Self-Government
Self-Government
by David West
"I am old enough and wise enough to govern myself. I do not need anyone else to do it for me."
The present methods of governing the nations of the world are out of date. In fact, the whole idea of nations is out of date. We need a complete revamp of ideas about government. Not just changing the people, but completely changing the way we think about government.
Taking Britain as an example, we see that when the current systems of democracy were created in 1801, the population of England was about a sixth of what it is now. So there were 659 MPs for about 10 million people, being a representation ratio of about 15000 to 1. Now, there are 646 MPs, and about 60 million people giving a representation factor of about 93,000 to one. So each person's representation has reduced by around 600% since this form of government was created.
In other words, we now get about one sixth of the representation that a citizen in 1801 got, or alternatively, in order to have the same level of representation that we had in 1801, we would need 3876 MPs. This is obviously ludicrous, and is absolute evidence of a need for a change. And it's the same in almost all democratic countries. As the population has increased so dramatically, then the effectiveness and fairness of a central government has reduced, constantly placing more power in the same hands. What we now need is an increase in the power of local government, and a reduction in the power of central government.
I propose that we should bring back something akin to the parish councils. We could have constituencies of a maximum of 500 families. These constituencies could have total control over the lives of their constituents, with no interference from outside, They could provide all of their own facilities such as school, health care, pensions, police, currency, or anything which they feel that they need. If they feel that they are too small for a particular project or service, then they could negotiate with nearby constituencies to make suitable arrangements. There would be no higher level arbitrator. Full responsibility would rest at the local level.
The benefits of this are enormous. Firstly, everybody will know everybody else within a constituency, so when a problem arises it becomes easy to get to the source. There is no longer any benefit in trying to with-hold secrets, because it is not to everyone's benefit to do so. This alone will reduce terrorism and serious crime to a minimum. It will be a sort of neighbourhood watch scheme in which everybody takes full part, and makes the decisions. The money presently spent on taxes, most of which disappears in red tape, civil servants' and MPs' salaries, waging war, and hundreds of other expenses from which the average citizen receives no benefit whatsoever, would be spent on directly benefiting the community, on projects voted for by the community. It is most likely that taxes could be reduced to zero, or at least a fraction of what is presently paid, because all wastage would be readily identified. Everybody would participate in their own government, because they would be able to understand it, and would have a real voice.
There will be no need for secret services, or secrets of any kind, saving another fortune, and removing another load of confusion. We must overcome the problems created by too much power in too few hands.
I envisage an updated Internet, devoid of advertising, because advertising is not to the benefit of all.
I envisage the collective mindset rapidly accelerating beyond me-and-my-shadow towards me-and-my-local-community group. With this mindset, all actions are conducted for the benefit of the whole community, with the end result that the whole community does benefit. No dictates from faceless names hundreds of miles away - they simply have no idea what is really going on in your mind or community, because they do not care. They wish to dictate what is going on, and never mind any of our own personal needs and desires. I feel that many people will be taking a small step away from the current tight-knit society, and beginning to look after their own house and garden/land. I see many people spending time on Permaculture, with the end result that the planet's food output will easily be sufficient to feed well over seven billion people. (Permaculture usually at least doubles the output from any piece of arable land within three years. (Permaculture)
And of course we would hope for the benefits of free energy, from the hundreds of independent inventors now working around the world. I'm sure we can identify many other benefits, and I'm also sure that any disadvantages could quickly be overcome just by love and cooperation. When we scale our mind up to think of community and the world, and control and balance our mind to ignore false assumptions, we discover that many of societies' beliefs belong to a reality fabricated by a group of professional mind controllers employed by the elite banking fraternity which holds the planet's purse strings.
Ancient Ireland's success with the free market and a stateless society
“The eyes of the virtuous all over the earth are turned with anxiety on us, as the only depositories of the sacred fire of liberty. I hope and firmly believe that the whole world will, sooner or later, feel benefit from the issue of our assertion of the rights of man. May the Declaration of Independence be to the world, what I believe it will be (to some parts sooner, to others later, but finally to all), the signal of arousing men to burst the chains under which monkish ignorance and superstition had persuaded them to bind themselves, and to assume the blessings and security of self government." - Thomas Jefferson
http://www.thrivemovement.com/solutions-liberty#solutions,
the beginning two paragraphs of which I will quote here:
A Unanimous Declaration of Independence
When, in the course of human events, free, sovereign persons, equal in authority with all others and willing to accept responsibility for their own lives, come to acknowledge that neither obligation nor practical necessity demands the subjugation of any to the will of any other and that they can and must abandon the illusion of the state’s legitimacy and desirability, the desire to celebrate and defend the reality of freedom and the equality of authority among persons impels them to announce and explain their commitment to a society based on peaceful voluntary cooperation.
