How does it come that a government has authority over us as individuals? What is this agreement where we get ‘protection of our rights and liberties’ in exchange for submitting to authority?
This contract is supposedly free to join but what if you don’t want to join? Is that a possibility?
I don’t have that feeling. Everywhere I want to go and live, I need a permission. Everything I want to own, is taxed. Everything I am doing, is tracked.
My identity belongs to a government since birth and that government will know about my whereabouts through her numerous worldwide embassies.
Governments are everywhere!
Help, I don’t want them!
Do we need them?
What is a government? How did it come into existence?
Humans tend to live together in groups and group-animals show certain characteristics. They fight over rights to food, space, sex with whom etc. You might counteract his but in this stage of humanity, I think that is a valid statement. Painful but true.
In the old times, much of these fights got resolved in a very natural way. The strongest would win or the strongest group would win. Alliances became important, joining the alliance would give protection and would take some personal freedom.
There are a lot more factors leading to the more complex government but it basically boils down to the principle of forming a strong bond together to defeat the other or shall I express it more softly? To defend what supposedly belongs to the formed alliance.
Once the alliance is formed, power is theirs. If you want to join, obey the rules!
Do we need a government?
Ha, we don’t need anything, the question is wrong. The question is what will happen if we decide to drop the whole thing.
I think it is important to realize that the same human behaviors will still be there. Person 1 wants something from person 2 and the game starts all over. Person 2 will have to use his intelligence or his power to defend himself or submit. This will happen all over society and some will be more successful than others. The more successful ones will have the same conflicts between themselves and the strongest/smartest of them will become the chief, leader, whatever you want to call it.
The chief will pick out some allies to help maintain his/her power and there we go, we would have this structure again which we could call government.
My first point in this post Is that we humans never decided to have governments, they just happened and as long we don’t evolve into the next higher awareness human being, some kind of government will always emerge whether we like it or not.
While I am anarchist in nature, I can’t deny my own conclusion here. I love to say F#@#$ the government but as long as we are humans, some structural organization will always pop up, it is unavoidable.
It is a difficult one for which I definitely don’t have a solution.
I have some hopes in blockchain technology. It might bring more transparency into our governmental structures and it is promising on the level of new structures. Another promising aspect is that we can maybe lower the currency manipulation and control. This will diminish the money power dominating our world society because the strongest in these days is not defined by muscles or intelligence, money is the new power.
I dream of an autonomous organization without anybody on the top really. Eliminating the middleman or not-needed man in politics probably means nobody is needed, I had a dream…
The ecotrain question of the week is “What one thing do you think individual people can do to make a positive impact on humanity?”
This is my twisted post around this and my answer is “Work on yourself”.
I once was told a beautiful story. Every human carries 2 bags. One is carried in front and contains all the mistakes of other people. The other is carried on the back and contains your own mistakes. We only see the bag in front, the mistakes of others. We should switch bags to make the world a better place.
I have lived in many countries and communities and always encountered the human behaviors I talked about in this post. You can argue and claim you live in the dream community but dreams are dreams and it would be better to become aware of these behaviors in yourself. Are you following big wallets and high reputations? Would you love to be a whale? Etc.
Unless we are catapulted to a higher awareness by faith, the most fruitful thing we can do is to cultivate our own higher awareness. There are many paths. I am not your guru but I try to be my own guru and what works best for me is very simple. I maintain inner silence for 10 minutes a day, i.c. I sit and become aware. It is pure magic that turns life into a never-ending flow of events that you don’t judge but merely witness.
Much love,
Bub
Enjoyed, the article, Yes and can see how much the government dislikes us who live off-grid, they have less control, and that we are semi nomadic too...All over the world nomadic people are persecuted due to this. Where I live in South Spain there are more and more people popping up wanting to live as far out of the goverments clutches as possible, even if thats a small bit its all in the positive decentralizing direction, in answer to your question what do i believe would make a positive impact on humanity...i'd say growing our food together and eating it together :-)
Oh my God, don't know how you found me but happy you did :-)
Following with you with loads of pleasure, love to see the truck-life community taking off here, big hug to Mark. My children are a bit older (11 & 14), we just moved from the mountains in South India to Goa as they were really bored of sitting on the mountaintop and want to experience more (activities, other children). We are looking at South Europe as well, i am waiting on Mark to find the spot actually :-), the difficult part is the schooling as homeschooling is not an option for now, considering e.g. Orgiva.
