Free Republic
Browse · Search
News/Activism
Topics · Post Article

Skip to comments.

Why Nation-States Will Die-Off in the Information Age
The Daily Bell ^ | June 6,2021 | Joe Jarvis

Posted on 06/07/2021 8:44:20 AM PDT by Wish2Post

When was the fall of the Roman Empire? Was it in 410 when the Visigoths sacked Rome, or 455 when the Vandals plundered Rome? Or was it 476, when the last western Roman Emperor was deposed?

Whatever the answer, the people alive on the ground at the time surely did not wake up to a headline saying: “Rome has fallen, commence medieval barbarianism.”

Only later did historians pinpoint certain dates.

It’s possible, therefore, that we are already past the date that will be considered the fall of the American Empire.

Perhaps historians will look back and say that September 11, 2001 marks the sacking of the American Empire. Not because the Twin Towers fell, but because that’s the day rule of law and due process came crashing down as well.

History may shed more light on the silent coup that occurred behind the scenes, which shifted the US governing structure to a relative dictatorship.

Yes, just like in Rome, the appearances carried on. The Senate still passed bills, and the courts still nominally gave fair trials. But the great erosion hit a turning point. From there on out, due process was not required to assassinate enemies of the US, to spy on “potential terrorists”, and even to confiscate property using civil asset forfeiture.

Or perhaps the CIA already took over as dictators in 1963 with the assassination of the last truly elected US President, John F. Kennedy.

Maybe the fall of the American Empire will be seen in terms of the destruction of the US dollar. The 1913 creation of the Federal Reserve, the 1933 debasement of the gold backed currency, and the 1971 total removal of the gold standard from the US dollar are all part of slow downfall.

These are the events which allowed the barbarians who invaded the US government to loot the treasury culminating in this, perhaps final stage of vast money printing.

It may be more obvious, in hindsight, that the US government is currently only a shell, serving as a vehicle for barbarians to loot the corpse of a once great empire.

Some people think that the American Empire will simply be replaced by the next globally dominant superpower. And of course there are concerns that China is next in line to dominate the globe, as I discuss in another video on how China used Covid to play Western civilization.

But more likely is the death of all nation states, as we transition out of the industrial age, and into the information age.

I’m going to explain what I mean, but first a quick note– one short video will never do these concepts justice. So if you’re interested in this subject please subscribe and hit the notification bell. That way you will receive a slow drip of content like this that will help you transition smoothly into this new age, at this really exciting time to be alive.

Back to the point– let me explain why the industrial age was characterized by large nation states.

See, the nation state is more than just a country or a government– those have existed for thousands of years. The nation state aims to bind massive numbers of people in a territory together with myths of common cause, culture, and patriotism. This allows a single government to extract much more revenue and build much bigger armies. And this large scale government rose with the industrial era, because countries required large scale armies to defend the industrial production in a given area.

The scale provided by nation states allowed industry to invest and grow in areas that were relatively safe from plunder and destruction by barbarians or rival countries. Since a factory can’t so easily pick up and move, it needs a stable environment and protection in order to make the large capital investment worth the risk. Therefore, powerful nation states attracted more industry, and thus became richer in the process. Less stable regions, with smaller governments unable to protect their capital did not become as wealthy.

But that situation is rapidly changing as wealth becomes less about material production, and more about information technology, and human capital. These things are extremely mobile, and not very susceptible to plunder. They therefore do NOT require a massive nation states to justify investments.

And for this reason, we are witnessing, in real time, the fall of the nation state. But again, when you are so close to such a major global shift, it’s hard to pinpoint exactly what is happening.

The end of the industrial age won’t be obvious, and only in the future will historians look back and try to pinpoint a day or year that the world transitioned into the age of information.

One great candidate for the fall of the nation state would be November 9, 1989 with the fall of the Berlin Wall. This heralded the demise of the Soviet Union– a massive nation state which tried to bind citizens of various countries and culture together under patriotism for the socialist cause.

1989 is also a great year to mark the end of the industrial era because it is the year that the World Wide Web was invented, marking the beginning of all the massive changes that would come to the world through the internet, and mass communication.

Also 1989 was the year I was born, so I like to think of myself as yet another herald for the glorious death of the nation state.

We have been in the industrial era since the end of the feudal age. If we want to pick a nice clean date, we might pinpoint 1492 as the major shift, with Columbus’ exploration being an early sign of nation states competing for industrial capital.

As the Renaissance bloomed the power of the Catholic Church faded, and a new myth was required to bind the people to their governments.

The nation-state replaced feudal chivalry with nationalist citizenship. Knights, inspired by chivalry, loyal to their Lords were replaced by soldiers, inspired by patriotism, loyal to mother nation.

