grand scale. Americans will want resource implementation to provide wealth protection. And some states have more than enough resources to offset a national financial disaster, or at least stop that disaster at their borders. This would require the complete dissolution of numerous federal laws prohibiting resource development.
Such dissolution will not be successful unless counties and states have enough strong grass-roots communities in place to defend against federal intrusion — or at least make the idea so costly and prohibitive that they have second thoughts. Each smaller liberty group linking with other liberty groups can eventually create this kind of expansion. This is, of course, a best-case scenario. County and state organization should take a backseat to neighborhood and town organization until wider expansion becomes realistic. Strong counties and states begin with strong individuals, strong neighborhoods, and strong towns.
The collapse itself could easily be prolonged through a series of smaller catastrophes; or it could happen in a matter of days, depending on the trigger. For now, it appears that the U.S. is to be worn down to nothing as the IMF works closely with the BRICS to promote the SDR basket system. All nations will be negatively affected by this shift, but some will be hurt far more than others. War is certainly a possibility and would make for great cover as the IMF’s global reset is enacted. I can’t speak much to this kind of event other than to say that regardless of what happens, the IMF and the BIS will remain neutral, waiting until the conflict subsides so that they can step in as “heroes” ready to rebuild the world.
The liberty movement must also be ready to rebuild, and our ideal must be fully formed if we are to compete with the globalists. The most difficult reality of all is the reality that economic implosion is only the end of one struggle and the beginning of a new struggle. Our responsibility will not only be to fight against the machinations of elitists, but also to convince the world that the way of independence and freedom is more useful and preferable than the way of collectivist peasantry. Collapse is already upon us; now we must decide who will determine what happens next.
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When the "feed me, I'm hungry" gang can't feed off the masses anymore, they will not know how to survive.
A bunch of paranoid coke addicts do not stand up to a pissed-off, armed mob of millions. The run and hide.
https://youtu.be/g4hJwucOrwI
Rioting footage from the Great Depression:
https://youtu.be/g4hJwucOrwI
Concerning the head up ass nature of technocracies :
In the course of EU negociations with the US the EU commission accepted 19 types of GMO products as "acceptable" to EU standards; adding that eACH of the 28 nations in the EU could CHOOSE at their own convenience which of those 19 they would allow access to into their internal national markets.
This "head up ass" decision is obviously political : The EU commission tells the US we believe in "free trade" all the while telling its member states "you do what you like". By this double talk they avoid being caught in the acrimonious crossfire on a subject that inflames public opinions.
So it begs the question : Why do we pay these bureaucrats to say ONE thing and its OPPOSITE?
The US trade commissioner is not all PLEASED by this Pontius Pilating displayed by the EU commission !
I have a feeling that when it comes to financial matters, as per Greece and Ukraine, we are in a similar two faced, half assed conundrum.
"I can't seem to pull my head out of you know where! Can somebody please give me the code words?"...seems to be the Brussels Zeitgeist!
More liberty movement porn.
You've written 6 long-winded articles and still haven't mentioned the effects of resource depletion.
Why bother?
When it's gone...It's gone. The effects are you go without.
Simple as that.
Or weapons of mass destruction. Anybody who thinks our masters will let the meek inherit an earth still capable of supporting human life is deluding himself.
Actually bubbles do implode. Don't confuse the rupture of air as a comparison to the current securties bubble. That movement of gas is not the bubble.
The current securities bubble is more comparative to the wall of the bubble, like chewing gum. But not the air inside the chewing gum bubble. It is the wall of that bubble that is the price such as a stock or an index or bonds, etc. Not the air inside.
When the bubble bursts, the wall deflations. That rupture might be something singular like a big bank failing. But it causes the overall market (the bubble or wall) to deflate (crash).
One might also suggest that the air inside the bubble is printed money. When the bubble ends, that money escapes and disappears which would be deflation.
There is also an analogy to a inflationary bubble, but IMO it doesn't fit the current scenario in most markets.
Implosion or as I call it, deflation, is the unwinding.
This author is obviously not up on the Kobayashi Maru Scenario.
The author is seeking solutions and I comend him; however, it is very naive to overlook the deleterious effects which Multiculturalism has had on America and how it has benefitted the Elite.
We are not one people; not even close. My personal views are irrelevant on the matter but the fact is we are not one people and any sort of plan will have to recognize that fact otherwise you are simply wasting time.
"but the fact is we are not one people and any sort of plan will have to recognize that fact otherwise you are simply wasting time."
bravo.
Ukrainian neo-nazis from Azov batallion burned alive a Novorossia resistance fighter on a cross (video 18+) http://fortruss.blogspot.com/2015/04/ukrainian-neo-nazis-from-azov-batal...
All this has to play out, good v/s evil, best advice I have ever heard on what to do o be relative happy is simply 3 things:
Something to do, someone to love & someting to look foward to, the rest is in gods hands, however 'something to do', could include taking these bankster bitchez down!
any one ever look around at the world and simply say, things are well and truly F ucked? Just curious. Have a great weekend all.
A good old fashioned pandemic will straighten things out pretty quick.
People tend to ignore rules and rulers when Mr. Grim comes to town.
"Life is not a game of chess, and a man can choose to be more than a pawn anytime he has the guts to do so."
Believe it, Live it, Teach it. Checkmate Mother Fuckers
D66-leider Alexander Pechtold kan alleen voorkennis van de 3e SpinozaGolf verkrijgen via 'het Torentje' en is dus gedwongen om ...
http://www.nrc.nl/nieuws/2015/04/25/pechtold-wil-komende-week-knopen-doo...
Natuurlijk is het 'blijven praten over begrotingszaken' grote onzin geworden, wanneer netwerk Juncker het DAB-systeem gaat vrijgeven.
http://www.volkskrant.nl/buitenland/china-kent-elke-burger-score-toe-ook...
China doet echter niet zo geheimzinnig en gaat een systeem opzetten die de 'absolute waarheid' moet voorspellen. In de optiek van netwerk @GuusjA moet daarbij iedere burger oprecht gaan waarheiddelen over de ontwikkeling van zijn intuïtie in interactie met zijn geweten en karma.
http://www.trouw.nl/tr/nl/4496/Buitenland/article/detail/3981309/2015/04...
Of Griekenland ook op deze lijn zit is niet bekend gemaakt, maar ... (zit wel in de lijn der verwachtingen).
“Abe Lincoln may have freed all men, but Sam Colt made them equal”
- post-Civil War slogan
"...all honorable people should endeavor to become dangerous people, the more dangerous the better." I agree with that 100% with one qualification - a dangerous man must be strong enough to be kind, gentle and loving.
Just being dangerous can degenerate into a "helter-skelter' kind of dangerousness that has no point other than creating chaos and pain. It is practiced by every government (and other criminals) on earth. It is what we must defeat, not what we must become.
It is really simple. I get up every morning and do the best I can with what I have today to care for my family, friends and neighbors (friends or not) in a kind and loving way. Part of that is defending them from those who would harm them. If everyone did just that, most problems would vanish.
It is dangerous to threaten my family and friends but not dangerous to be one of them.
When we cross the point of inflicting more casualties on our enemy than he inflicts on us, the irreversible tipping point will have been reached. There would be no possible escalation to which the enemy could not rationally expect an equal, proportionate response.
As another thread poster stated, there is no problem for which a creative solution does not exist. Even the use of NBC weapons could be effectively countered in kind. All you need are a few dedicated scientists and field operatives.
Oh, they fucked up a small rural area? Oops, there goes the financial district . . . for the next 26,000 years.
Forget it. It's too late. Perhaps it was still possible in 1800 to give the banksters the finger. By 1865 Sherman was well capable of burning Dixie down to put a stop to southern independence. It took him a few months. Now it would take a few minutes. Anyone serious about successfully rebelling against the banksters had better have access to enough nukes to wipe the world's financial capitals off the map.