Much love beautiful ama
Hello! im really starting to enjoy this Steemit and the beautiful connections!, Yep its kinda like be were the kids are happiest and then life is easier for everyone! its funny cause id really love to leave Orgiva and go up into the high mountains but right now i can hear my son and marks kids along with ashlinns kids having a wild fun time outside my van! He has fun 24/7 here and i cant move him right now! and its a great area for kids, they are young enough for the free school but there is also a really great programme run for older kids, where the kids choose as many subjects as they like ranging from maths and science to sewing and carpentry with people experienced in teaching these subjects that live around here, kids share class costs as in two kids in a class...5 euro each. then they can take the english GCSEs or spanish exams later when they feel ready, a great guy called andy organizes it. wishing you a smooth transition from mountains to coast :-) lovely to make contact! best wishes Fran
You are clearly a great soul Fran, sending you all love from India. People come here looking for guru's not recognising the guru in their own children. Going with the flow of your children is surrendering to the guru, way to go, much love
We are not far in the new year yet, but this is the nicest and the wisest I heard for a long time. :-)
Hey there, thanks for your beautiful words. Seeing the beauty in this tells me a lot about your beauty, unstoppable shower of beautiful souls here on Steemit.
I see 2 grown up children, are they +20? Mine are 11 & 14 yr, getting closer :-). I see many, many with children -10 and sometimes difficult to connect as they don't see the big change that happens half way. Anyway, bit short on time now, will follow to see what you're up to, much, much love.
:-) my children are 26 and 27 girl and boy @wanderingkells and @james-hugo, but both still at home. Thank you for your kind words. I keep an eye on what you write ! :-)
Great article @bubke!
When I was in college I had my first "WTF" moment. I was about to finish my last year, had a job to pay for accommodation and trying to change the world with my Bachelor project. I had money but very little time to spend it, and I began to think what would my life look like in 5 years? or 10? I felt like a robot. That feeling corrupted my whole being for a few weeks, and I began seeing the world made out of "robots". So I noticed what drives people to do certain things. It was overwhelming. It was like an open hood to the insides of a society.
I think that when zooming in (with Hubble or smth), governments are just a manifestation of feelings (and everything) that exist in man. It's a circle because it creates the same behavior.
Hendrix got it right: "When the power of love overcomes the love of power, the world will know peace."
I'm glad to see that people are starting to shift their perspectives, and being more aware, Steemit is the living proof of this. Change is often a sum of parts, if more people begin to question the "order", eventually all people will question it.
The paradox is that all that has happened had to happen this way to get us so far, so there's no point in putting real anger in there. It would be best for everybody if "Change"-whatever it may be, would be preceded by a peaceful transition.
I don't do a lot of posting, my most desired reward is that a post brings me another amazing soul here on Steemit. It is my pleasure to meet you @demostene, your insights are sharp, sharing is there, humor is there, you make my day :-)
Good old Jimmy, yes, what happened to that generation? "The power of love, a force from above, cleaning my soul", that was from my time meaning Frankie probably stole the lyrics from earlier times :-)
Thanks for such a magnificent comment, truly appreciated in Steemit style, upv, fol, etc.
Thank you very much @bubke! To many more insightful talks :D
I SUPER LOVE your response @demostene. I love that Steemit is bringing us all together and that we have an opportunity to share these awakenings and true possibilities. I'm glad you got the "WTF" moment---and in college!!! YAY!!! There is some awakening happening there. As the wise one @quinneaker has quoted "Contrast is essential to experience". I so agree with that.
It's great to meet you. Already followed you!
great to meet you too @everlove and thank you for your reply :) I wrote a short poem about contrasts, you can read it on my blog. I have followed you back, i'm grateful to meet people here to have these conversations :D
I too am grateful for people to talk with REAL things about! Grateful to have found you. I will stop by your blog and take a sweet little tour. Have some chickens and a garden to attend to first, but will be delighted to visit you.