We hold these truths to be beyond dispute:
That all people are equal in authority and inherent worth;
That each person is an end in him- or herself who can never justly be used unwillingly as a means to another’s ends;
That all are thus entitled to live free from enslavement and domination in a society organized on the principles of peaceful, voluntary cooperation;
That - in light of the importance of autonomy, coordination, compensation, generosity, incentivization, peacemaking, productivity, reliability, simplicity, stability, and stewardship - everyone has good reason to favor rules that enable each person to control and freely convey to others the possessions he or she acquires either through labor leading to actual possession of through voluntary transfer;
That the state- demanding a monopoly of force and sustained only by persistent aggression- is inescapably the enemy of such a society; and
That the welfare of each and the welfare of all demand the state’s abolition and its replacement by a community of freedom.
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"It appears to me that if a thoughtful and honest man were offered such a post (as your representative in government), he would answer somewhat in this fashion:
"You entrust me with a task which I am unable to fulfil. I am unacquainted with most of the questions upon which I shall be called on to legislate. I shall either have to work to some extent in the dark, which will not be to your advantage, or I shall appeal to you and summon meetings in which you will yourselves seek to come to an understanding on the questions at issue, in which case my office will be unnecessary. If you have formed an opinion and have formulated it, and if you are anxious to come to an understanding with others who have also formed an opinion on the same subject, then all you need do is to communicate with your neighbours and send a delegate to come to an understanding with other delegates on this specific question; but you will certainly reserve to yourselves the right of taking an ultimate decision; you will not entrust your delegate with the making of laws for you. This is how scientists and business men act each time that they have to come to an agreement." by Peter Kropotkin 1921).
by Paul Hein
The idea of government is so ingrained that most people have simply never given a fleeting thought to the possibility of life without it. Like disease, it's been around forever. In school we might have learned something of ancient Greece or Roman history, but what we learned was not the life of a typical Greek or Roman, but the activities of Greek and Roman governments, and their battles for control. In short, the study of ancient — and not so ancient — civilizations is the study of war, without which history books would be little more than pamphlets.
Read more at:
http://www.lewrockwell.com/hein/hein194.html
The Fundamental Fallacy of Government
Why do we need government?
by John T. Kennedy
Government is a monopoly of force. Why is it that most people favor such a monopoly?
The Declaration of Independence says:
"We hold these truths to be self – evident, that all men are created equal,
that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights,
that among these are life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.
That to secure these rights, governments are instituted among men,
deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed."
Setting aside the question of a Creator, I agree in principle that ..............
more non-governmental words at: http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article4080.htm
“Nationalism is an infantile disease. It is the measles of mankind." - Albert Einstein,
in Fred Jerome’s The Einstein File: J. Edgar Hoover’s Secret War
“The most dangerous man to any government is the man who is able to think things out for himself,
without regard to the prevailing superstitions and taboos. Almost inevitably he comes to the
conclusion that the government he lives under is dishonest, insane, and intolerable.”
H. L. Mencken
The monarchy of England has been illegal since 1649
On January 30, 1649, the King of England, Charles Stuart, was executed in London after being lawfully convicted by a Parliamentary High Court of Justice for treason and conducting a war against the laws and people of England.
Weeks later, on March 17, 1649, the English Crown, including the Monarchy and the House of Lords, was legally and forever abolished and constitutionally prohibited in England. It was declared a treasonable act to attempt to re-establish monarchy and proclaim anyone King or Queen.
Eleven years later, this defunct royal power was reimposed on England and its colonies, fraudulently and illegally, by a military coup of Charles Stuart, son of the deposed King.
The new regime that “restored” the monarchy was an illegal and de facto power, unlawfully created as an act of war against the laws of Parliament and the will of the people. Thus, every British monarch since 1660 has ruled illegally and unconstitutionally.
For three and a half centuries, we have lived in the shadow of that imposed tyranny and its fraudulent and unlawful authority. In reality, the English Crown has no just or operable power, and never has had, since its legal abolition in the spring of 1649.......
Read more at:
http://www.wakeupkiwi.com/what_is_the_crown-City_of_London.shtml#FakeMonarchy
http://www.WantToKnow.info/070707newparadigm
Creating a New Paradigm
"All the darkness of the world cannot put out the light of a single candle."
The Old Paradigm
Together, we are creating a new paradigm on Earth. Yet in order to give meaningful suggestions to further support this, we first need to speak candidly about the old paradigm. It appears that there are factions within the world's power elite which still desire to exert as much control as possible over the world. Their primary means for establishing control are through promoting fear, secrecy, and polarization, and through distracting people from their deeper purpose in life. When these factions gain greater power and control, our freedoms and liberties are increasingly taken away, sometimes without our even realizing it.
Fear is used as a powerful tool of control by these factions of the global elite. "The terrorists want to kill us all. Your job, home, and retirement are no longer secure. You are either for us or against us. We might be attacked at any time." All of these messages push us towards fear. And by encouraging us to focus blame on others such as terrorists and "evil" leaders, the global power brokers push us away from feeling in control of our lives and towards the role of powerless victims, so that we look to them for protection. The more we slip into fear and being victims, the easier it is for us to be manipulated.
Secrecy leads to control through preventing the exposure of hidden agendas, and through breeding distrust, suspicion, and paranoia in the world. In the name of "national security," we have been told ever more frequently that we should not know what is happening behind closed doors in government. Yet we are encouraged to keep vigilant watch over our neighbors, over those who question the government, and over those who look or act different from us, as they could secretly be terrorists in sheep's clothing. Rampant suspicion and secrecy cause us to lose touch with the common humanity we share with all around us.
