A parade of ideas in the form of modish -isms concerning the betterment of society is put through its paces each day. The social media intelligentsia dream up progressively complex systems by which we can free ourselves of the modern technocratic, oligarchic, gerontocratic, or kakistocratic enslavement.
The end of dollar hegemony will bring about significant change to the US as it is forced to balance the books like everyone else. This will put an end to the rampant fascist military albatross molesting the planet. The world will rejoice.
As for a practical measure to change western economies for the average Joe - limit the speculation in the property market by only allowing people to have one house. If landlords want to build homes to rent rather than just monopolise the existing supply then they can be a taxable company or publicly owned.
Also tax bank interest at 100% and reduce income tax proportionally so the private banking parasites reinvest money into the productive economy.
Not convinced the Fed has as much power as many think.
Treasury calls the shots and Fed another instrument of maintaining US dollar over-valuation along with WB and IMF etc.
My view: Fed will be used to create higher inflation as US monetizes debt for the next few years and will then take the blame and the "End the Fed" people will get their wish. After the fact.
As long as USG fights to defend international role of USD, the Fed is crucial, and will only end with by political decree.
I think we have to start smaller. By now, everyone should understand nobody in power really cares about the will of the people. The reason why is simple -- any threat must be backed with an "or else". As of yet, we have not supplied the "or else". This is why BLM won and covid protests failed.
To this end, I suggest radical individualism and radical self-sufficiency. The entire political machine depends on people needing the government in some way. If we take personal control of our health, food supply, data, and intellectual pursuits, the State and all of its minions will quickly be rendered obsolete. We must starve the beast.
Put a cap on wealth, ie how much one individual may own. If personal wealth is limitless, it will eventually capture everything, the economy, politics, culture, to consume human souls and the environment in the fastest and most efficient possible way, exponentially.
1. As a practical matter, the result of sortition would be to increase the power of the government bureaucracies.
2. Also as a practical matter, I suspect that the process of corrupting government officials until the reformers are as rotten as the people they were elected to get rid of involves less bribery and more "Yes, Minister".
3. As an aside, the median age of the U.S. Congress today is greater than that of the Brezhnev-era Politburo.
I agree with all of these. The problem however, is that the American system today is completely and totally corrupted. Corporations have bought our politicians and federal agencies. And, if they can't buy them, then they'll blackmail them. It's difficult to imagine a scenario where enough Representatives, Senators, and Judges are elected to impose real change on the system. In fact, our systems is designed to prevent too many new people from getting elected at any one time. I think change, for better or worse, will only come with some massive economic calamity that kills corporate financial power. Or, if enough Americans see that the game is rigged and decide to jail (or worse) all the corrupt politicians and CEOs responsible.
One other thing that's been on my mind lately, which I've been sharing all over substack. The America and Federal Government/Bureaucracy that exists today is literally nothing like the Founding Institutions, and is, in reality, the complete and total opposite of what the Founders established. We, Americans, have to let go of this fantasy that the Federal and State Governments today are in any way similar to the Founding. They're not. The America that was founded in 1776 ended after the Civil War. The America that existed after the Civil War ended with the creation of the Federal Reserve and the Federal Income tax in 1913 followed by WW1. The America that existed after WW2 ended with the Immigration and Nationality Act of 1965 and the Implementation of No Fault Divorce. The USA today is nothing, NOTHING even close to the 13 States that existed at the Founding. Also, the Founding that we all LOVE to talk was created via Revolution. Americans picked up arms and fought and died.
As an outsider I remain gobsmacked at just how ignorant Yanks in general are, how they venerate Israel, are either red or blue with ZERO actual thought given to policies and practices. 100% agree that a two party system is practically a guarantee of corruption and age and term limits are a must.
Say three terms and not allowed ANY government position for another two terms, this would include panels and consultancies.
ALL political candidates and their families finances need to be public knowledge.
Any number of your suggestions would create a fascist state. Much lesser suggestions may work, such as preventing lobbying, preventing dark money in elections, instituting an age limit on Congressional and Presidential candidates.
"The whole point of this list is to be as un-ideological as possible, in terms of political systems; rather than propounding the various communisms, monarchisms, and the like, we’ll stick to low-scale practical changes which can be adopted as amendments or equivalent."