Your thoughts echo mine. I really resent government control, but until we as humans change how we act in the world this will always be a reality. As cliche as it sounds I try to be the change I want to see. Sometimes more successfully than others, as I am only human. In my country the issue of racism remains a volatile and ever relevant subject. This is one of the major issues I address in my everyday life.
Sometimes it feels as if society has no hope. But I have seen hope. It is in our children. Millenials can be some of the most naturally awake people you could ever meet. My daughter is a yoga teacher and doesn't buy (haha) into our consumer lifestyle. This is not even a concious desicion. It just is. I also love scrolling through her boyfriend's fb feed. There is always a post or 10 that I love.
I don't know the name for the generation that comes after the millenials. But this is what I heard my 12 year old son describe a friend who is not as intellectually gifted as he is. He told me the friend is "brain young".
I have hope.
You are wise as a tree @onetree :-) New generations bring new hopes and hope on itself has already a magical transforming power. Let's hope :-)
I wholeheartedly agree you @onetree that the hope for humanity lies with our children. Gratefully, those of us in the know about these things can hold space for this new generation to truly enact their powers and help remove the obstacles that stand in the way. Such is already happening where I live at the @gardenofeden. Together in our sustainable eco-village we are being the change we wish to see--questioning everything and embracing great change. There is indeed hope. I believe it is those of us who know have the responsibility to make it so. Great to connect -- following you.
Thank you @everlove I have been following @gardenofeden for a long time now and I so admire what you are doing!
Blessed to have you with us @onetree. Together we are strong!!
GREAT post!!! its good to understand how things came to be as they are.. and that it WAS the result of Anarchy . and got us to where we are.. which is, in my opinion, on the cusp of needing nothing again. Now we have the potential for technology to save us.. once the clamps of State dissolve.. in time, it is inevitable.. Then real technology will be created, that can offer us free power, and free materials .. and we can truly move into the Golden Age.
As with everything,, it is all cycles in the great game of life.. spread over millennia of Yuga's. What goes up must come down!..
Wise words @eco-alex, totally right! Up..down, up..down, no doubt. But how to lift it all up eh? We already have abundance on Earth, it is just not distributed right. Only way out is self-knowledge, self-awareness, birth of the next-generation human. Thanks for nice comment, love.
its SO easy!!! all you have to do is..
WAIT!..
and try enjoy yourself and help others whilst you are doing that! ;-)
We dont need the government, but the government needs us.
Ultimately, we'll have to wait the end of humanity to see an end to the traits that define it, including but not limited to (in light of the post's context) authority (superiority), citizenship (inferiority), freedom/crime/anarchy (frustration, anger, rebellion) ..etc, because unfortunately, humanity can't simply "be".
The human race mostly speaks for itself, if it does not like something, it will reach a breaking point at which they decide to change it, in the end - doomed to repeat it's mistakes - humanity somehow goes back to the beginning of the circle, again.
Humanity is a flaw, but flawed doesn't mean bad, there's no good or bad from a purely objective point of view, that said, it does has a fairly vivid, colorful charm.
Personally, i'd rather let things take their course, observe, listen, learn and improve, and maybe, at some point, i'll share my life's musings through practical means.
Hi @sandstrider, what an amazing comment, i feel blessed today. A few weeks ago, I saw a post on Steemit showing that our growing population is flattening out. Humanity reaches adulthood, it was called and then some statistics were shown how much land we could all have etc. I was dreaming away in lucid colors, imagine we could just share this beautiful planet. What you say is a lot more realistic and i notice - also in my post - that the doomed idea is somewhat filtered out of my mind, i would say that hope gives more sense to my life. I am clearly a dreamer, the mind comes in many forms :-) I truly enjoyed your writing, everybody makes me see things in different light today. Respect and thanks. I keep on rereading some on your phrases, 'a farily vivid, colorful charm', 'sharing life's musings through practical means', 'to see an end to the traits that define it', beautiful.
You flatter me, thank you.