In the meantime, the fact that normal people who still have jobs at all can afford an iTurd or organic strawberries at Christmas is on account of robotic or Third World slave labour. You want the Old Republic circa 1800, living in a self-sufficient agricultural economy, you'll have to be content with the living standard people enjoyed circa 1800, learning to live on whatever food will grow where you happen to live just for starters, and praying the food crops don't fail too often. If you're young, male, healthy, and able and willing to do heavy physical labour, all day, every day, you'll get used to it. Everyone else will be in serious trouble.
We're all riding this tiger. Don't count on getting off alive.
I disagree: this beast is (slowly) destroying itself. It may not have to be directly fought. There are historical examples of massive paradigm shift and reversion of 'advanced' civilization. I do not heavily weight this probability in assessing the next 5 years. I would argue every technological advancement over the past 50 years points increasingly (not decreasingly) to the benefit of living a productive, agrarian lifestyle (if harnassing modern tech). I left NYC 3 years ago. I bot a farm. I turned a $3K a month cash outflow for maintenance/RE tax into a $4k a month cash inflow from using my acquired property to generate income. I kept (and have grown) the same business I started in NYC through the transition. I just started another agricultural business. I labor manually 3-8 hours a day, and use my brain to make money in between. I dont believe I am special in any way. Anyone can do this.
congratulations on your life philosophy but i think you are a minority, extreme minority.
just visit nyc, chgo, detroit etc etc
and i wonder if you would say 'anyone could do this'.
inertia is against you, big time.
I think what he knows that most people don't know is... what an average human can do IF they set their mind, and refuse to give up. What he means, I think, is that he has no more capability than average folks, he just has more self-motivation and perseverance... characteristics anyone can summon.
I very much agree with your "forget it, cuz it's too late" point. However, you are just plain wrong about how much time and effort is required to be self-sufficient. I am 100% self-sufficient, and I grow and raise 100% of my own food (except a few (very few) not necessary herbs and spices that I'm working on). And I'm a 5'5" tall 105 pound skinny female wimp (physically speaking). What I'm not is an intellectual wimp, nor do I give in easily (to put it mildly). And I spend 90% of my time working on high-tech, not "gardening".
I bet you'd be shocked to your core to know how small an area you need to feed yourself. What you visualize and describe is a farm to grow food for hundreds or thousands of people with 1700s equipment and technology.
And yes, I agree that kind of life was indeed grueling... plenty grueling. However, you don't need to produce food for hundreds or thousands. You need to produce food for one or two at most... though if you enjoy gardening, I could definitely imagine some individual or couple producing food for dozens or hundreds if that is what they do (full time).
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Now, I don't want to overstate my case, because I always prefer to be fully honest. One needs to learn how to grow natural organic food in efficient ways with modern, high-tech equipment and techniques. Fortunately for me, I personally knew someone who grew organic food for a few individuals and he gave me a few hours of tips to get me started. That probably saved me two or three years of research and experiment on my own (including trial and error fashion).
We don't need to grow food with 1700s equipment or methods... or even 1700s seeds. The seeds I started with were super-premo seeds that were "genetically modified the natural way". What does that mean? It means... selecting the best of the best of the best of the best from each crop, growing their seeds in a separate garden, then selecting the best of the best of the best of the best from that crop, and then rinse and repeat for dozens of generations. You can buy these seeds for only a few times the price of "regular old seeds", and you will enjoy the benefits for-freaking-ever.
In other words, your brains are worth a lot. Not just our own brains, but also the brains of others who pointed me towards "good seeds" and "good, modern, efficient natural, organic supplies, equipment and techniques"). And believe me, my focus is advanced technologies, NOT gardening. I only spend 10% of my time producing my own food, and I am not personally interested in that field of endeavor. Well, not any more than hundreds of other fields of endeavor, but then again, I'd be interested in almost everything if I had the time.
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It seems I have unintentionally run an experiment without trying... I simply executed my "get the hell outta dodge and become self-sufficient" plan three years ago. Was it a lot of work? Yup. Did I have certain advantages? Yup (including $350K of savings to spend on the endeavor, plus years of experience living alone at a remote self-sufficient scientific outpost, plus a fair to expert level of knowledge and skills in various fields of science, engineering and technology).
But guess what? If a small collaboration was to repeat my "experiment", those assets, skills and knowledge could be spread across all those collaborators. Plus, go look and you can find many good sources of information (and millions of terrible sources of information, so knowing how to tell the difference and when to cut your losses is crucial).
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The problem is... virtually 100% of all talk about this topic is "how to save the world". That has never worked in history (as far as I can tell). Once human predators get a foothold... game over.
Probably the most important factoid I can express to liberty lovers is the following: You cannot fix the world. You cannot fix the nation. You cannot fix the state. You cannot fix the county or province. You cannot fix the town or city. You cannot fix the neighborhood.
ALL those are inherently self-contradictory. How?
Those are attempts at collectivist individualism. In case you haven't noticed, that's a self-contradiction.
So, what is my point? I mean, my real core, fundamental point? One that individualists and liberty-lovers can "take to the bank"?
Only individualist individualism works.
In fact, only individualist individualism has any chance to succeed. In all of history, never are human predators unseated from power. They enslave, consume and destroy everything, as is their nature. And all good, honest, ethical, productive, benevolent human beings LET THEM. First in small ways, then in annoying ways, then in egregious ways, and then finally (very recently) they find their goose is cooked, just like the boiled frog people mention.
So, what is this option? What is "individualist individualism"? Well, historically it has been "the next frontier". The best, bravest, brightest pick up their chips (belongings), head out of dodge, and travel to some frontier where nobody cares about them, and nobody tries to control them. Or to be more precise, where anyone who does try to control you is quite obviously a human predator, and is functionally just "target practice".
And so, this is the nature of the abject failure of the liberty movement. The precident exists and is known. But don't feel too bad folks... it took me decades to identify the nature of the conventional liberty approach is "collectivist individualism" and that "moving to the frontier" is "individualist individualism". Yes, it took me decades to figure this out, and I have been at the extreme "loner, hermit type" end of the individualist spectrum since I was four years old. Plus, supposedly I'm a genius, for whatever that was worth (well, except I did eventually figure it out).
To be sure, this option is gradually running out. No 100% pure "frontiers" exist any longer (except the so-called "final frontier" of "outer space"). However, that's just a cop-out, because practical frontiers do exist. Just find your favorite "extreme boonies" on the planet, and move there. That is precisely what I did, living 125km from the nearest human being for the past 3+ years. Nobody knows I'm here. Nobody cares I'm here. Nobody has ever lived here, or anywhere near here. And, of course, nobody bothers me. The weather and environment are freaking awesome... about as perfect as earth has to offer given my personal tastes. Does "here" have negatives? I suppose. No place on earth is optimal in every respect. No place. So finding aspects of any location that present some modest challenges during the setup phase are irrelevant, and uniformly overcome in months. For example, for me, the fact that my perfect spot cannot be reached by land vehicle. Now I see that as a huge advantage!
The entire open ocean is available... and practical as a place to live. To be fully or mostly mobile is a great asset. Almost all my infrastructure and dwellings can be [disassembled and] moved if necessary, and I definitely never intend to leave... until and unless I can get my butt into outer space.
Plenty of places exist that function perfectly well as individualist frontiers. Where the problem comes in is... trying to create a large "collectivist individualist empire", either where a "collectivist collectivist empire" already exists (everywhere population density is significant), or even where "nobody lives" (once it gets larger, human predators will descend, suck you dry, then destroy you... unless you are very adept at making your location invisible, undetectable, or looking so rundown and poor from the air/outside that they just don't care about you).
I hope these ideas are helpful... to a few individuals. The ones who matter.
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PS: I am no longer riding the tiger. I don't see a single human being for 2 to 3 months, at which point I hop into my little, 2-seat, high-tech airplane and fly to a very small town of less than 100 about 250km away where I pick up any mail and parcels waiting for me, and buy the few herbs and spices that I don't grow enough of myself... yet. None of you have to ride this tiger either (though I must admit, for the majority who were suckered into the conventional "get deep into debt instead of saving for your future" scam will have a more difficult time than I did... not that you should consider that an excuse).
I have had zero contact with any representative of "government" for the entire 3+ years I've been here, and I do not intend to have any contact with any of them ever again. EVER. And I've flown to and landed in 18 different "nations" in my little airplane since moving here, and never did I have a visa, a passport, permission, flight plan, or any other contact with anyone "official".
