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Zero Hedge: What Should We Do?
Zero Hedge has the smartest readers of just about any site in the world ...
Most of us know that just about every government in the world is thoroughly corrupt, and that all of the economic indicators are wholly manipulated ...
And that the big insiders skew the playing field through high frequency trading, quote stuffing, insider dealing, central bank shenaningans, etc. ad nauseum ...
Most of us are just trying to protect our assets and our families ...
And we know that the big reset is coming, because the Matrix can only suppress reality for so long ...
So what's this about?
All of us together are smarter than any one of us individually. (I learn as much from reading your comments as I do from my own research and writing).
Here's the question: How do we build a sane, free world out of the ashes of the fallen system?
It's easy to point out the problems. But I want to hear from wiser souls as to SOLUTIONS.
How do we build local NETWORKS of mature, freedom-loving individuals so we can hit the ground running? After all, we can all go into our own caves to weather out the storm. But - at some point - we have to rebuild community and civilization.
Empires have collapsed one after another for thousands of years ... and then the people have seemingly started over at zero.
How do we build networks of trust, strenth and prosperity to weather the hurricane of change?
I'm not even pretending to have all of the answers. I'm just humbly trying to start the conversation ...
What do you think?
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I have to thank Zerohedge also for opening my eyes. I used to be a bit (a bit, no maybe a lot) PollyAnna-ish. Thinking that most people were inherently good and loving souls. In the last decade or so, I have come to realise that good, loving people are in fact, rare. And that really saddens me. Less is more. I sold my last house in 2013, spent 18 months in a rental in Toronto (as real estate prices there are totally stupid) and moved back to Montreal where I bought a tiny house for half the price I sold the last one. I am an engineer - selling electrical equipment and in my mind, that offers something useful to society. Escpecially in Quebec where we have an abundance of hydro power (which - relatively - pollutes a lot less than alternative energy sources). I am of Greek heritage - and will be visiting next month - and if any place is a poster child of government and bank abuse - Greece is it.
So to GW's question. What do we do? I think first we have to accept that the world has become global. Throwing up borders and walls is NOT the answer. That being said, there are major differences in the head spaces of people around the world - and just as much - people in different states - or even in different towns. So if we accept that the world is global and that communities now can span the globe - then how does one define "community"?
I shall wander with my thoughts. There are countries (Switzerland e.g.) where there are referenda for all sorts of different issues, on a canton by canton basis. A canton is actually quite a small community. This current political process of voting for a representative and president (in the US) who is supposed to represent a constutuent is archaic given the fact that with the number of people connected to the internet today - direct democracy is much more possible. But it doesn't seem to be encouraged by TPTB for obvious reasons.
So I think governments need to evolve and allow proportional representation, and more direct democracy - with oblogations for citizens to vote on issues. Yes, there is a lof ignorance in the electorate - yet - from what I see in comments from various websites (including this one) people (sheeple) are more and more awake in the west (we won't mention other societies that are not in the same place of progression as ours - but even that is OK as long as one accept that the whole world cannot all be in the same place at the same time).
But how to get there? That was the question raised by GW. TPTB will not release their grip without a revolution I fear. In Canada there are political parties calling for "evolution" of the political system away from the first past the post system we have today to more proportional representation. In Australia, voting is mandatory. It would not be a big step to allow voters to vote via the internet (and set up polling stations in post offices for those without internet access). But are we "mature" enough for participatory democracy? And to vote on real issues presented completely (wouldn't that be a switch) with real calculations on what a change would bring and what it would cost. But that would take having honest politicians - well perhaps that is the change required - not politicians but government representatives who are there to suggest programs and changes and in AN UNBIASED FASHION present the pros and cons.
But then I may be dreaming....and it will all have to burn before reconstruction.
Sorry for the ramble. Just some thoughts during a heat wave...
We need to make the government institutions, money, banking, and justice systems work for the people again, make it work for the public good, not the private good.
1 Remove the long term bureaucratic government institutions on a regular basis, independent reviews with teeth, corruption and you are out.
2 Make the politicians go through training, like a college degree prior to taking office, and have a licence that can be revoked for violations, at least they will know the difference between their own self interest and the pubic good.
3 Issue money as a credit through the Treasury, not a debt through private banks, debt has interest tied to it, which throws the system out of whack when that interest leaves the economic loop that the money circulates in, and resides in foreign banks.