I like to keep a certain balance between both hope and realism, so as not to have baseless dreams, and having said that, your hope is not so far fetched as to say it's a dream.
As a race, we're nothing if unpredictable, we've blown realism out of the way more than once to evolve (as we usually do), I do however take a more passive approach to it all, I like to observe, learning how everything works takes time and patience, and as I pointed in my last article, our way of relaying information is particularly flawed, but maybe i'll find a good way to do just that.
Trying to find a way to not re-create past mistakes is a serious undertaking, a lesson that we don't seem to get yet, and one of the reasons to this is, is it's complexity, because we'd literally be nothing but logical robots without humane feelings if we did.
In our lives, if we try to avoid a certain mistake, we end up falling in another, or so i've learnt, that's why a different approach is always needed, THAT is what humanity is all about, to learn, adapt and be creative.
This quote is my favorite on the matter, as are all of Einstein's quotes, really. Your post is one to think hard about.
Wise words again @sandstrider, clarifies a lot what you said before. I noticed i followed and unfollowed you a while ago bevause of too many resteems, following you again, please resteem a bit less :-). I would like to hear you. xxx
I'll try. :))
I've only posted about 3 times, though, so you haven't missed out on much.
Hey you, are you still around?
Wow, can you share the article :-o
I strongly agree that our culture is missing with its definition of "freedom". Though freedom is a pretty abstract concept, I do believe at this point there is none.
@bubke Self-awareness is the key to almost everything and is one of our greatest assets. If we cultivate this, we are in for a big surprise.
At the end of it we are going to be standing on the other side saying to ourselves "Wow, that was one hell of a ride! But we made it"
Much love! ❤
Hey @szuri, thanks for being here. You clearly understand the idea of this post and the power of self-awareness. I like the positive hopes in the comments. The other side might as well be the afterlife for me but hey, let's enjoy the ride :-) Big hug.
"Wow, that was one hell of a ride! But we made it"
That is the plan. We sure are cutting it close but I do think this cosmic drama has some natural laws in play and I do think humanity has a bright future, as hard as it is to imagine sometimes.
I could not help but notice the caution in your words. You say you 'hope' new technology 'might' bring about the change we need. I'm very skeptical by nature so I tend to be very cautious as far as dreams or hopes are concerned.
Maybe our best bet is indeed higher awareness, but the problem is so many people are busy running around to meet all the deadlines in their lives that they don't even take a second to question their fate.
What we need is more people having a 'WTF' moment, like @demostene puts it. (so glad to see he's a fellow countryman!)
You noticed that very well @ladyrebecca, i was very cautious with my words for the same reason as you mentioned; i am not too convinced and skeptical. I do have the same feelings with the higher awareness idea so yes, we need a massive WTF moment, a massive change of perception, growth of awareness but OMG, WTF, another hope, another dream, i have the feeling my next post is going to be about a serious depression here :-) Will spend some time with my children in the next days hoping (omg, again) that i see some new generation light in there as @onetree was describing. Thanks for your comment @ladyrebecca, you got me thinking here...
I'm sure spending time with the kids it's the best thing you can do.
I love this post it echos very much how I feel about governments. I want to live without them. I often work in Anarchist collectives. But I also know what you say is 100% true. If they just ended today it would end up the same movie with a different title and cast. You said
"Unless we are catapulted to a higher awareness by faith, the most fruitful thing we can do is to cultivate our own higher awareness. "
I also believe this to be true which why I consider myself a spiritual anarchist.
Thanks for the great read I always look forward to your posts.
A spiritual anarchist, i like that :-) That's also why i coined the term crypto anarchist for myself. It will be crypto or spirit that can help us :-)
It´s all in the mind!
Therefore I would like more people, to not think, that it is normal and necessary to be ruled by some form of government. Regarding the education of the masses in that respect, I very much like the works of Larken Rose, his youtube videos, The Mirror and Candles in the Dark Projects.