I'm just saying, ye old "out of sight, out of mind" works great. It just doesn't work great in any modern city or suburbs in any major western nation any longer. But frankly, something most of you who live in those fictional nations probably don't know, you can actually live fairly close to "free" (in the sense of "liberty") in a great many out of the way places on this planet... as long as you are not one of their official slaves (as in "citizen"). Not in major nations, but in a great many places, if you stick to a policy of not standing out any more than you cannot avoid, and not being pushy or a typical, arrogant or "noisy" pain-in-the-butt westerner, you will be left alone. And if you can bear wearing oldish tattered clothes, you can even avoid being "panhandled more than average", even if you're fresh and clean.
But... seems like everyone refuses to enjoy liberty, freedom and individualism until... they convert their entire collective to liberty. Will individualists and liberty-lovers ever recognize their self-contradictory mistake? No, the vast majority of them will not. But you can. Any of you... true individuals.
I remote viewed you a couple of years ago, Honestann. This was before joining Z/H. Frankly, I fully understand the requirement for solitude and self sustaining living, but the plane flying is just a bit too risk oriented for myself given that I know metallurgy from Mechanical Engineering and would never trust a bucket of bolts to keep me off the ground. And I don't get how you have the balls to fly by yourself with no co-pilot to lend support when the flying is rough?
Well, fortunately my plane is about 99% carbon fiber, not metal. But that's pretty much glib, and not a serious answer. Plus, I suppose the engine is mostly metal, like a bucket of bolts.
However, I don't much fear the engine crapping out, the airplane has GPS, a 17:1 glide ratio, and can almost land on a dime, especially if there's a breeze. Where this answer doesn't work, of course, is during my flights across the south pacific ocean (in hops of 1500km to 4000km).
As far as rough flying, that is helped out by the fact I carry portable oxygen, and the airplane can fly quite high if necessary (well over 20,000 feet). So I can almost always find some altitude with "smooth sailing", or close enough.
Also, clearly my personality is such that I'd much rather live a shorter but more interesting life if that's the price. The way I see it, I'm already way ahead even if I happened to die tomorrow. And I don't expect to, either. In fact, given my current self-sufficient setup "away from things", the chances are perhaps 50:50 that the bulk of humanity will vanish... and I'll still be around. And if the project I'm collaborating works... then I'll outlast the solar system.
I've had a fairly remarkable life, yet I always expected it to be more remarkable, and I definitely still do. We shall see. What I can see and understand is so far beyond what others can, and it gets easier every day. And I know, without a shadow of doubt, that I would not be able to see and understand so much so clearly if I had not lived a remarkable and independent life, which in part means a modestly riskier life.
BTW, though flying small airplanes is about 100 times more dangerous per mile than travel in commercial airlines, it is still 10 times safer than car travel. So perhaps you're a bit too concerned. Also, I don't need to fly on an arbitrary schedule, plus I fly to see the sights. So I go when the weather is supposed to be good, and it usually is. Though again, yes indeed, the weather while crossing the entire south pacific isn't nearly so easy to predict.
Then again, I'm free to stop for as long as necessary for the weather in the next hop to look good. As for flying alone... and living alone 125km from the nearest human being... and wandering around at night under the southern sky 125km from the nearest human being, or spending the whole night outside with my telescope out in the middle of nowhere... Well, I've been a loner (and observing all night alone) since I was well under 10 years old. I'm very used to being alone. I'm happy to have good company, but such is almost impossible to come by, and if I waited for company before I did the things I've done, I'd have done very little. But that has never been an option for me, and never will be. Thanks for the kind thoughts.
I'm very much a loner too, Honestann. Being independent of others is empowering in that one is not looking to others for confirmation on ideas or political ideology et cetera. Unfortunately, I don't have the guts to fly a plane by myself, or travel over a large expanse of water. I agree that being alone is necessary if one wants to get into serious contemplative thought. I admire your ability to actually do what you want to do. I have thought of going into the bush in CANADA to live, but here in CANADA we have many predators like bears, wolves, cougars, bull elk during the fall rut, et cetera. If the Zombie apocalypse manifests I will head to northern CANADA to live in isolation as you are presently doing, but I can't imagine the Internet will still be functional if that happens. Moreover, I will have to take a hunting course to get appropriately armed for hunting big game because one cannot survive without big game in a northern climate. How do you survive without hunting for meat/protein? Do you go fishing to supplement the protein source? And how much did you have to fork out to get a dependable plane? Did you purchase a brand new plane or is it a used plane? And how in heck did you learn
all about flying and engineering? Frankly, I think you actually must be a genius to do what you are doing.
p.s. I'm a bit of a genius myself so we have lots in common aside from a healthy attitude of self. cheers
I'm very much a loner too, Honestann. Being independent of others is empowering in that one is not looking to others for confirmation on ideas or political ideology et cetera. Unfortunately, I don't have the guts to fly a plane by myself, or travel over a large expanse of water. I agree that being alone is necessary if one wants to get into serious contemplative thought. I admire your ability to actually do what you want to do. I have thought of going into the bush in CANADA to live, but here in CANADA we have many predators like bears, wolves, cougars, bull elk during the fall rut, et cetera. If the Zombie apocalypse manifests I will head to northern CANADA to live in isolation as you are presently doing, but I can't imagine the Internet will still be functional if that happens. Moreover, I will have to take a hunting course to get appropriately armed for hunting big game because one cannot survive without big game in a northern climate. How do you survive without hunting for meat/protein? Do you go fishing to supplement the protein source? And how much did you have to fork out to get a dependable plane? Did you purchase a brand new plane or is it a used plane? And how in heck did you learn
all about flying and engineering? Frankly, I think you actually must be a genius to do what you are doing.
p.s. I'm a bit of a genius myself so we have lots in common aside from a healthy attitude of self. cheers
Yes indeed, [at least relative] solitude and thinking alone seems almost necessary to... well... be sane, be insightful, learn much of anything real, or recognize, identify and formulate any aspect of reality that isn't at least mentioned in existing circles. I still find myself humbled when I recognize something "totally freaking obvious" that was in front of my face my whole life, but contrary to conventional formulations.
I mentioned one of these cases recently in a ZH message, when I identified and described the difference between "collectivist individualism" and "individualist individualism". The former is what [essentially] the entire "liberty movement" is striving for... to convert half or more of the [voting] collective in their neck of the planet to advocate liberty. That is so obviously a self-contradictory attempt at "collectivist individualism" that it hurts (certainly me, and hopefully them too... if and when they recognize this distinction).
What makes this identification more humbling is the fact that my whole life I've exactly lived the life of "individualist individualism", and yet it took me decades to recognize how extreme is the distinction and importance of the two conceptualizations... one absurd, self-defeating, self-contradictory and beyond practical possibility, and the other entirely practical (as I have demonstrated). How could I be so blind for so long. Even worse, I recognized and identified the distinction long ago, but failed to examine the consequences in much depth. Humbling. And for me, embarrassing (not that others notice, but to my sense of self-appraisal).
If you've never flown airplanes, you must not realize how much easier and safer flying is than driving! There is nothing to run into. That's what kills you when you drive a car. In the old days if you fly IFR (in fog or clouds), you could run into something. But today, I only decide to fly when weather is good (by choice), and when I do find myself needing to pass through a cloud or layer of clouds, I have GPS that informs me of every object I could possibly run into (absent some UFO that happens to be flying through the same cloud... hahaha). I can take such tiny risks.
Remember, especially an airplane like mine (which is derived from gliders) can float without engine at a 17:1 glide ratio (17 meters forward for every 1 meter loss in altitude). Do you realize that I usually turn my engine off (actually just to idle) several miles from where I intend to land, and glide the rest of the way (and in a few extreme cases up to 50 miles or more)? Do you realize I can fly straight and level at speeds as slow as 40mph? Do you realize I am usually moving at about 40mph or less when I finally touch down? That's only about twice the speed that fast human beings can run on their own two feet! What's to fear? And when the breeze is 35mph or more, I can land like a helicopter... straight down, as slowly as I wish.