4 Have the credit money enter the system through funding the government, removing the compounded interest that has crippled governments with its current funding scheme of issuing long-term bonds to foreign banks to fund itself. (if you think thats not viable look at the Bank of Canada 1936 to 1974, the only public Central Bank ever attempted and it worked https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q7HMt5MgsDg )
5 Remove derivatives from Commodities so that the people that actually make things happen get a fair price for their labour, not a skimmed off the top price from some banking institutional speculators.
6 Remove the leverage in banks, it introduces risk to something that is supposed to preserve capital and be a mechanism for the exchange of goods and services between people.
7 Reinstate the controls on banks to so that they are not involved with the stock market, putting the the entire system at risk.
8 Understand that Common Law is being totally ignored, and in its place the powers that be have a system designed to benefit the elites by pilfering fines, taxes, and even free labour (prisoners working for a cot and three meals a day). The only rule that we can all obey and be judged by boils down to one, do no harm.
Last but not least, understand that the education we received from public schools taught you what to think, not how to think. Take the time to focus the mind correctly at assessing what you hear and see everyday, and what you understand from the past to make a future that make sense. http://schoolsucksproject.com/category/podcast/the-trivium/
It will be ESSENTIAL to end coercive collectivism, government theft and parasitism, ie ALL entitlement schemes, ALL income redistribution schemes, all vote-buying schemes.
The simplest, fairest AND most moral solution is
everyone earns their own income
everyone pays for all their own expenses.
Although I agree in principle with what you are saying there should always be a safety net for those that fall on hard times through illness or accident. Just to stress though that safety net should be limited in scope and not be allowed to become an actual way of life for generations of ponses and handout queens.
Very simple free-market moral non-coercive solution to that problem is mishap insurance - you pay the premium and if you encounter a mishap, then you get the benefit, and of course charities, which receive donations VOLUNTARILY and payments are NOT CONTROLLED by politicians in return for votes.
That safety net should be local community, not some juggernaut federal government that can take from people at will to give to others. If you are going to give me charity, I should have to see how hard you worked for the fruits of your labor.
Is it worth it? You realize 7 billion people are too too many. So do you think a little set back then back to empire is really worthwhile endeavor. The real moral thing to do is wile humanity out. We suck for the planet. Any moral alien would take one look at us and innoculate earth to kill the disease. We aren't going to make it anyway
there is plenty to go around for all of us....
if our overlords would change from ALCOHOL & crappy big Pharma drugs to substances which allow us to really use our capabilities....
Well the elites seem to share your view - strategy seemds to work with white middle class Christians -promote homosexuality, abortion on demand, overtaxation and making medical and education costs to high people can't afford kids -but on the other hand, all other groups seem to be procreating like cockroaches and being relocated over here. Thier policy is not working so well.
Here's one way: http://www.fullcircleproject.net/
Here's another: http://www.thrivemovement.com/
These movements are BASED in an understanding that fiat currencies and central banks are, quite simply, evil instruments of oppression and societal manipulation and control. Both FullCircle and Thrive have tools for like-minded people, who care about bettering the world, locally and globally, to get together and strategize and be active as groups.
Cheers,
PrefabSprout
We need to start with basic principles. First and foremost is that we want direct democracy where people have not only control of their lives but also their money and not this farce where people vote every x years and politicians are able to do whatever they want and enable the theft of our hard earned money until the next election leaving the public with the only option of screaming in the street if they don't like what is being inflicted on them. So the first thing is to start the movement (what Occupy Wall Street should have focused on) is for citizens to be able to call binding referendums. The first referendum should be a law which prevents people to be taxed either directly or indirectly without the explicity consent of the public. That would already have a profound impact on everything!!!
"First and foremost is that we want direct democracy where people have not only control of their lives but also their money and not this farce where people vote every x years and politicians are able to do whatever they want..."
Switzerland works well under such a regime of independant Cantons being the first to approve (or not) any major changes presented to the Country.
"Zero Hedge has the smartest readers of just about any site in the world."
Have you read the comments lately?
The article said "readers," are the smartest, not writers of the comments.
How much have you tried reading comments on other sites? I found Zero Hedge to be less censoring!
