Architects of Collapse

by Douglas V. Gibbs
Author, Speaker, Instructor, Radio Host

History is a wise friend, if only we are willing to listen. According to the Smithsonian, the saying, “Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it” came from the book The Life of Reason: The Phases of Human Progress which was published in five volumes from 1905 to 1906, by Spanish-born American philosopher George Santayana.  The series consists of the titles: Reason in Common Sense, Reason in Society, Reason in Religion, Reason in Art, and Reason in Science.  The saying is accurate.  History is full of stories of conflict, social successes and collapses, disasters of all kinds (both natural and non-natural), and a myriad of other events that ultimately led to the fall of a variety of civilizations.  It is our responsibility to remember history, and apply what we've learned from those stories.  If one looks deeply, carefully, and honestly we discover that at the root of nearly all of those stories of prosperity and collapse are tales of economic, monetary, and financial influences.  Every collapse I have studied has a monetary downturn and crash associated with it.  In short, every societal collapse in history, save for the ones wiped out by a natural disaster of some kind, fell because of man-made causes deeply seated in economic shenanigans.

Human folly and the dark side of human nature have proven to be civilization killers.  Once the greed for power and degradation of the moral standard envelope a segment of the ruling class and the citizenry the manipulation of the economy, finances, and commercial trading functions that follows creates instability, imbalances, and ultimately the dismantling of the civilization's social cohesion.  The supply chain breaks down, the pool of resources becomes reduced or inaccessible, and then the resulting loss of public goods and resources pushes the population to chaos and violence.

In today's society we suffer from a condition called "normalcy bias."  Since life was fine decades ago, years ago, and yesterday, why would we even imagine it might go awry in our future?  We could not imagine collapse happening to our own world of modernity and technology.  The thing is, raw materials, resources, land, and technology are not the keys to keeping a society on track.  It's all about the markets, money, and economic ideology.  Every instance in history reveals to us that the consolidation of control over the economic mechanisms and the reduction of liberty in the markets always leads to people becoming jobless, hungry, and living in a reduced standard of living.  As the citizenry begins to suffer tensions rise, and the battle for control of the system becomes a sharper battle.  War within, and war throughout the surrounding regions, becomes inevitable.  A desire for survival leads humans to do things they would not normally do when the reality of a downfall begins.

Today in America, and around the world, the progressive authoritarians of the planet are pushing for a collectivistic style of governance, the very kind of system that starves markets of their freedom and the commercial players of their individual roles.  We are beginning to see the initial pains of such folly and collusion.  Hardship, suffering, hunger, treachery, and violence are only the beginning.  It will definitely get worse before it gets better, and government solutions of increased regime authoritarianism will only push us farther toward the ultimate reality of collapse.  History proves it.

So, how can we turn it all around?

Despite the cries by the socialist voices that the way to fix things is to be "fair and equitable," history proves again and again (from the Pilgrims and settlers of Jamestown, to the communist countries of the last century and today) that the way to stop suffering and failure of a system is to unleash liberty, to allow individuals to engage in a free market where self-initiative and personal incentives are able to run free.  We adapt and survive when we are allowed to do so without collective interference.  

History shows that the liberty of the American System has led this country to more inventions, innovations, an increase in the overall standard of living, and more economic prosperity than ever seen before on Earth.  Possessions, or the hope to obtain them, drives us to succeed.  The desire for the survival of ourselves and our family encourages us to work hard.  A desire that our children enjoy a better life than we did motivates us work even harder.  The community always benefits when individuals succeed.  A successful businessman pushes products and goods into the system, provides employment, and contributes to a cycle of commerce and prosperity that increases the standard of living.  The workers enjoy the employment, and in some cases they set out on their own, igniting a new cycle of success and prosperity that benefits the overall community through their individual successes.

The world rulers want us to place our faith in them, rather than in our own efforts.  Education has done everything it can to conceal the truth about liberty.  Modern society has been brainwashed to believe that the U.S. Constitution is archaic, and that more government is the answer to all of our ills.  They want you to believe that for happiness to happen we must not only be obedient to government, but we must let go of individual opportunity, luxury and the privileges our free country has created for everyone.  To desire possessions is considered selfish.  To do well is considered unfair, and members of our society have been convinced that success is a sign of privilege.

We don't have to give up the things we appreciate as the worldwide Marxists are advocating.  Quality of life is what we make it.  It is up to us, as individuals, to work hard, to dream, to do the things that we feel is best for our future.  It is our decision, not society's, and not the government's.

The technological advancements we enjoy are because of a free market.  The full shelves in our grocery stores are because of a free market.  Free markets have made the modern life and social arrangements we enjoy, and the standard of living we have come to expect.  Without liberty, a free market, and minimal government meddling all of those things end.  History proves that without liberty and free markets the eventuality is bondage, and collapse.

Now, the good news.

The United States Constitution and the American economic system were designed to establish and maintain liberty and prosperity.  Our republic was established to stand the test of time.  The problem, however, is that we've departed from the original recipe.  The federal republic has become a national system and our republic has been infused with too much democracy.  As a result the socialist agenda has made its way into our institutions and the halls of our government.  We have a society convinced that communalism is the answer when history reveals it is always disastrous.  So, to fix it we simply need to return to the original intent of the U.S. Constitution.  Liberty, and the mechanisms of the Constitution which are designed to ensure the perseverance of liberty and the free market, can be restored.  It begins with our society returning to being a virtuous one (which means the churches need to get involved, as well), and disabling the devices put in place by the Hamiltonians like the change to our taxation system (16th Amendment), the change to our republican form of government (17th Amendment and Reynolds v. Sims, 1964), international manipulation of our monetary system via the federal reserve, the deterioration of localism that exists as a direct result of a consolidation of power at the federal level (which is in direct violation of the Constitution's Enumeration Doctrine), and big government socialist-minded judges "interpreting" the Constitution and creating definitions regarding the clauses of the Constitution the Founding Fathers never intended.  Local jurisdictions need to take back their power, the States need to take back their sovereignty and autonomy over most domestic issues, and the States need to restore their position as the parents of the federal government with oversight either directly, or indirectly, over every decision the federal government makes.

Want to learn the details on how to restore the republic?  My book Repeal Democracy explains.

-- Political Pistachio Conservative News and Commentary