We can agree about the dangers of cross-ocean flying, but the danger of that isn't the crash with water at 40mph (easy to survive), or getting out of the airplane (easy)... the danger is I cannot get my little inflatable raft out and inflated quickly enough (very unlikely), or that it gets punctured (definitely a danger given Murphy's Law), or that I thirst to death before someone finds me. This last danger is the most likely, and might even happen if I am not able to contact anyone with rescue coordinates before I reach the water (which can take the better part of an hour since my average flying altitude over ocean is 11,000 to 15,000 feet).
I purchased my airplane brand new. It is a pipistrel virus sw with 100hp 912iS engine. You can visit their website at www.pipistrel.si if you like, and find that airplane. More difficult is to find information about the differences the 912iS engine makes, but essentially it is identical to the conventional 100hp 912 engine, except 30% to 40% more efficient (more miles per gallon) as well as more reliable (solid state electronics versus old style electronics). The top speed is 300kph, cruise speed (about 75% power) is about 287kph, and economy speed (about 50% power) is about 240kph to 250kph. At economy speed, which is how I usually fly, my airplane gets 70mpg to 75mpg based on my tests. What you'll more often see quoted is 30mpg+ at cruise speed with the normal 912 engine. I seem to get about 40mpg at cruise speed with my 912iS, but the difference between 250kph and 290kph isn't enough to convince me to get half the fuel economy!
Their glider models have wingspans of up to 15 meters, but my model is optimized for extended distance flights rather than gliding, and as such goes considerably faster and further (4000+km with my extreme-range tanks and potentially up to 6000km when I bring my in-cabin fuel blatters for extra safety). But mine only has a 17:1 glide ratio versus 40:1 for their real gliders. With the same accessories I have, the cost brand new is about $140,000 USD, but with fewer fancy accessories than me you can easily chop off $25,000. As I recall, my extreme range tanks alone added $16,000 to the price.
I'm in the southern hemisphere where the weather is fabulous. Also, zero species of critters with the capacity to kill me live near here --- not even humans! So I can stay out all night at my telescope without the slightest fear. Of course, I'm used to observing all night anyway. For decades I observed all night in the boonies where plenty of potentially deadly creatures wandered. Fortunately for me, the long imposing looking sword I typically took along for intimidation purposes (and fighting if necessary) was sufficient to send the few nasty critters I encountered at night looking for safer-to-attack prey.
In northern canada I'd probably find myself in situations that would scare me to death (no need for an actual attack). Once I traveled north through Banff (?spelling?), then up a few hundred miles north (beyond the length of the icefields parkway (?name?)). I rented nights in 3 different cabins within 50 miles of Jasper (pretty sure I have this name right). It was scary to look out the window of the flimsy cabins and see huge honking grizzlies wandering around outside in the middle of the night. It seemed quite obvious they could have easily crashed through and eaten me for a snack... if only the realized how their strength and claws compared to those flimsy cabins!
So... I totally realize what you mean about the dangers of living along in northern Canada from just the few days I wandered up in that area. Of course, I didn't have a gun (or even my sword) during that trip. Before I'd even begin to think about living in the boonies of northern Canada, I'd arm myself to the freaking teeth and become expert with my weapons! However, though I used to tolerate cold very well (after observing all night for many years, often in sub-freezing temperatures), I've become totally addicted to nice warm weather. And I intend to stay that way!
Surprisingly, if I had the inclination and wanted to spend the extra time and freezer space involved, there are a couple species of eatable (and supposedly tasty) meat I could hunt within 100km. While they are fairly large animals (25kg to 70kg), they are not dometicated but they are also utterly docile. They even tend to be vaguely curious and friendly given slow, friendly behavior, and they are not-at-all dangerous. However, I don't hunt for food. The secret? Chickens. I love chicken, always have. Thus, no need to hunt. Fortunately I have plenty of open space here, and no humans or critters anywhere near to attack them, so I can keep them well outside of "smelling distance" from where I work and sleep. Hahaha. I really am such a spoiled wimp, sometimes I almost disgust myself (and would surely disgust all good, hard-working farmers and ranchers).
BTW, this is one extreme advantage of choosing a "better" location than you have in mind. Where I am, the weather is wonderful all year long, my veggies grow like crazy all year long, my chickens never freeze or overheat, and so providing for myself is much easier than what you will face anywhere near canada.
I took conventional private pilot flight training when I was young. Though I figured I would probably never be able to afford my own airplane, I simply could not live my life without being able to move around in 3D so to speak. Of course, being addicted to astronomy and space since age 4 to 6, I really wanted to fly (and live in) spacecraft... but airplanes had to suffice. In another 10 years, plus or minus, hopefully I can move to the next step... spacecraft.
I am a self-educated, self-trained scientist, engineer, inventor and product-developer. I started inventing new technologies in junior high school, and had to teach myself the related engineering and fabrication skills to be able to build prototypes of my inventions and technologies. Before I escaped high-school, I was already earning barely enough to survive on my own by selling my designs to companies who wanted to manufacture and market the products I developed. And that has been my entire "career" since, all self-employed. I have taken a few contracts (perhaps half a dozen total) over the years to generate "fast-and-easy-cash" (sorta, so to speak) from various astronomical observatories and later for NASA as senior research scientist, but those were not employment.
But contracts were the exception, not the rule. Though I always had the policy of not being willing to develop any kind of destructive technology for anyone (especially anything useful to military), several years ago I started to feel "very unclean" about even doing "benevolent" research and development for any government agency or [large] corporation, and so I stopped. Frankly, I will forever feel guilty for ever having had anything to do with predators-DBA-government. I always knew better, but rationalized "this isn't destructive". Now my answer to that claim is... BULL.
I don't feel like a genius. Or, as an alternative, I'd have to repeat the cliche that "genius is 99% perspiration and 1% inspiration", because I've worked my butt off my entire life to learn, advance and develop in [the too many] fields that interest me. I did consider joining mensa once, took too standard IQ tests, which claimed 158 and 168 (or maybe it was 163, i forget).
But... my opinion is, I am smart enough to recognize those tests don't reliably measure intelligence. In fact, a short time after I started the first test, I recognized and identified a single "rule" that made the correct answers to most questions self-evident (though you had to think a bit to figure each out). And that "rule" was this. You just had to figure out which answer was commensurate with the question. Put another way, the answer to the question had to be measured in some "units", and usually only one potential answer was in those units (or a directly convertible to those units). So, to take a super-simple case, the answer to a question might necessarily be some "distance". And so, then answers that need to be "an area" or "volume" or "color" or whatever are the wrong answers. And the one that is "meters" or "inches" has to be the right answer. Yes, this is really, really stupid! And yes, if you take an IQ test and attempt to apply this rule naively, you may fail, because the "units" are typically not something simple like "distance". They may, for example, be "emotion" (versus some other mental process). Or even more obscure and difficult to even figure out what the category of commensurate units is. But nonetheless, if you try hard enough, I swear it is much easier to figure out the answer this way than stare at a list of answers and know the correct one. Incidentally, once I saw the mensa magazine and talked to a couple mensa people on the phone, I was so revolted at what people decided their "intelligence is for" that I never went to a meeting, and never read another issue. What a waste!
BTW, intelligence has to be very selective (for lack of a better term). For example, I have always had an abysmal memory, so in the category of memory my IQ is likely about 20 or 30. And when I performed contracts for NASA, their PhDs could run circles around me when it came to solving already known math and physics problems. My value was very narrow. They could give me problems that nobody had ever been able to solve, and I could often solve them. Not by being a better conventional scientist or engineer, but by finding an entirely different approach to the problem (and usually much simpler and/or more straightforward). The usual response was something like, "she cheated again, but it totally solves our problem, and is absurdly simple". So... at least they recognized my strong point, and were usually happy to take advantage of my advance or invention (or "cheat"), because it made them all look better (and I never went seeking fame or recognition).
But back to Canada: I really do think you should consider somewhere warmer... most likely in the southern hemisphere! I am super glad I did. Much less problematic, at least for me.