Looked into Larken Rose, i guess he will have some valid contra-tax statements but what he tried legally is a joke, he would have gotten more chance (still 0%) to approach it from the Freedom standpoint. We had somebody in Belgium making a point from that standpoint and he got very far but lost finally in the European court in Den Haag. Those are heroic actions, i remember also somebody (a law professor actually) sueing the government because he was ammended for not carrying a passport. Same story, big headlines and final loss in the European court. It is bad for the moral, everybody gets hope and then concludes that nothing can be done. Some form of government is needed, we have to redesign it, to be ruled by it sounds harsh and not needed in a literal sense indeed, love.
Let me do some research on all this, i'll come back to you :-)
There really big human accomplishments that would have been very difficult without high levels of functioning groups. Even if you take the military out of it. But bridges, roads. air traffic control, landing on the moon, science, as in basic research. Education. Before public education only the wealthy had access. But I hope there are ways to improve.
Thanks @icmultitudes, most of these accomplishments are a double edged sword. To use them in a wise way will define the adulthood of humanity. After reflecting on all the comments today, I lost a lot of hope or maybe better, I see i am made out of hope and dreams and that reality is kind of filtered out. I need a good sleep i guess, much love.
New day, new thoughts, i like the little movie fragment of @tim-rumford here. Yes, there are a lot of positive developments through governmental structures, I agree :-)
I am so narrowly focused these days all Incan say is thank God there are reasonable roads that lead to the hospital! And an electric grid that supplies energy to machines that save people :)
yeah right lol :-)
Didnt Gideon post that clip recently? Lol 😂
No we don't NEED governments, governments are established by powerful people to get MORE power.
Governments are used to control people and tax them. The average person has now been conditioned to actually believe that they DO NEED governments.
Though even back in the day before guns or cars the king would pay mercenaries to raid villages so they would NEED protection. Then the king would say, see you need my army by solders and the fear of a king. Pay your taxes and I will protect you. 9/11 EXACT same thing.
So it may appear based upon how irresponsible and dependent humans are that we do need governments but that is simply a result of conditioning.
Finally, was waiting on you, what would a post like this be without your comment? The symbolic 50th comment on this post, now i can let go of this matter :-)
You are off course fully right, we don't need governments and the so called need of them has been forced in very ugly ways. It's exactly that last part that turns a natural manifesting organisation into some ugly beast, that's a spot on remark because i was looking for the elements that turn it around. The other one probably being the element of power/money that automatically comes into play when a select few get to decide for the others. Nice one, love and thanks!
I am grateful that this and other comments are valued by you. it is part of the reason why I am sure to leave comments on your posts. The other is that you regularly make posts worth some contribution to the discussion as you post about things with value.
I am grateful we found each other here on Steemit and that we are helping each other and Steemit as a whole have a better experience!
Will look out for your next post. SteemON!
Ah, I feel you.
All the so-called democracies are a dictatorship too, I think.
A dictator for five years till the next election.
But again, will not life be chaotic if we were all scot-free?If an animal kills another, there's no punishment.
I have seen politics in the animal kingdom too, from my observation of stray dogs I fed near my house. They have territories and 'tribe-chiefs' too, who no dog would mess up.
Back to the point: 'one world, one humanity' would be an excellent idea, nonetheless.
The human-animal comparison is always interesting as yes, we see all these behaviours in the animal world. That's why at the end of the post, i realise there is probably only one way out, us becoming the next evolution, the enlightened fully aware human being and writing that last part, i almost ended up in a depression, we are very far from that :-)
Greek philosophers - Plato and Aristotle talked about enlightened societies.
In 2003, I was into Osho all the time. I remember he mentioned the evolution of the consciousness, not the body. There was an American anthropologist in the Katmandu retreat who thought it's tough to address that question.
But yes, an enlighted humanity should be the solution.
Great post. Be your own guru. Well said. That 10 mins a day makes all difference, doesn't it? I have a similar practice and I agree if everyone worked on themselves we could all take better care of each other and the world. But look to the bag on your back. Cheers
Thanks! +10 min/day in awareness and -10 min/day on Steemit, good formula :-)
Mos Def tried to live in South Africa with the international passport. This is a real thing that you can do, at least it's supposed to be. SA is on the list of countries who claim to recognize such documents. Unsurprisingly, he was arrested and eventually deported back to America.