But now those myths hold less and less power. People, companies, and capital are more mobile than ever, and frequently shop around for the best jurisdictions in which to live, work, and run a business.

Smaller countries and city-states are actually better positioned than nation states to take advantage of this– without the need for massive military and government spending, they can offer government services as a product, based on the actual cost.

There are already a number of signs of the transition to government as a service provider, such as Caribbean nations selling citizenship through investment, Estonia selling e-citizenship, places like the country Georgia, Panama, Portugal and so many others offering competitive tax rates to attract residents and business.

Of course it may seem like these small nations will be threatened by massive governments with huge armies that could take over, sort of like what has happened with China and Hong Kong. And this is still a threat. The dying nation state will not go out without a fight. They will fight to preserve their power in a changing world. They’ll exploit crises like pandemics and terrorism to make it seem like we still need the nation state.

But these efforts will inevitably fail, because nation states can no longer grow rich through conquest and plunder.

It’s easy to move vast wealth when it is all in information technology, and the human mind, capable of working from anywhere in the world, connected via the internet. The need for large governments and armies to protect the capital is fading, because the ability of large governments and armies to take the capital is fading.

And competition among a hopefully growing number of countries will make it so that no government can charge more than a market rate for their services.

No more paying 50% of your income to receive some basic subpar services– the price will be based on product, with plenty of jurisdictions offering a la carte government services.

New models of governance will mean government is no longer characterized by involuntary monopolization on land and force.

Instead we will see, Free Private Cities where you sign a contract with the government, virtual governments which behave similar to insurance companies, distributed governments which do not require their citizens to all be located in the same geographic area, and so much more innovation in how societies will be governed.

That said plenty of people will be left behind by these great new forms of government, because they simply will refuse to believe that Rome has collapsed. Shells of nation-states will remain, offering the worst conditions for the price. But even these may be forced to adapt if only to compete with the new much better forms of governance.

This doesn’t mean you can simply ignore the dying nation-states– they may be more dangerous than ever at this stage. They have the capacity for violence, without much restraint.

This does pose a bit of a balancing act for the sovereign individual.

We have to at the same time make sure we do not become targets of the dying nation state’s wrath, without letting its rules hold us back from participating in the dawning of a new age.

There are still enough legal avenues to participate in the new era of humanity that we don’t have to poke the nation-state and risk our own lives and freedom.

Pay as little taxes as legally possibly, find the best jurisdiction, and diversify so you can safely weather the storm.We’re living in extremely interesting times, with the promise of individual freedom never before afforded to individuals.

Again this is a huge subject so definitely subscribe, hit the bell so you’re notified, and join my email list in case YouTube deletes me in it’s attempts to keep the nation state on life support for a little longer.

Also you might consider reading the book, The Sovereign Individual: Mastering the Transition to the Information Age, (Amazon affiliate link) on which most of this video was based. It’s really fascinating one because it’s about 20 years old and has already accurately predicted a lot, and two because it goes into a deep dive on all this information to help us understand and better navigate this changing world.


TOPICS: Business/Economy; Culture/Society; Foreign Affairs
KEYWORDS: informationage; nationstate
Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first previous 1-2021-4041-54 next last
To: Renfrew

He annoys the living hell out of me with his whining-ass tone of voice and general histrionics, but Michael Savage nailed it “Borders, Language, Culture”.


21 posted on 06/07/2021 9:09:43 AM PDT by RedStateRocker (NUKE MECCA. ABOLISH THE DEA, IRS, AND ATF)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 14 | View Replies]

To: Wish2Post

yes, yes, the nation state will die off to be replaced by a tyrannical world government

every globalists wet dream


22 posted on 06/07/2021 9:10:36 AM PDT by joshua c (Dump the LEFT. Cable tv, Big tech, national name brands)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: BenLurkin

You are correct. America has never been an empire. We are a republic.


23 posted on 06/07/2021 9:11:01 AM PDT by Freee-dame
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 2 | View Replies]

To: a fool in paradise

Yeah, JFK was not properly elected. The Dems in Chicago cheated to swing Illinois to the Dem. candidate; JFK. Nixon should have been President. JFK was a pathetic excuse for a President, yet he did know how to give a great public relations appearance. Ask not what your country can do for you...while JFK was using the White House to give himself an unlimited supply of sex workers. Alvin Toffler wrote a book, Third Wave to describe how mass society was old school, and the argument was about being a part of the mass society grid or disconnecting from the grid. The idea that a person can just go join a new grid is probably an idealistic pipe dream. The plan is world wide socialism with every one being forced to be a slave to the world-wide taxation for the coercive utopia. Consolation Prize; Maybe you can work from home instead of commuting to the office.