Oh, and one final question. You mean... I go to all the trouble to move 125km from the nearest human being... and you can watch me in my bedroom via remote viewing any time you want? Hmmm... doesn't seem fair. Does that work when I have all the lights off (pitch dark)? :-o
honestann, how does your "individualist individualism" work when applied to a city?
I ask because more then half of the humans of this planet live in an urban environment, and this includes Americans
or are you actually making the point that there is no way that individualism can thrive without choosing a lifestyle as yours, 125 km away from any other human?
imho it's simple: liberalism was born in protest to absolutism. liberalism, taken to it's logical extremes, implies extreme individualism
and extreme individualism, taken to it's logical extremes, implies your lifestyle
so you are only being very logical about your political and ideological conviction, and merit a lot of kudos for that
nevertheless... you are still in search of contact with other humans, and participate to a group action like discussing things on a blog. this is a collective endeavor
shouldn't you, according to your ideology, stop doing such things? but I digress. my point is: can your example be followed by the urban masses? or is it an example that following an ideology to it's extremes leads to a statistical exception, like your lifestyle?
you actually write "I hope these ideas are helpful... to a few individuals. The ones who matter." so the other billions don't matter? so at which point do you start to hope they somehow vanish? mostly because they don't fit in your extreme ideological worldview? at which point does a champion of personal freedom become the one that hopes for humanity to suffer biblical death tolls?
What I call "individualist individualism" works just as well in a city as anywhere else, except the actions you'd have to take will be different. But also, which earth city you refer-to may dramatically change what actions you take.
The main point of "individualist individualism" is this. You... one individual (or one couple or family and friends if you wish to go "large scale") consider what actions you need to take to enjoy your liberty and individualism, and then you take those actions.
What you do not do is... refuse to act while you attempt to get half the people in the various "fictional jurisdictions" you live in to become advocates of liberty or individualism in order to get the predators-that-be to change their behavior (leave you alone to live your own life your own way). That is a collectivist solution, as are all forms of "democracy".
Why so? Because actually experiencing the liberty and individualism you want depends on convincing at half or more of the collective. That is 100% a collectivist approach, even if the goal is individualism for everyone. You have [unwittingly] accepted and supported the bogus collectivist notion that you need collectivist approval to practice or enjoy individualism. That is in fact backwards, but most advocates of liberty and individualism obviously haven't figured that out yet.
Note that anyone, city, town, suburbs or rural farm can individually make the decision to change aspects of their life to increase their liberty or individualism. To make substantial increases in liberty or individualism often requires or implies a change of location, but not always. But again, the point is this. You don't wait around while you try to convince others, you make individual plans with your individual brain, optimized to improve the aspects of liberty, individualism and comfort that you care most about, and then you execute those plans without help, approval or knowledge of the "liberty collective" AKA "liberty community". You worry about fixing your life, not theirs (a large number). You do what a family who left "the old country" in Europe 250 years ago did... you move to "America" and try something new (at least in many respects).
As I have said many times, you can massively increase their liberty and individualism simply by living in a fictional "nation" that does not consider you their "citizen" == "slave". That one step alone is usually a huge advance. And if you choose a smart destination, that helps more.
As for the "destination", that can be a city or town, and doesn't need to be 125km from the nearest human being. However, it is a natural fact that the fewer human beings around you, the fewer human beings interact with you. One might say that is true of both positive interactions and negative interactions, and I won't argue with that. But the more individualist your core nature and personality, the more likely you will enjoy more rural choices more. The more social you are, and the more comfortable with lots of people around you, the more likely you will enjoy living in or near a small town.
I can give a great bit of practical advice on this topic. If you want to choose a city or town to live in or near, try to choose a "resort town" (at least to some degree). Why? Because almost everyone in the town depends-on or benefits-from tourism directly or indirectly, and so they get royally pissed off if anyone (neighbors or visitors) does anything that might give their "destination" a bad reputation.
And so, if you move somewhere that has at least a modest degree of tourism, I can almost guarantee you will suffer far fewer negative interactions than a random location. Furthermore, these sorts of places (whether large (population 100,000) or small (population 20) inherently support a vastly wider variety of small businesses that anyone (foreign gringos included) can establish and operate. Plus, they're used to seeing people of all sizes, shapes, colors, races and styles on a regular basis, and thus tend to naturally think nothing of such irrelevancies.
This may be a nitpick, but "collective" and "collectivist" are different. For example, you could point at a gathering of anarchists and say "that is a collective" or even "that is a collective activity"... and though your choice of terms might be a bit chosen to create controversy, you'd still be correct. However, a group of anarchists who meet to further the acceptance of "anarchy" cannot be honestly portrayed as "collectivism". Why? Because NOBODY involved makes ANY attempt whatsoever to advocate or implement anything "collectivist".
You see, liberty and "individualism" mean "no involuntary interactions", not "no interactions". Essentially, "individualism" means "every individual makes choices and takes actions, not some collective (or singular leader like "king"). And so, "individualism" is 100% compatible with "city living".
The practical problem is... whenever a lot of human being aggregate, human predators clearly recognize they can achieve massive gains by instituting even tiny controls and obligations around the edges. Which naturally grow over time and become full blown evil empires. And so, as a practical matter, the further away from high density human population, the less likely anyone will mess with you, because it just isn't worth it (insufficient economies of scale). Plus, humans who do live "away from human population" tend to be much more difficult to make kneel to power and obey. Such folks are much more likely to exterminate the wannabe collectivist rather than obey.
And so, I hope this answers your question and confusion about individualism. The fact is, while there is a statistical association, "individualism" and "solitude" have very different meanings. All you need to enjoy "individualism" is "exclusively voluntary interactions". You can do that perfectly well within the construct of a city... the only problem being, you and your fellow individualists will need to fend off a constant stream of assaulting collectivists, for they recognize a sweet deal (co-opting decisions and actions of everyone in the city for their own purposes, whether financial, power, or some personal psychosis).
Everyone COULD matter. And everyone SHOULD matter. However, it is simply a FACT that the vast majority of human beings are so utterly confused and brainwashed, that they CANNOT advance their insights and understanding enough in the time they have left alive... to make a substantial difference to themselves.
Also, remember. I AM an individualist. I suggest you go back and find that message I wrote that started by saying "the founding fathers were tyrants". The part you need to focus on is the discussion of the americas before the gringos invaded, and during the early invasion.
What I want you to notice is the following. I pointed out the "system" (or lack of a centralized system if you prefer) that existed in the americas was the perfect implementation of individualism and liberty.
As I said in that message, that must sound completely absurd to most people. Why? Because (for example), many (but probably not most) indian tribes had seriously nasty "rules" or "expectations" for those who lived there. One could even call many of those "rules" or "expectations" grossly abusive.
So, how on earth can someone like me call that "perfect liberty" and "perfect individualism"? That sounds just completely self-contradictory and stupid on the very face of the proposition. And indeed it does (and did to me when I first recognized what I'm about to say here again).
And that insight is this. Us true, honest, literal "individualists" must recognize that "some humans want to be ruled". To be ruled is their individual choice.
Now, probably most of us individualists just HATE to see potentially amazing human beings voluntarily subject themselves to tyranny, to rule by others. But that doesn't change the reality and consequences of this situation. The FACT is, if we are to be consistent, we MUST recognize that humans can freely choose to be slaves. Now, we could argue, "they must be nuts", and if we were collectivists, that would be sufficient justification for us to butt in and attempt to prevent them from "ruining their own individual lives".
But we're NOT collectivists. Even if 99% of the human race WANT to live as slaves, we must let them.
All that we can demand is... we who chose NOT to be slaves, who chose NOT to be ruled, who chose NOT to be obligated without our voluntary agreement... can indeed live the way we choose to --- as individuals, as individualists, as beings who treat others respectfully, which is to say, interact with them on strictly voluntary bases, and let them live their lives they way they choose... even when they are destroying themselves.
You see, this is part of the point I was trying to make. Very few of us advocates for liberty and individualism have recognized and clearly understood this distinction between "individualist individualism" and "collectivist individualism". Nonetheless, if you were to ask advocates of liberty and individualism whether they are justified in FORCING others to reject being ruled, they would say NO. They don't fully understand the whole collectivist aspect I've been focusing on the past few days, but they DO recognize they must limit their influence to persuasion, without involuntary interaction much less overt force.