The paradox of humanity is that to a large extent we only know what it looks like coming from a place of lack, that's seemingly how we started off in nature, if not than at least that's the history we've learned and so we carry it with us.
I am skeptical about future technological developments, not because I don't see potential but because we haven't evolved on a spiritual level enough to fully enjoy the abundance that our current technology could provide.
As for how to deal with government, ideally, we won't need it, but we need to work with what we have, which is not to say everyone needs to work with what we have.
Governments main goal should be to render itself obsolete. We need to believe that maybe it could be possible, but also recognize that it'll be a process. A govt like this may sound impossible to most, but if we could start with more politicians like Sanders and Corbyn, not only at the national level but at a local level, many possibilities open up. Imagine sustainable communities being protected by the government or even encouraged instead of being forced out by gentrification.
I think the first step is to increase all forms of social experimentation in safe settings and to push for protection of such experimentation. From there perhaps we could create new cultures which are more in harmony with our planet and with other communities .
This is a topic for one of my future posts but the hippies didn't fail. They paved way for countless things including the sharing of ideas between east and west, and occupy. Occupy didn't fail either, the seeds planted at that time are still growing.
Your answer for the question of the week is fantastic
Beautiful reflections on this @whatamidoing. Small significant steps is indeed what should be pushed here and now, the topic is too big to tackle or to be subject to an immediate resolution, i like your view on this. I am reducing my Steemit time a bit, a kind of a 'life is a live thing' going on, almost missed your beautiful comment, much love.
I love your post @bubke.
You highlight something that many people can't see, the need for government and the fact that governments aren't what most people think they are and they're not going to save our world, they are in fact the ones creating the issues!
Your solution is very insightful. We can think that working on ourselves and our own issues isn't enough, but it changes how we react with the world and the more people who do this the aware humanity becomes and the more it will have to change to be in alignment with the new beliefs of humanity.
Yes @michellecarter, well said, the butterfly wings leading to the hurricane, i almost lost my hope yesterday after reading many comments, thanks for turning it around again!
Governments along with other authority do a really good job of making us think they are working for us and doing lots of good, whilst the money is syphoned off behind the scenes. This is a huge concept for people to take on and accept, (hence the need for feeling the Truth!)
I'm pleased my comments have helped you, it's great to feel supported in the 'down' moments so we can spring back quicker! :)
If we can see the world for what it truly is then we can change this world in a heartbeat. An higher awareness is needed, I full heartedly agree with your post. Or is it consciousness? Damn it gets confusing sometimes. Love
:-)
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STOPHello @bubke & All.
If government small scale is a way to push back on bullies, and government grows to become a bully, how about intentionally keeping that non-bullying agreement small scale?
I'm not sure how. I only started considering anarchy a few weeks ago after having been a lousy Libertarian for a few decades.
Thanks for any ideas on keeping it small instead of annihilating it. Maybe that a daoist thing of a small like nothing is total yin or total yang.
Hey @gregvence, this is one of these comments i would love to print out and hang on my wall :-) And then maybe one day, i will have an answer for you...
We just need peace and love!
Be light!
Be happy!
Enjoy @nature.art, another kind of art!
💌
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STOPYou said it. I pretty much have come to the same conclusion. Beautifully written. Thank you.
Agreed.
Can't wait to read all of your posts man... Some truth spilled right here. Big ups!
Thanks @raxeira, welcome to Steemit, you got a powerful opening post there, like it :-)
Thank you so much, Ill soon start to post my writings so if you liked this, follow for more. I also plan to cover similar topics to yours. Really like and admire your work... Keep up! Looking forward to seeing more of it :)
ok, followed, ready for your posts :-)
I wish I could resteem this. Happy to be still able to put it on fb. It is so nice when you find people that say the things in how you believe they are, but never get it said that way.
this is really nice from you i like it
Hi @deepweeb, thank you, i see you are very new on Steemit, welcome! Participating in comment sections is probably the best you can do but it's good to have at least 1 post a week and not too many resteems so i e.g. can see what you do and maybe follow you and upvote your last posts... You are also missing a short description in your profile. This all being said, i am off course very grateful for your resteem :-) Enjoy Steemit, it is great!