I wish we had more censoring. We'd keep the idiots, racists, anti-semites, neo-nazis and neo-bolsheviks out. Because other sites enforce their comment policies, all that human detrtitus ends up here.
And how about the brainwashed Neocon and Zionist fucktards such as yourself?
I'll second that.
The 17th is unconstitutional, it violates Article 5's prohibition against taking the states' right to equal suffrage in the Senate via amendment. Being unlawful to begin with, the 17th does not need to go through the repeal process, all the states' have to do is withdraw their consent to it, as per Article 5, and seat their selection of Senators.
IF the states' legislators were to do this, it would effectively end the 100+ year rule of progressive (socialist) democracy and restore the Republic. It would also decimate the DNC/RNC national party apparatus and cut the corporate bribery funneled through campaign funding by half, leaving the remaining half ineffectual. It would force people who divide themselves along party lines to seek common ground and common goals to counter state's ambitions in congress. And of course, it would toss the biggest monkey wrench into the gears of the Neoliberal/Neocon's nation destroying, empire building machinations.
Over time, the people would withdraw their attention from the newly established Federal and focus upon the politics of local and state import, and states will regain their individual, independent personalities, establishing laws that work towards their own population's ends independent of other states and of Federal interference. We would, once again, become a nation of states, distinct.
States' repudiation of the unconstitutional 17th represents the fulcrum, the point at which the ever expanding centralized fascist police state can be overturned. All that needs to be done is to convince the states' legislators (the lever) that it is in their best interests to do it. They stick that one constitution based step into D.C., and we'll rush them with more constitution based reforms.
If nothing else, we'll discover exactly which side of the totalitarian fence the states' legislators are standing on.
This is probably the most intelligent and insightful comment Ihave read on ZH...and it is something which I had no understanding of at all.
It makes perfect sense to me...I knew the fight had to be made locally, but didn't understand how until I read oscars comment.
Thank you. If you have a blog, please post it
Personally, I'd like to set a meeting in the flesh. Begin connecting beyond the anon usernames and see if there are ways through our different skills, that we can strengthen the network and coordinate to confront the system.
4 years ago I might have done this, with some trepidation. Today? Not a snowball's chance in hell.
We should have a convention.
Imagine the mayhem at a members only Zero Hedge Lounge.
The first brawl of the evening would be when a member attempted to pay the bar bill and tip with Bitcoin...
Maslow has defined the path.
http://www.simplypsychology.org/maslow.html
Kornbluth has suggested a method.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Marching_Morons
To have a game plan suggests modeling of the future (worthy of the climate change models)to anticipate and prepare for most likely situations that will occur. I often mentally noodle with the Zombie Apocalypse, as do many others. Preppers have turned these mental gymnastics into an actionable plan, for the most part.
For the overwhelming majority, those with little or no marketable skill, will have to become tribal from the get go or die.
Jeremiah Johnson skills don't come from reading about it, this is really a small amount of people with the mental fortitude to remain independent and isolated from other peoples problems.
I envision most of us having prepared to a certain degree mainly surrounded our selves in a relatively isolated place with trusted people of varying skill, with a voice voted leadership.
Medieval town like , the enclaves are small and relatively self sufficient and self protective against modest problems and threats.
After surviving plague, religious purges, invading hoards of foreigners, it took only 500 years to build into the society we have today.
Utopia is is a worthy goal, but not achievable. Perhaps in the next life, if your beliefs lie in that direction.
The first crisis is suppressed technology. The patent department is mostly used for filtering out energy systems and classifying them. Abolish the patent department (or at least return it to its original mandate, which also means living organisms are unpantentable).
Second: we need a debt jubilee. Wipe out all debt. Lenders are speculators, and don't deserve seniority among asset classes. The Babylonians and others knew this thousands of years ago, but our leaders today are addicted to control.
Third: No more secrets. The elite are not of one mind, (some are actually on our side!) but the one thing they all agree upon is that their own power comes from keeping the people in the dark. History (and current examples) show that an informed people is a wealthy and empowered people.
It's all about collectivism. We the people function best with choices. Currencies must compete, banks must compete, retailers must compete, energy companies must compete. Our power comes from our choices, and collectivism always fails (at our expense).
A lot will depend on how things unfold during the collapse. If history is any guide, those in positions of power will do all they can to maintain their privilege making solutions much more difficult and possibly lead to even more chaos.