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Have you ever heard the phrase "they asked for it"? I suspect you have. Well, somewhere far north of 95% of the human race has asked to be exterminated. And I'd argue the number is more like 99%, because virtually every self-identified advocate of "liberty" or "individualism" has failed to rid their brains of support for several if not many aspects of tyranny.
But let's go even further. You know from my past messages that I consider the fundamental bifurcation of the human species was "predator" versus "producer". I've described why and how several times, and hopefully you've read at least one of those messages.
Well, predator is destroyer. And obviously, producer is producer (creator).
And yet, more than 99% of human beings not only sanction human predators, they defend human predators, they fund human predators, they snitch on and thus destroy advocates against human predators, they receive benefits from human predators, they allow the vast majority of their own decisions and actions to be dictated by the human predators... for the advancement of human predators, and harm to human producers.
In other words, over 99% of human beings aid, abed, fund, sanction, support, praise and obey the human predators, and thus cause the destruction that continues to increase exponentially today.
And that over 99% of human beings do little if anything to aid, abed, fund, sanction, support, praise or collaborate with human producers, and thus cause the destruction that continues to increase exponentially today.
And so, whether they know it or not, somewhere near 99% of human beings are destroying mankind.
And so, all I'm saying is... every human who aids, abeds, funds, sanctions, supports, praises and collaborations with the destruction of mankind, they damn well deserve to suffer the consequences... and also be destroyed.
How can anyone disagree with that?
The only humans who do not deserve to be destroyed are... human producers. And I mean "full time human producers" who do not have a "human predator gig on the side to generate extra cash, goods, goodies or benefits".
Can you disagree with that? How?
This doesn't mean I want human beings, or life on earth to be this way! Just the opposite! I'd love for every human being to achieve their greatest creative and productive behavior, and harm nobody ever.
But if you ask the questions, you must accept the answers:
#1: the americas were very close to the perfect model of liberty and individualism before the invading gringos screwed it up with collectivist notions. Why? Because anyone in any of those "indian tribes" (which were "voluntary collectivism") could say to themselves, "this place sucks", then pack their saddle bags, hop on their horse, and ride off into the sunset. They could "hang out with a new tribe that had more benevolent rules and expectations"... or they could "start their own independent farm or ranch or hunting cabin in the boonies (everywhere BETWEEN settlements) and live their lives as they wish". Then, if and when someone else wants to "live inside their domain" (their working farm, ranch, business, whatever), those folks must accept whatever "rules and expectations" the owner of that domain specified... or leave.
And so, though it seems absurd at first, the true nature of "liberty" and "individualism" is one in which individuals may choose any form or variety of "collectivist living" they choose... as long as they are free to opt-out and leave.
Once you think the notion of liberty through to the end, you realize some people just want to be ruled, and they must be allowed to be ruled, and that the fundamental principles of liberty and individualism mandate we must allow them to voluntarily subject themselves to whatever they wish. Everything except involuntary capture, restraint or servitude. And yet, we are under no obligation to break them out either.
#2: By their actions, the vast majority of human beings deserve to die. They deserve to die precisely because they aid, abed, fund, sanction, support, praise and defend the human predators who practice and order the destruction.
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Sometimes reality ain't pretty... especially those aspects that are instances of "humans making a mess of reality". But that's the way it is. And so, anyone who "calls it like it is" has no choice but to recognize, identify and describe things that sound ugly. Because they are.
PS: If humans refused to take order from human predators, those human predators would have very close to zero power. Which illustrates quite clearly who is actually responsible for the destruction of mankind. Namely, the 99% or 99.9% or 99.99% who aid, abed, fund... and help make it happen.
I Remote Viewed you a couple or more years ago flying long distance over water and could sense your situation and the fact that you were all alone. The actual remote viewing is like an image/impression on the mind that makes one aware that it is a real event taking place and not simply imagined. When the image in my mind manifested I immediately became scared shitless because I don't fly and don't even like the thought of flying. When I realized what was manifesting I could sense that my spirit was right in the plane with you and that freaked me out because I could not comprehend why in heck I was even having that image in my mind's eye? When I read that you said you flew planes and lived in isolation I recalled the event over the ocean and I recalled the little cabin you reside in that has a window to look out of whilst one sits in the cabin thingy. I also recall seeing where the plane is parked and that it is a very small plane that is white in terms of colour. I recall a sense that there was nothing wrong with the engineering in the whole of the engine and airframe and that gave me some relief for whatever strange reason I did not understand other than you were a human being I did not know. Now that I have figured out that you are that lady that I Remote Viewed flying across the ocean I cannot tell you how freaked out I am that serendipity has allowed myself the opportunity to tell you this. And yes, if I focused my mind enough on getting an actual visual of a Remote Viewed image I could describe it accurately.
I have Remote Viewed situations of nakedness of other people, but I only seemed to have Remote Viewed you sitting and thinking in your cabin whilst staring out the window looking at the sunshine setting. I Remote Viewed you flying along along a long river of water high up above the tree line for what seemed like a long distance until you arrived near a landing strip and went shopping, then the image stopped. I saw an image of the plane floor that is white behind the seats on the floor I seem to recall. I also Remote Viewed you sitting outside at night with the telescope and was envious when that sense in my mind's eye manifested. I have studied Astronomy too and I never get to see the night sky or stars because I live right in the City of Ottawa. So, if I ever Remote View you again I will try to pick out more details to report back to you.
Also, I am formally educated in Experimental Psychology from Carleton University in Ottawa Canada and I have an Honours B.A. in Experimental Psychology. I stumbled upon Remote Viewing when I was a kid and did not realize what it was until I started studying Experimental Psychology indepth. Google Remote Viewing and realize that some people are able to actually Remote View images that can be seen in the image of the mind's eye.
Also, next time you hit the library check out a book entitled Maps of the Mind by Charles Hampden-Turner.
And I loved reading what write about flying planes and travels, Honestann. I have never really traveled much let alone via plane.
Since I have Remote Viewed you and I am a straight up kind of person, I think it's only ethical to reveal my identity to you and email if you want to chat backchannel ever. Anywho, my real name is Robert White fm453@ncf.ca and you can google my name to see me in a suit running for the last municipal election in Ottawa CANADA.
I checked out the website for your plane and must say that it sure looks like a sharp plane. I like the wheel covers and the tinted windows. It looks like a great plane for photography purposes too. There must be money in airial photography IMHO. As an individual that is 5' 11" in height and 195 lbs in terms of weight I would not personally purchase a plane that small if I were ever a lottery winner and could purchase things like that. Frankly, I would buy a Beaver Bush Plane from Dehavilland<sp?> in CANADA. The right Canadian bush plane has been tried and tested for generations and that's what I would go with here in CANADA. I can see why it is suitable for the Southern hemisphere though. Frankly, I don't understand how you can go with a prototype that has not had all the bugs worked out like the Beaver bush plane which has had eons of run time and engineering? You are one gutsy lady, Honestann!!!!
cheers
Yeah, my airplane is fine for me, a 5'5" 105 pound wimp. But while they show moderately bulky looking 6-footers getting into the virus, I am sure it must be tight, especially for 4000km hops! I'd at least suggest the seat get moved forward and the back tilted back a ways (it does have room for long legs).
Also, there have been hundreds of people flying their virus and sinus airplanes for years, and they are reliable. You might find it interesting that a guy flew all the way around the planet alone in a virus almost exactly like mine, including a side-trip to antarctica and he flew right over the top of mount everest. The only difference I know of is that he chose the turbo version of the engine.
Nonetheless, bad stuff can definitely happen, and a 250kg aircraft (including engine and everything except fuel) can only be so sturdy. Incidentally, one accessory that almost everyone buys is the "integrated safety parachutte". If something bad happens you pull the release and a huge parachutte pops out the top (at any speed up to top speed), and the entire airplane floats to the ground like a feather.