You don't like isms, or in other words, historically worked out analysis and solutions for capitalism.. which, sorry, is another one of those dreaded isms which the entire world has lived within for say 500 years, but it came after...hold on... fuedalism. Sorry. Don't kill the messenger.
Ok. But what could be more practical than just cutting out the middle man and making all profit from production into public property to be used for the good of all? And even more practical you can simply take all the ill gotten gains of finance capital and make that public property for the benefit of all. Oh, and you forgot ending all wars except defensive or those to dislodge the billionaire oligarchs from vampiracly taking all the wealth and product of human labor from the actual laborers.
We'd all like it to be as simple as low-scale practical changes, but that's not where we are at. The problems are radical and thus radical corrections are required.
All the stuff you mentioned is great, except for maybe states rights, which we already fought a bloody war over when some of the states wanted to keep other humans as slaves. Imagine that.
But you just try a single one of those initiatives without a social revolution. Try it in this system we now inhabit. It will fail and if it has too much success it's leaders will be bought off or intimidated into silence. It's a hard thing to accept but there is no democracy in the west. Only a civil war of the mass of wage slaves to end wage slavery can make any of the minimum program you mention here possible.
The system, capitalism, works for the oligarchs. They won't brook even the most minor alteration to it. For the rest of the world's population, it doesn't work and so much so now that people cannot go on the way they used too.
I do agree on vindman though. Classic fifth columnist scum. I would sentence him to the front line in Ukraine. The most fitting punishment for such a militarist worm.
Implement term limits by not voting to re elect anyone currently in office. One term is enough.
Make ineligible for Congress anyone with an Ivy League degree and/or a law degree. End lifetime appointments to the Federal court and a mandatory age retirement. Eliminate the Federal Reserve and go back to the gold standard. Eliminate the Dept. of Education completely. and reduce the number of Cabinet departments. No special laws or rules for members of Congress, they should have the same standards as all the citizens that they represent. Federal law should not usurp State law except in very limited cases. Definitely go back to vote in person on a specific voting day and not allow extensions into the night and early morning hours. Too many more to list. All hopium in any case. Sigh.
The end of dollar hegemony will bring about significant change to the US as it is forced to balance the books like everyone else. This will put an end to the rampant fascist military albatross molesting the planet. The world will rejoice.
As for a practical measure to change western economies for the average Joe - limit the speculation in the property market by only allowing people to have one house. If landlords want to build homes to rent rather than just monopolise the existing supply then they can be a taxable company or publicly owned.
Also tax bank interest at 100% and reduce income tax proportionally so the private banking parasites reinvest money into the productive economy.
There is no political solution
https://youtu.be/BHOevX4DlGk?feature=shared
Re: "End the Fed"
Not convinced the Fed has as much power as many think.
Treasury calls the shots and Fed another instrument of maintaining US dollar over-valuation along with WB and IMF etc.
My view: Fed will be used to create higher inflation as US monetizes debt for the next few years and will then take the blame and the "End the Fed" people will get their wish. After the fact.
As long as USG fights to defend international role of USD, the Fed is crucial, and will only end with by political decree.
Term limits require a constitutional amendment. makes it pretty hard.
I think we have to start smaller. By now, everyone should understand nobody in power really cares about the will of the people. The reason why is simple -- any threat must be backed with an "or else". As of yet, we have not supplied the "or else". This is why BLM won and covid protests failed.
To this end, I suggest radical individualism and radical self-sufficiency. The entire political machine depends on people needing the government in some way. If we take personal control of our health, food supply, data, and intellectual pursuits, the State and all of its minions will quickly be rendered obsolete. We must starve the beast.
Put a cap on wealth, ie how much one individual may own. If personal wealth is limitless, it will eventually capture everything, the economy, politics, culture, to consume human souls and the environment in the fastest and most efficient possible way, exponentially.
I agree that term limits and age limits represent a minimum start on the road back to representative democracy. I will believe this is an achievable future when the United States adopts the metric system. https://milebehind.wordpress.com/2013/06/09/disbanding-the-u-s-metric-board-in-1982-the-sound-of-a-swan-song/.
1. As a practical matter, the result of sortition would be to increase the power of the government bureaucracies.
2. Also as a practical matter, I suspect that the process of corrupting government officials until the reformers are as rotten as the people they were elected to get rid of involves less bribery and more "Yes, Minister".
