collectivism Archives

The Nation Is Not the State

submitted by jwithrow.

Journal of a Wayward Philosopher
The Nation Is Not the State

August 11, 2015
Hot Springs, VA

The S&P closed out Monday at $2,104. Gold closed at $1,104 per ounce. Oil closed out just under $46 per barrel, and the 10-year Treasury rate closed at 2.24%. Bitcoin is trading around $267 per BTC today.

Dear Journal,

Last week I suggested that the growth of the nation-state in the 20th century brought forth the rise of collectivism. I speculated that we may have reached peak collectivism and thus inferred the nation-state model may be ripe for decline, however. Today I will point out the troubling macroeconomic trends once again in support of this speculation.

The democratic nation-state model has grown so massive largely because the political class has bribed people with half-baked social insurance (welfare) programs across the board. This has led to a massive accumulation of debt throughout the entire western world. Simultaneously, the demographics of many western nation-states is such that there are more aged people drawing from pensions and national social insurance programs than there are younger workers to pay for them. This dynamic has resulted in an absolutely gargantuan accrual of unfunded liabilities.

What this means is most governments in the western world are already bankrupt. Many people remain unaware of this fact because governments have kicked the can down the road by manipulating interest rates ever lower (negative in places!) and creating huge amounts of national currency out of thin air via the central bank mechanism. More and more people are slowly waking up to reality, however, and this is leading to a loss of trust in the nation-state model. Continue reading “The Nation Is Not the State”

Peak Collectivism

submitted by jwithrow.

Journal of a Wayward Philosopher
Peak Collectivism

August 7, 2015
Hot Springs, VA

The S&P closed out Thursday at $2,079. Gold closed at $1,090 per ounce. Oil checked out just above $45 per barrel, and the 10-year Treasury rate closed at 2.27%. Bitcoin is trading around $281 per BTC today.

Dear Journal,

The Musings of a Wayward Philosopher launch has gone fairly well this week. The ebook is currently ranked #1 in Economics>Commerce and #1 in Education&Reference in Amazon’s Kindle store. The paperback ranked as high as #50 in Economics>Commerce but has faded back a bit since. I noticed a big spike in interest while it was ranked top-50. This trial-and-error learning process has been exciting!

What’s even more exciting is the fact that this wasn’t even possible just twenty short years ago. The gatekeepers have fallen!

The publishing arena was heavily guarded prior to the rise of the internet. The only way to publish a book and get it circulating beyond your immediate network was to work with a large publishing company. This meant that your book had to conform to their ideas, requirements, and biases. The dynamic was the exact same in the broadcast media realm. Apart from local newspapers you were only going to get “news” that had been sifted through a major media company’s filter. Continue reading “Peak Collectivism”

The Parable of the Monkeys in the Cage

submitted by jwithrow.

Five monkeys awaken to find themselves inside of a large cage. A banana hangs from a string at the very top of the cage and there is a staircase in the middle of the cage that leads directly up to the banana.

One of the monkeys, before long, decides that he would like to have the banana so he goes to the stairs. As soon as the monkey touches the stairs, however, every monkey inside of the cage is sprayed with high pressure cold water from an external hose which knocks each monkey to the ground and makes for a miserable evening.

A few uneventful days pass before a second monkey decides that he would like to have the banana so he goes to the stairs. Once again, as soon as this monkey touches the stairs, every monkey inside of the cage is sprayed with high pressure cold water.

A few months go by and one of the original monkeys passes away and is replaced with a new monkey. The new monkey is amazed that the other monkeys have not gotten the banana and he immediately makes his way for the stairs.

As soon as the new monkey touches the stairs, the four remaining original monkeys immediately yank him to the ground and proceed to assault him.

After a few days to recover, the new monkey once again decides to try to get the banana. And once again, the other monkeys immediately prevent him from climbing the stairs and they beat the new monkey for his efforts.

A few months go by and the second of the original monkeys passes away and is replaced with a new monkey. Naturally, the new monkey is shocked to find that the other monkeys have not gotten the banana and he immediately makes his way for the stairs.

As soon as this newest monkey touches the stairs, the three remaining original monkeys immediately yank him to the ground and proceed to assault him. The first new monkey also rushes to beat the newest monkey with enthusiasm as the first new monkey is now part of the “team”.

The third and the fourth original monkeys both pass away as the years go by and they are replaced each time with a new monkey. Each time the new monkey attempts to get the banana only to be shocked by the beating that he receives from the older monkeys.

Finally, the last original monkey passes away and is replaced by the fifth new monkey. The fifth new monkey finds it strange that the other monkeys have not gotten the banana so he immediately makes for the stairs. As soon as he touches the stairs, the four other monkeys rush to assault the newest monkey.

Now, the four monkeys that are beating up the newest monkey have no idea as to why they were originally beaten for their own attempt at climbing the stairs and neither do they know why they are perpetuating the tradition of beating each new monkey that tries to climb the stairs. As none of the monkeys now in the cage are the original monkeys, none of them have ever been sprayed by water. Nevertheless, the “experienced” monkeys do not try to climb the stairs to get the banana and they immediately suppress any attempt from newer monkeys to go for the banana.

Why is this? Wouldn’t the monkeys love to have the banana?

Well, in their minds, it’s just the way it has always been. The monkeys have been fully cultured to accept the fact that it is unacceptable to climb the stairs in pursuit of the banana.

Silly monkeys, huh?

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