The Rotax engines are mainstream aircraft engines, so there's nothing strange or experimental about the engines. The electronics and avionics are also pure mainstream. So all that's left to be "experimental" is the carbon-fiber moldings that are the body of the aircraft, and probably a few other components.
Note that the virus sw qualifies as a "light sport aircraft" which only requires half the flight training as a normal private pilot license, and so it is not "experimental" or "prototype". The only reason mine had to be "experimental" is because I chose a variable pitch prop (a standard mainstream component) and a few other truly insignificant details. So... I'm not worried. Incidentally, I opted to not have buy the whole airframe parachutte, but I do usually bring a personal parachutte just in case.
I've always been "over-the-top" frugal, and thus for me, getting 75mpg is a major joy. And the side-effect of that and those extreme-range tanks that cost me a lot of money make my airplane perhaps the only small airplane that CAN fly across the south-pacific ocean (because the longest hop is nearly 4000km). I'm not sure if ANY other small airplane can fly 4000km without refueling, the reason being their fuel efficiency (not fuel quantity).
As I said before, I feel sad for the vast bulk of humanity who imagine living a few more years is better than living a full, varied, exciting, interesting, extraordinary life. But that's their choice. I made mine, and have never regretted it. And if I find myself in a "I am about to die" situation, I am 100% certain I will think or say "it was way more than worth it" before I perish.
I'm an Anglican Christian believer in God. When one comes from the orthodoxy of Anglicanism one never dies because our cosmology is one of "World without end". If you read the King James Bible you will see it written many times in much of the liturgy. Ontologically, we will live the same life over and over again as though life is on a quantum tape recorder loop of existentialism. Quantum Mechanics also posits parallels similar to theological parallels, but logic gets very fuzzy when one gets into the metaphysics of it all. Suffice to say that there is life beyond this life if one comes from the Anglican orthodoxy, and others. I agree that a life well lived is a life well examined. My perspective in life seems to be based wholeheartedly on introspection and metaphysics more than sense experience of an extraordinary life. As a person I am fairly simple, but as one well versed in introspection I am extraordinary in that I can accomplish feats with my mind that others cannot comprehend or understand.
I have always figured that most individuals have next to no understanding of the capabilities of the brain/mind of most people and as an individual in society I only have a certain small degree of expectation that people will ever understand one another indepth unless they study Psychiatry or Experimental Psychology/Personality Theory. So, in essence, I am most focused on the Social Sciences perspective of Personality and the human brain. Travel and excitement is not a priority in my life more than understanding of personality and the unconscious/pre-conscious/conscious mind.
p.s. I understand the logic you are using for engineering and I agree with all the points you went over on the choices you made for your plane. You are a good engineer, Honestann. I trust your judgement when it comes to planes, flying, and engineering. I have never chatted with such a competent female P.Eng as you obviously are.
Frankly, I admire you for the person that you are so don't ever change too much, eh. cheers
One last point on Safety in Engineering...
I would buy every safety device a plane could have just to increase the odds of survival if a part broke or a UFO crossed your path. One can never be too safe when it comes to engineering safety. cheers
We don't need more production, community or grass-roots movements. We just need a govenment, an internet and a global economy so small that individuals can be left alone in peace. They'll find their own ways to whatever collaboration is needed to get the job done for the day.
Interesting to see all the talk of 'religious myths, nut jobs, etc., come out of the woodwork again. Easy bait I guess. Funny though, little mention of Politics as Religion, no...? Do you realize how many 'educated' (read: Trained in higher education to think rationally, objectively and non-emotionally, to obtain their PhD status), have voted for the R vs. D status quo for the past how many election cycles...? Most, if not all of these types considering themselves to be at least agnostic, if not full-blown atheist...? How can a PhD professor from NYU, vote for the current Out House occupant not once, but twice (and the previous occupant too, and the one before him, and the one before him...), given the sort of non-kookville education it took for him to receive his doctorate...?
Today, people have no clue who their neighbors are and most of them do not want to know.
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And why should they? The foreign occupation of the US is now more than 34%; the US has been sold as a whore to the third world occupation. More than 1/2 of the college/university spots are given to foreigners who pay higher tuition rates so that the administrators and university/college "presidents" can live like kings and retire with golden parachutes. Check the collges/universities in your state and pull the contract of your college/university president and check their pay PLUS the Unbelievable Benefits. Then file suit for unjust enrichment against them.
The word "tribe" is cropping up a lot in the US, as in "my tribe." This is a feudal term that directly speaks to the destruction of the US. Muslims invading the US and Hollyhorrow serving up genitalia and dismembered body parts for "entertainment." Christianity Was our national religion and used as a standard of morality that allowed agreed upon morality and codes of conduct. Hollyhorror needs new bodies served up on a constant conveyor to replace the diseased and destroyed after they are used; they come for your children in the schools and via the movies and tv.
As California "powers down," it will be vital to reconstruct our culture and society. Not one more muslim immigrating (would you wash the US of muslims if you could bring back all those who died on 9/11?) and not one more foreign immigrant and not one more green card or work visa. We Educate Our Own We Employ Our Own. We are Loyal to Our Country and call that jingoistic and call it good!
It took centuries for the Roman Empire to collapse and yet, in many ways, it still hasn't yet endured complete collapse. One thing is not simply replaced by another. It's all a procession of past events bearing on the current point in time. There is a tendency to think of things as a series of stops and new starts, but it's not like that.
Our financial system and the people who are engaged in trading around our globe are resilient. For millennia there have been those that have predicted the second coming, the millennium bug, an asteroid, global warming, global cooling and general apocalypse but it hasn't happened. That isn't to say it won't, but historically this isn't the experience.
Plato believed in the pyramid of power in which the social construct would always be ruled by a hierarchy of the few through the management society. Each person would be in turn, manager and managed and so each would police themselves and the ones below them.
At the top of the pyramid is the nexus. The one who controls everyone else. Except that person is the same one who looks in the mirror each morning. Liberty is a state of mind. To find Liberty one must be prepared to give Liberty. That is a far more difficult thing to do than it seems. The game we are playing now will run and run until we each take Liberty seriously by freeing ourselves from fear.
We should all remain well armed and vigilant. None of us can accurately predict what is coming. Clearly there are discernable trends of resource depletion and population growth. Have we reached overshoot yet? I don’t know. Will we ever reach overshoot? I think so, but I don’t know. A plague might end 99% of us next year.
The histories of past empires point to an inevitable collapse. A study of those empires reveals a slow decline followed by a sudden collapse. The collapse may be nothing more than the realization that the old paradigm no longer works and the surviving population simply walks away. Mesa Verde is a classic example.
We have built a fantastic life for millions of people who live life styles far beyond that enjoyed by the kings of old. To accomplish that level of opulence for so many, an organic system of unbelievable complexity has evolved over the past two centuries. Anyone with a modicum of intelligence understands that complexity breeds high levels of vulnerability. Those of us who have marveled at the intricacies of a Rube Goldberg machine come to realize that the magnificent system depends on the flawless function of thousands of interrelated parts. The failure of any one of those parts will instantly turn that marvelous machine into a paperweight. We live in such a system.
We run the real risk that some madman, or true believer, or patriot will end it all with a push of a button. Never before in the history of past empires has the actions of one or two people had the capability of bringing down civilization.
Anyone who looks comes to understand that the debt built monetary system that runs the world was built on a paradigm of never ending exponential growth. We seem, as the MIT analysts of so long ago postulated, to have reached the end of that growth. Innately many of us realize that reach arounds and patches can maintain an inherently flawed system for only so long. The political promises and the state structures built by such a system are but chaff in the wind once credit finally seizes up.
The endless stories of graft, greed and fraud that permeate the entire economic and political system have destroyed any claim of legitimacy held by those institutions. The absolute failure of the justice system beyond scapegoating and political attacks on their perceived enemies to enforce the law has resulted in the public execution of the rule of law. The never ending parade of police assaults and murders has gendered a fear in the populace. More and more of the body politic is coming to realize there is no justice. There is just us.