That being said, I think the Transition Town movement that is small scale and incorporates aspects of permaculture and local governance/industry/food/resources is perhaps the best approach (and one that will inevitably arise as limits to growth undermines globalization).
Additionally, detaching as much as possible now from the 'Matrix' and pursuing aspects of self-reliance and self-sufficiency will likely provide a better chance of surviving the transition that is to come.
Again, much depends on how the collapse proceeds and how the-powers-that-be react and complicate the changes.
http://olduvai.ca
Agree. A lot of "local restructure" will be nothing more than survival.
ALthough this empire, like every other, is collapsing under the obese weight of corruption, I think the soon 9 billion on this planet are facing a fundamental resource and "economic" challenge unlike any other generation, We have poisoned our soils, our water and even our larger systems. Beyond that, we have relied on fixed, finite and depleted systems but built evey other human system on the fiction of infinite growth.
The "fix" will be an exponential level beyond political
It may take a century
and I'm afraid a lot may die
On another note, have you tried Starbucks new Latte?
The 50 most important machines that it takes for modern life to exist:
http://opensourceecology.org/about-overview/
Dis-intermediate and marginalize the unreformable.
I don't believe it is possible to fix the current system. It would require to much buy in from the general population to even get started. And if any effort to fix the centralized system got going, regardless of intentions, my guess is that it would eventually evolve into the same disaster we currently face.
Media was upended by cheap publishing via the internet. I know established media did not approve. The results have been meaningful with regards to distributing previously esoteric knowledge.
Bitcoin is interesting. The blockchain or something like it could be helpful in marginalizing the current banking/finance system. Real money, like gold and silver is key, with something like the blockchain upending the current regime of financial services.
Micro-financing is also hard to ignore as a tool for marginalizing Finance.
Uber and it's ilk have disrupted the crony cab industry and interestingly it doesn't seem like Uber asked for permission.
I have heard rumors of an Uber like service for ambulances.
Next I'd look for an Uber for fire departments, followed by police, followed by defense.
I say Uber like, because Uber is centralized and will ultimately go the way of Napster, meaning something harder to control beyond even BitTorrent will need to take the 'reigns'.
We're gonna need a decentralized network as well and mesh networks are interesting to think about for this purpose.
Power is another concern that needs decentralizing. Solar is OK, but distilling alcohol for power could play a roll as well. And there is micro hydro-power and wind. It all depends on were you are.
A generic solution would be to replace centralized services with networks and protocols, while distributing responsibility for infrastructure and utilities.
I agree with your thoughts about decentralizing networks and involving everyone. It is tricky, but it can be done.
1. Will the system collapse? IDK but it needs too, otherwise we are all going to be slaves. I think this system can go on for a very long time, unless something happens like a popular revolt.
At this point in time I think the best thing we as a collective of freedom loving americans can do is prepare ourselves for what is coming and do our best to be successful as individuals. When we become powerful and gain indepdendence and influence as individuals we then have to network and form organizations based on mutual interest. We should be nepotistic and insular and use our organizations to destroy those who have worked against us, legally. We should keep lists and remember all those who worked against us and activly seek their destruction. At first silently as moving against those in power now is largely suicide. In the chaos that may come though, they will be the king of the hill and they will have the burden of many enemies and a loss of power. We can't let the anti humanists who have gotten us to this point regain the reigns of power if we do come into a period of decline.
This is a game of us or them. They have been playing for keeps for a lot longer than us. They have been taught since birth that we are to be used and then discarded as dead heaps of flesh. We have been fed propaganda for generations telling us how we are evil and need to help other groups before ourselves. It is time to shut out the other groups and leave them exposed for what they are. Creatures of shit utterly incapable of building a glorious civilization.
the only way to get to critical mass of people who will take a stand is to let the system collapse.
Trump and Sanders are a product of the leading edge of disgust with the status quo but the overwhelming majority of Bourgeois are not yet ready to fight but are recognizing that system is totally corrupt with organized crime a every level.
for the system to change the Bourgeois must be ready for revolution - the poor do not count
Chip implants for all elected officials, real-time public access to all phone calls and digital communication attempts, and 24/7 audio/video live feeds would go a long way towards putting the help back in the servants quarters rather than the master bedroom.
