March 22, 2019

With each passing day, we get closer to the shift in the tide that will sweep away this self-serving delusion of the ruling elites like a crumbling sand castle.

Those living in revolutionary times are rarely aware of the tumult ahead: in 1766, a mere decade before the Declaration of Independence, virtually no one was calling for American independence. Indeed, in 1771, a mere 5 years before the rebellion was declared, the voices promoting independence were few and far between.

The shift from a pre-revolutionary era to a revolutionary era took less than a year. Perhaps no one exemplified the rapidity and totality of radicalization more than Benjamin Franklin, who went from an avowed Loyalist bent on reform to a dedicated, zealous revolutionary at the tender age of 70. (Old dogs can learn new tricks, at least in revolutionary eras.)

Recall that news could only travel as fast as a ship between seaports or a horse on the colonies' minimalist roads, and it took days to travel between Boston, Philadelphia and New York, and much longer to reach Williamsburg and Charleston and points west. Communications were slow and limited, and this makes the rapid change of the political tide even more extraordinary.

Are we in a pre-revolutionary era? Here's clue #1: politics has failed. When the political process can no longer fix what's broken, politics has failed. When entire classes of citizenry no longer feel represented, politics has failed. When the system delivers a steadily declining standard of living to the bottom 80% of households, politics has failed.

Clue #2: having failed, the political machinery passed the baton to the central bank, which attempted to fix what's broken by creating money out of thin air. "Free" money and low-cost credit has always been viewed as the go-to fix for whatever's broken, because it's, well, free to the issuing central state and politically popular (everybody loves free money, free bread and free circuses).

This political expediency works for a time--hence it's popularity throughout history-- but eventually the asymmetries, perverse incentives and unintended consequences pile up and the entire financial system capsizes.

Clue #3: America's monetary substitute for political process has failed. The failure isn't visible to those paid not to look at centralized failure, but it's visible to objective observers. Glance at the chart below: the Federal Reserve has announced it will end reducing its "emergency response to save the world" balance sheet in September 2019, leaving it roughly $3 trillion larger than it was a decade ago in the pre-crisis definition of "normal."

This exceedingly modest reduction has been called "normalization," and so the end of "normalization" means we're back to normal, right?

Calling the extraordinarily abnormal balance sheet "normal" doesn't magically render it normal.

The magic trick of substituting monetary policy for the political process has failed. Creating credit and currency out of thin air is not a substitute for the loss of representation, soaring inequality, the dominance of parasitic elites or for responding to the changing realities of finance, economics, demographics or resources.

Central banks only have a few levers, and when they lower interest rates and buy assets, they're only temporarily propping up a failing system: they've fixed nothing. Huge swaths of the populace are still unrepresented; parasitic elites still dominate the financial and political systems; wealth and income inequality has been greatly accelerated; the majority of people are still losing ground and their wealth/income are increasingly precarious.

Revolutions are manifestations of dynamics that have been festering beneath the surface for decades. Those benefiting from a failing status quo--the top 5% that dominate finance, government, the media, think tanks, philanthro-capitalist foundations, higher education and the national defense/healthcare cartels--all reckon that since the system works great for me, it works great for everyone.

With each passing day, we get closer to the shift in the tide that will sweep away this self-serving delusion of the ruling elites like a crumbling sand castle.

Pathfinding our Destiny: Preventing the Final Fall of Our Democratic Republic ($6.95 ebook, $12 print, $13.08 audiobook): Read the first section for free in PDF format.


My new mystery The Adventures of the Consulting Philosopher: The Disappearance of Drake is a ridiculously affordable $1.29 (Kindle) or $8.95 (print); read the first chapters for free (PDF)

My book Money and Work Unchained is now $6.95 for the Kindle ebook and $15 for the print edition. Read the first section for free in PDF format.


If you found value in this content, please join me in seeking solutions by becoming a $1/month patron of my work via patreon.com.

America teeters on the precipice: our government is now captive to special interests and big money, twin cancers that threaten our democracy. This accelerating crisis is exacerbated by a toxic social media-fueled tribalism that has replaced “what do you think?” with “which side are you on?”

Our crisis isn’t just political—it’s structural: as the pace of change explodes from gradual to non-linear, the organizations that dominate our economy—centralized corporations and government—become destined to fail. We see this failure in both the soaring inequality that has hollowed out the American Dream as well as in the rising tide of social and political disunity.

To prevent the fall of our democratic republic, we must transform our economy and society from the ground up. As we enter a new era of rapid, unprecedented tumult, it is we citizens who will need to save our democracy. For our political and financial elites will cling to their centralized power, doing more of what’s failed, even as civil society unravels.

All is not lost--yet. Our way forward starts with understanding the fatal flaws of our brittle, self-serving status quo and embracing this basic truth: better options are available if we’re willing to explore.

To pathfind our way to a better destiny, we must create new localized structures optimized for resilience and adaptability—a flexible, decentralized, sustainable, democratic, opportunity-for-all nation.

Read the first section for free in PDF format.

Pathfinding our Destiny: Preventing the Final Fall of Our Democratic Republic (ebook $6.95, print $12)

Politics Has Failed, Now Central Banks Are Failing March 22, 2019

Which Nations Will Crumble and Which Few Will Prosper in the Next 25 Years? March 21, 2019

The Neutered Fed Is Politically Trapped March 20, 2019

While the Nation Fragments Socially, the Financial Aristocracy Rules Unimpeded March 19, 2019

The Coming Crisis the Fed Can't Fix: Credit Exhaustion March 18, 2019

A Precarious Revolution Is Brewing March 15, 2019

What Sort of "Democracy" Do We Have If Everyone's Goal Is Maximizing Their Government Swag? March 14, 2019

How States/Empires Collapse in Four Easy Steps March 13, 2019

Here's The Problem: The Pie Is Shrinking March 12, 2019

The Source of Killer Inflation: Services March 11, 2019

What If Politics Can't Fix What's Broken? March 8, 2019

Trade Isn't China's Only Worry March 6, 2019

The Fed's "Wealth Effect" Has Enriched the Haves at the Expense of the Young March 5, 2019

What Killed the Middle Class? March 4, 2019

It's All About Who Reaps the Gains (Asset Bubbles) and Who Eats the Losses (Stagnating Wages) March 1, 2019


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