Polarization leads to "us vs. them" ways of thinking. Divide and conquer is a tactic that has been used successfully by the power elite of the world for centuries. As long as people focus on blaming and attacking "the enemy," they are not likely to look for the deeper causes of their problems. Controlling factions of the power elite work to keep public and media attention focused on issues which divide us into two polarized camps, so that their greatest concerns of power and control go unnoticed. The power brokers then control both sides of the divided public by assuring that corporate ownership of the media and key candidates from all political parties support their deeper power and polarization agendas, which often involve war profiteering.
A final subtle, yet powerful method of gaining control is to distract people from their purpose in life. Consider that television, radio, and movies have been filled with ever more greed, violence, and empty sex. Our educational system has increasingly prioritized passing tests over developing intelligence and creativity. Excessive corporate control of the media has limited what news we receive, and often shaped our decisions and the way we think. Our attention has been subtly diverted from our deeper purpose in life to the more superficial attractions of sex, consumerism, and money.
When we succumb to fear, secrecy, and polarization, and when we lose touch with our sense of purpose in life, elements of the global elite are able to exert ever more control over our lives and world.
The New Paradigm
What can we do about all this? Ultimately, it is the collective fear, secrecy, polarization, and loss of purpose within all of us that has allowed leaders to take power who would subvert democracy, and who would take away our freedoms and liberties. By each one of us making a commitment to work on these issues both inside of ourselves and out in the world – and to inspire others to do the same – we are changing our collective direction and building a solid foundation for a new paradigm. Several actions can help us to take firm steps in that direction.
Develop purpose and intentions for your life. To live full, rich lives in today's complex world, it's vitally important to give your life clear direction by exploring what is deepest and most meaningful to you, and by developing life purpose and intentions based on this. Then choose to live your intentions and follow your purpose to the best of your ability every day. By choosing to live with clear direction and focus, life becomes deeper and more meaningful. This then weakens the seduction of consumerism and media hype which distract us from our purpose, and allows us to more effectively focus on creating a new paradigm.
Choose to transform fear into acceptance and love. When we notice ourselves feeling fear, we can trace the roots of that fear, so that we are able to identify our core challenges and deal more consciously with them. We can open to guidance from friends, teachers, and spiritual sources in helping us to move from fear to acceptance and understanding. We can also transform our fears through welcoming the ever-present love of our divine creator, and the love that lies always deep within our own hearts, and in the hearts of those around us. In doing this, we begin to recognize fear as an invitation to growth.
Become aware of when you are playing the role of victim, and choose instead to take personal responsibility for creating a new paradigm. In blaming others for our problems, we often avoid taking responsibility for how much we are involved in creating these problems through the choices we make. Whenever we catch ourselves playing the role of victim by blaming others (including the power elite) for everything that's wrong in our lives, we can choose to take a look inside ourselves, and to explore and take responsibility for our role in what's happening. By focusing less on blaming others, and more on improving ourselves, every one of us can make a difference both in our lives and in our world.
Avoid secrecy and encourage openness and transparency. An important way we can do this is to work together to inform friends and colleagues about the major cover-ups being hidden from the public. Then in our personal lives, when we notice ourselves keeping information from others, we can examine our motives for this secrecy. Are we withholding information out of our own self-interest, or because this is really what's best for all involved? And on a deeper level, where are we avoiding being honest with ourselves?
Move beyond polarization and the focus on "good vs. evil" and "us vs. them." Consider the possibility that all of us are doing what we believe to be right based upon our beliefs, circumstances, and upbringing. Each of us has a place in our heart that wants only to love and be loved. As we focus less on blaming and judging "them" and more on supporting the highest motive in all people – including members of the power elite – we increasingly come to see that we are all one human family, and that we can choose to transform our world by working together for the good of all.
And finally, come together in groups and communities to support each other in making these positive changes. In these groups and communities, we support each other in transforming fear into acceptance and love. We exchange information about all that is being hidden from us and explore ways to move beyond polarization. We also share our life purpose and intentions and encourage each other to live these as fully as we can. And we inspire each other to take responsibility for our lives and to be the best that we can be. When we gather in community to support each other in these intentions, we join in building a growing network of inspiration and empowerment around the planet.
These suggestions emphasize changing the collective consciousness of the world by transforming both our own personal lives and the world around us. Let us do all that we can to stop destructive behaviors of the global power elite. Yet let us not overly focus on changing the outside world without first having a solid internal foundation, lest we fall into blaming others, and into the polarizing "us vs. them" ways which only further divide us. By reminding ourselves that the most powerful change starts inside each one of us, we can develop more balance and strength to then work towards positive change out in the world.
As we change ourselves from the inside out, we send ripples of inspiration and healing out into the world. By joining together in groups and communities to support each other in this, those ripples become waves which are powerfully helping to create a new paradigm for all of us.
8 Ways to Improve Society Without the Political Process