The oligarchs are doing everything possible to ring the wagons. The creation of a massive domestic army of brown shirts and private contractors over the last decade, the purchase of billions of rounds of ammunition, the dispatch of military assets to every county and parish in the nation, the Patriot Act, the National Defense Authorization act, the repeal of the Posse Comitatus Act, the endless training for the Zombie Apocalypse by both the military and all the agencies and sub agencies of Home Land Security, all of this is a result of the oligarch’s efforts to bunker down and retain control in this ongoing collapse. Their efforts are futile. Entropy is making them obsolete. The Patricians, Caesar and the Pretorian Guard no longer rule Rome.
None of us can know how these events will unfold or how they will manifest themselves in our neighborhoods and down our streets. Most of us who are awake have made some effort to secure modest amounts of food, fuel and medical supplies. Millions of us have made some efforts to secure the means of our own defense. Many have reached out to networks of family and friends.
None of us will make it to the other side of this thing because the inevitable process will span generations. If our families are to survive, we must look to our communities. We must once again embrace the bright line rules of right and wrong. Liars, thieves and murderers must be dealt with on the local level. We must once again embrace the tenants of the Declaration of Independence. We must insist that our local officials submit to the limitations placed on them by the Bill of Rights. We must on an individual basis and as a whole resist any authority either foreign or domestic that would violate these rights.
We must never disarm because we have no way of knowing that those who would come to our door with a monopoly of force are benevolent or malevolent.
Whatever the solutions might be, none of them will take hold if a nation is physically sick. The US is a physically sick nation. Ergo, the solutions had better include the people of the US getting healthier.
The world might be going in the reverse direction with the EU just approving 19 more Genetically Modified Foods.
In the US since GMO's have been in our diets, the incidence of digestive diseases have doubled.
In the US, 30% of our teens are already on one or more presciption drugs long term.
I forced myself to read the article and all the comments. Never again.
Oh so that was the whole america and Russia might go to nuclear war threat.... It is just to jack up production on uranium one it feed the Clinton resource machine as the economic disaster is set in place to generate their wealth. Of which they have been setting up for decades as they assist to destroy all Economies but their own... Little charity based for the poor cover of an empire of fascist control for the slaves and of course no where to run from the BEAST.
While also playing blow up my portfolio but go into the world and crest their own little fascist empire of bribes and back hand dealing on the backs of the poor they pretend to represent.
Well well if that doesn't bring light to move of hillaries little plantation.
I just watched the fox special report "the Clinton tangled web" on that book coming out of their international web.
Wow that shit is thick!
I guess u can see why Little Ms Armageddons threats bore me.
The bombs always fall. One gets used to them.
Little Ms Armageddon Witch Hillary and her Castle of Delete Buttons past the Yellow Brick Road of Gold and throught the Field of Erasures.
Mmm mmmm mmm mmm mmm
Tarabel it is senseless to argue with nazis. They are in bed with Obama, Soros, Hamas, and Hexboallah, etc. They are jealous little people that cannot stand to be arounfd a group of smart people.
Tarabel it is senseless to argue with nazis. They are in bed with Obama, Soros, Hamas, and Hexboallah, etc. They are jealous little people that cannot stand to be arounfd a group of smart people.
Tarabel it is senseless to argue with nazis. They are in bed with Obama, Soros, Hamas, and Hexboallah, etc. They are jealous little people that cannot stand to be arounfd a group of smart people.
I've got it!
Liberty's Message:
Back to Barter. No money allowed.
Throw out your smartphone, desktops, pads, televisions, radios and land-lines. Replace them with quills and parchment but boycott the Postal Service.
Never eat anything you have not killed yourself. Women are allowed to gather though.
Defend your patch of the homeless camp with overwhelming force.
So, do you think this sells?
hey grizzly lover, libertys message once was freedom from tyranny. Women may gather around me all they wish as long as they can shoot, skin and cook critters they tracked themselves. It is time to pay attention to whats going on around you. Something stinks. The bodies and death eventually float to the surface. It is nature's way. We are on a teeter totter right now but it is leaning heavily toward reset. 3 people classes. EBT and free handout group. Government employees at all levels. And people who work for a lliving whether for corporate companies or self emplyed small business owners.
It is coming. There is an ill wind blowing. God, guns, guts and gold. Beans rice and medicine. Barter goods. 22LR, toilet paper and tampons. Pints of liquor and tobacco. Get ready people. This will start slowly and then its over. Like a thief in the night I think I read somwhere. night all.
Sad! It's The American Curse >>> http://wp.me/p4OZ4v-3z
You are still an optimist? You are a fucking retard.
Civilization is coming to an end -- and because you are such a thick donkey who is unable to see past the wall you are banging your head against, I will post this again:
THE END OF CHEAP OIL Global production of conventional oil will begin to decline sooner than most people think, probably within 10 years
Feb 14, 1998 |By Colin J. Campbell and Jean H. Laherrre http://www.scientificamerican.com/article/the-end-of-cheap-oil/
HOW HIGH OIL PRICES WILL PERMANENTLY CAP ECONOMIC GROWTH For most of the last century, cheap oil powered global economic growth. But in the last decade, the price of oil has quadrupled, and that shift will permanently shackle the growth potential of the world’s economies. http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2012-09-23/how-high-oil-prices-will-permanently-cap-economic-growth
HIGH PRICED OIL DESTROYS GROWTH
According to the OECD Economics Department and the International Monetary Fund Research Department, a sustained $10 per barrel increase in oil prices from $25 to $35 would result in the OECD as a whole losing 0.4% of GDP in the first and second years of higher prices. http://www.iea.org/textbase/npsum/high_oil04sum.pdf
BUT WE NEED HIGH OIL PRICES: The marginal cost of the 50 largest oil and gas producers globally increased to US$92/bbl in 2011, an increase of 11% y-o-y and in-line with historical average CAGR growth. http://ftalphaville.ft.com/2012/05/02/983171/marginal-oil-production-costs-are-heading-towards-100barrel/
Steven Kopits from Douglas-Westwood said the productivity of new capital spending has fallen by a factor of five since 2000. “The vast majority of public oil and gas companies require oil prices of over $100 to achieve positive free cash flow under current capex and dividend programmes. Nearly half of the industry needs more than $120,” he said http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/newsbysector/energy/oilandgas/11024845/Oil-and-gas-company-debt-soars-to-danger-levels-to-cover-shortfall-in-cash.html
Sanford C. Bernstein, the Wall Street research company, calls the rapid increase in production costs “the dark side of the golden age of shale”. In a recent analysis, it estimates that non-Opec marginal cost of production rose last year to $104.5 a barrel, up more than 13 per cent from $92.3 a barrel in 2011. http://www.ft.com/intl/cms/s/0/ec3bb622-c794-11e2-9c52-00144feab7de.html#axzz3T4sTXDB5
THE PERFECT STORM (see p. 59 onwards)
The economy is a surplus energy equation, not a monetary one, and growth in output (and in the global population) since the Industrial Revolution has resulted from the harnessing of ever-greater quantities of energy. But the critical relationship between energy production and the energy cost of extraction is now deteriorating so rapidly that the economy as we have known it for more than two centuries is beginning to unravel. http://ftalphaville.ft.com/files/2013/01/Perfect-Storm-LR.pdf
no doubt
And one of those solutions solves a myriad of problems.
It's difficult to imagine a situation more hopeless than the one in which we find ourselves as individuals.
The problem is centralization, which allows for a smaller number of people to control all the decision making. The problem began in America when the Constitution, which allowed for a central government, replaced the Articles of Confederation, which did not. Always there is a crisis that demands centralization of authority. The Civil War, 1913, WWI, the Depression, WWII, the Cold War... The problems always grow larger in scope, requiring a larger government with even greater authority. Now we have global problems that demand global authority.
How many people can see through this and say "no, the answer is decentralization?" Anyone who can will be denounced as a traitor, or as a terrorist, or as insane, or a child molestor, or something else that will discredit them. The individual can withdraw to his own plot of land and grow his own food, but he is controlled from so many directions that it is meaningless. The day is almost here when a person will be forced to pay a tax to exist, supposedly to mitigate the detrimental effect he has on the environment by his existence. One would think the Law of Diminishing Returns would apply, but it hasn't yet.