If one has doubts about starting over and getting things running, you should consider the fact that during WWII the Russians were being invaded by massive German armies. What did the Russians do? They dismantled their industrial base, put it on railroad cars and transported it eastwards were it was unloaded, reassembled and began producing war materials necessary to help defeat the Germans. A government didn't do that, politicians didn't do that, political parties didn't do that, priviledged leaders didn't do that, the elite didn't do that, COMMON individuals collectively working accomplished that amazing feat!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FLMVB0B1_Ts
I think at this point about the only thing that can be done is to stop working, and stop paying income tax. Pull your money out of the banks, except enough to cover monthly expenses. Starve the beast.
Problem is, how large a percentage of the workforce is required to affect change? 5%, 10%, 20%?
I think now, there are less than 5% really awake or care enough to consider doing anything. Of that 5% probably less than 20% could actually afford to quit their jobs and stop paying into the system. That only leaves 1% of the population that could and would be willing to do what had to be done.
Yes the stall would be the least painfull way to get the ball rolling. It has another advantage in that it does not depend on force and in turn allows for real honest debate. Todays choices are forced on us and the results are consistantly bad.
With force as the controling issue the truth is not relavent.
The KISS (keep it simple and stupid) principle works, but nobody can keep their nose out of their neighbors business with "if I don't like it, you can't do it". Big complex solutions to minor problems got us into this mess and until we reach the point of "enlightened self-interest" things won't change. We can argue and debate, but until we learn to leave each other alone, we'll just keep repeating the insanity.....
You can pick your friends and you can pick your nose but you can't pick your friend's nose. Live a healthy life, take care of family, and drive defensively. If you have to explain the Golden Rule to somebody, stay away from them.
Yes, "do unto others" would be good and it wouldn't be any radical departure from the behavior of most humans imho.
The problem is, moast people in authority do not go by "do unto others" at all and that's how they got there. Corruption and fraud are so deep now, the crappiest elements of humanity rise to the top. Getting rid of them is going to take very strong medicine that normal decent people would loathe to administer.
http://afreedomparty.us/
http://american3rdposition.com/
http://www.theoccidentalobserver.net/
https://www.stormfront.org/forum/index.php
If anything we have too many "networks" screaming for more power and money.
Government tyranny is THE problem:
Fire half the kleptocrats.
Cut the salaries of those remaining by 50%.
Cut the benefits by 90%.
Wash, Rinse, Repeat, until the tyranny is under control.
Given the 5 trillion in additional unfunded mandates each year on ~18 trillion GDP, I suspect that is about the magnitude of the cure required. But since there is no political will to implement and mitigate the worst effects of such draconian measures by choice, reductions equivalent to these will occur in the natural course of things.
true Kaiser, humanity has been cut away from nature & growing our own.... re-legalize nature and get rid of the monopoly money, and the bureaucrats & kleptocrats might SEE another way to live... as it is, the impossibility of resisting the Matrix is in effect for most...
see my above post, giving Agent Smith the AVATAR K&D medicine is how to begin dismantling the structure of the Matrix.
see below image of the neural structure of an "un-turned on" brain versus the brain after ingesting psychedelic mushrooms (psylocybin)
https://walacea.com/wp-content/uploads/edd/2015/03/Simplified-visualizat...
I agree with your sentiment,
but don't drop any of them off in my neighborhood.
A great starting point would be true accountability. Starting with the government. The very notion that it is not corrupt is just plain silly. Yet as it stands now that subject is taboo.
After that gets delt with many of todays issues will sort themselves out fast.
Kick starting an organic economy should be fairly simple. Get out of my way and me and others like me will do our thing.
I'd like to share a revelation that I've had during my time here. It came to me when I tried to classify your species and I realized that you're not actually mammals. Every mammal on this planet instinctively develops a natural equilibrium with the surrounding environment but you humans do not. You move to an area and you multiply and multiply until every natural resource is consumed and the only way you can survive is to spread to another area. There is another organism on this planet that follows the same pattern. Do you know what it is? A virus. Human beings are a disease, a cancer of this planet.
AGENT SMITH
p.s. I rather suspect that only a theocracy with The Trinity in charge that the cure will arrive.
++double plus, eishund for the Matrix reference...
see my above post about the medicine that does in fact treat this human "cancer" problem....
No special rights or priveledges except for those with a true disability.