3. As an aside, the median age of the U.S. Congress today is greater than that of the Brezhnev-era Politburo.
I agree with all of these. The problem however, is that the American system today is completely and totally corrupted. Corporations have bought our politicians and federal agencies. And, if they can't buy them, then they'll blackmail them. It's difficult to imagine a scenario where enough Representatives, Senators, and Judges are elected to impose real change on the system. In fact, our systems is designed to prevent too many new people from getting elected at any one time. I think change, for better or worse, will only come with some massive economic calamity that kills corporate financial power. Or, if enough Americans see that the game is rigged and decide to jail (or worse) all the corrupt politicians and CEOs responsible.
One other thing that's been on my mind lately, which I've been sharing all over substack. The America and Federal Government/Bureaucracy that exists today is literally nothing like the Founding Institutions, and is, in reality, the complete and total opposite of what the Founders established. We, Americans, have to let go of this fantasy that the Federal and State Governments today are in any way similar to the Founding. They're not. The America that was founded in 1776 ended after the Civil War. The America that existed after the Civil War ended with the creation of the Federal Reserve and the Federal Income tax in 1913 followed by WW1. The America that existed after WW2 ended with the Immigration and Nationality Act of 1965 and the Implementation of No Fault Divorce. The USA today is nothing, NOTHING even close to the 13 States that existed at the Founding. Also, the Founding that we all LOVE to talk was created via Revolution. Americans picked up arms and fought and died.
As an outsider I remain gobsmacked at just how ignorant Yanks in general are, how they venerate Israel, are either red or blue with ZERO actual thought given to policies and practices. 100% agree that a two party system is practically a guarantee of corruption and age and term limits are a must.
Say three terms and not allowed ANY government position for another two terms, this would include panels and consultancies.
ALL political candidates and their families finances need to be public knowledge.
Any number of your suggestions would create a fascist state. Much lesser suggestions may work, such as preventing lobbying, preventing dark money in elections, instituting an age limit on Congressional and Presidential candidates.
All good points to consider.
"The whole point of this list is to be as un-ideological as possible, in terms of political systems; rather than propounding the various communisms, monarchisms, and the like, we’ll stick to low-scale practical changes which can be adopted as amendments or equivalent."
You don't like isms, or in other words, historically worked out analysis and solutions for capitalism.. which, sorry, is another one of those dreaded isms which the entire world has lived within for say 500 years, but it came after...hold on... fuedalism. Sorry. Don't kill the messenger.
Ok. But what could be more practical than just cutting out the middle man and making all profit from production into public property to be used for the good of all? And even more practical you can simply take all the ill gotten gains of finance capital and make that public property for the benefit of all. Oh, and you forgot ending all wars except defensive or those to dislodge the billionaire oligarchs from vampiracly taking all the wealth and product of human labor from the actual laborers.
We'd all like it to be as simple as low-scale practical changes, but that's not where we are at. The problems are radical and thus radical corrections are required.
All the stuff you mentioned is great, except for maybe states rights, which we already fought a bloody war over when some of the states wanted to keep other humans as slaves. Imagine that.
But you just try a single one of those initiatives without a social revolution. Try it in this system we now inhabit. It will fail and if it has too much success it's leaders will be bought off or intimidated into silence. It's a hard thing to accept but there is no democracy in the west. Only a civil war of the mass of wage slaves to end wage slavery can make any of the minimum program you mention here possible.
The system, capitalism, works for the oligarchs. They won't brook even the most minor alteration to it. For the rest of the world's population, it doesn't work and so much so now that people cannot go on the way they used too.
I do agree on vindman though. Classic fifth columnist scum. I would sentence him to the front line in Ukraine. The most fitting punishment for such a militarist worm.
Implement term limits by not voting to re elect anyone currently in office. One term is enough.
Make ineligible for Congress anyone with an Ivy League degree and/or a law degree. End lifetime appointments to the Federal court and a mandatory age retirement. Eliminate the Federal Reserve and go back to the gold standard. Eliminate the Dept. of Education completely. and reduce the number of Cabinet departments. No special laws or rules for members of Congress, they should have the same standards as all the citizens that they represent. Federal law should not usurp State law except in very limited cases. Definitely go back to vote in person on a specific voting day and not allow extensions into the night and early morning hours. Too many more to list. All hopium in any case. Sigh.