The debate constraints specify two strategies:
- Fixing the broken system
- Crafting an alternative system.
I submit that neither approach will succeed because because the flaw in ALL forms of governance is that most people will act in their own self interest BEFORE they act in the interest of the community, over time. We all have moments of selflessness but rarely sustain them.
Let’s quickly dismiss any attempt to repair the current governments. In every manifestation these forms of governance are examples of a few in power attempting to maintain an acceptable level of contentment for the masses. Their goal is to retain power and avoid rebellion. (I take this to be self evident and do not cite references to save space.)
The second strategy is generally called self governance. While admirable, every historic attempt I know of to establish a self- governing community (not to mention state or nation) has eventually failed. There is often early success but over time they morph into a dictatorship or disintegrate in chaos. Their duration is typically the generation of the founders. (Again, a quick search will reveal the supporting evidence. If I have missed one please tell me and I will quickly join that group, if they’ll have me ;-)
The principles of self-governance are deceptively simple. Just “do unto others as you would have them do unto you.” We all know WHAT we’re supposed to do but we all repeatedly fail to live our lives by that maxim. Our self interests will, over time, trump the interests of the community. When the crop fails and we’re all starving most parents will feed their own child before they feed the neighbor's child.
So is there ANY viable alternative? I think YES. It is merely a hybrid approach. The strategy is roughly as follows:
- First, learn to “fly under the radar” of your current government. Best is if it doesn’t even know you exist, but that’s rare. Eliminate any dependence you have on it. Expect nothing from it. Contribute as little as possible to it.
- Second, as an individual learn to be self-sufficient and self-sacrificing. Develop skills useful to a community so that if one forms you can contribute in a valuable way. Develop yourself to be selfless.
- Third, attempt to find or form a community of like minded individuals. BUT, be very clear that the community will probably NOT out live you and the next generation might have very different ideas and goals.
- Fourth, accept the practical over the ideal and move towards a benevolent coalition of shared and balanced power that governs the rest of the people. If you put their good above your own they will be happy, at least for a while. This is the REALLY hard part to sustain, especially int o the second generation and beyond.
- Fifth and final point, choose a location that is warm and sunny, preferably with good surf for @surfermarly and me. Alberta Canada is just TOO cold for most of us! Thanks @WWF and @FullTimeGeek. Let’s hope Steemit as a social experiment can afford us much insight.
Flying under the radar will no longer be possible when the final stages of the smart grid fall into place. There will be no land to take refuge as it will be eaten up in the wild lands project as the UN's agenda 21/2030 rolls on. How do you prepose we stop this global consolidation of land and power?
As @wwf has often pointed out ruling entities (governments) with their "global consolidation ... and power" are merely constructs which they self-define. Typically the ability to actually enforce these dictates are lacking. They most often focus on and enforce the few most critical to their survival. Flying under the radar implies avoiding those dictates most critical to their survival.
For example in the US collection of taxes is VERY important to the government (their 2013 budget was ~13 billion US dollars) but it's based on a concept of "taxable income"; to fly under the tax radar one merely needs to avoid making taxable income.
I don't believe there is a "fix" to the current state of affairs (i.e. central governments, central banks, etc) as we are discussing it here. (There is a solution proposed in The Revelation of the Bible but that's for another forum.) It's like the times when dinosaurs roamed the earth. If you were a small mammal during the Jurassic period you didn't pick a fight with the big guys. You learn to live in the shadows and hide in the bushes until they die off. Look where that strategy got them!