24 posted on 06/07/2021 9:12:59 AM PDT by Trumpet 1 (US Constitution is my guide.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 4 | View Replies]

To: crusher2013

Author also seems to think that Information cannot be controlled. It is power and it can be amassed.


25 posted on 06/07/2021 9:13:41 AM PDT by a fool in paradise (Lean on Joe Biden to follow Donald Trump's example and donate his annual salary to charity.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 19 | View Replies]

To: Wish2Post
This heralded the demise of the Soviet Union – a massive nation state which tried to bind citizens of various countries and culture together under patriotism for the socialist cause.

The Soviet Union was most decidedly not a "nation-state."

This assertion is preposterous.

It was an empire.

Regards,

26 posted on 06/07/2021 9:13:48 AM PDT by alexander_busek (Extraordinary claims require extraordinary evidence.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Wish2Post

The illegal income tax is a nail in the coffin. The government’s mission from that point forward was to rob constituents, not serve them.


27 posted on 06/07/2021 9:15:00 AM PDT by T.B. Yoits
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: cranked

Heretic! The New World Order is coming. A planet with no borders and only a single government to oversee the welfare of the people. Oh sure, some freedoms will be lost but what is that in the grand scheme of things when poverty is eliminated with a universal income for all? Diseases will be wiped out with the annual mandated omni-vaccine program. Embrace the inevitable, Komrade. Step up and receive the Mark to ensure the safety of all mankind. It’s our patriotic duty. Do it for Mother Gaia.


28 posted on 06/07/2021 9:15:32 AM PDT by BipolarBob (I wish I was 14 again so I could ruin my life in a completely different way. I've got ideas.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 6 | View Replies]

To: Wish2Post

“The nation state aims to bind massive numbers of people in a territory together with myths of common cause, culture, and patriotism. This allows a single government to extract much more revenue and build much bigger armies. And this large scale government rose with the industrial era, because countries required large scale armies to defend the industrial production in a given area.”

This Gen Z writer pretends to know something about history and extrapolate future events from it.

But he knows nothing, and is ignorant of any real history.

And we have a bunch of freepers eating it up becaus3e they don’t know history either.

It is both sad, and worthy of ridicule.


29 posted on 06/07/2021 9:16:27 AM PDT by Mariner (War Criminal #18)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Wish2Post

...except that social media and media in general have shown that there are other manipulative dictatorships waiting online without brick and mortar armies. Their armed forces are rioters, doxxers, cancellers, hackers, and spammers. They too will take your stuff.


30 posted on 06/07/2021 9:18:11 AM PDT by jimmygrace
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: RedStateRocker

According to the Bible the NWO will be able to rule seven years with the Antichrist. Then Jesus comes to rule forever. If you know anything about prophecy, you the Bible has predicted empires rising and falling until now we have Israel back in the land. It won’t be long now until the King cometh.
The bad guys get theirs in the end.


31 posted on 06/07/2021 9:20:10 AM PDT by Cowgirl
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 21 | View Replies]

To: cranked

Major change (like the end of the nation state) will probably happen eventually, but momentum is a powerful thing and can keep obsolete institutions muddling through for decades and sometimes centuries.


32 posted on 06/07/2021 9:20:22 AM PDT by cgbg (A kleptocracy--if they can keep it. Think of it as the Cantillon Effect in action.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 6 | View Replies]

To: RedStateRocker
IMHO we lost our Republic when we decided on having an empire [...] once we took the Philippines and asserted our hegemony over South America we could no longer really be a country of English Speaking ‘yeoman farmers’ wherein everyone had ‘skin in the game’.

We never had an empire. The Philippines were a colony / client state for about 47 years. The Philippines were never granted full citizenship.

800 military bases in 80 countries is an empire, for good or ill.

Having military outposts does not an empire make.

The U.S. is not an empire - we are a hyperpower (in decline). Our status as a nation-state is likewise eroding.

Regards,

33 posted on 06/07/2021 9:22:25 AM PDT by alexander_busek (Extraordinary claims require extraordinary evidence.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 18 | View Replies]

To: Wish2Post

The question is what will motivate regular people to resist world dominance?

If they come for their 1986 Buick then they will resist. Take their cars away and freedom and any inkling of status is gone.


34 posted on 06/07/2021 9:23:29 AM PDT by BEJ
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: crusher2013
Threaten to leave? They will take your money first and won’t care if you leave.

Sound to me more as though the U.S. were morphing into a "virtual govt."

Regards,

35 posted on 06/07/2021 9:24:42 AM PDT by alexander_busek (Extraordinary claims require extraordinary evidence.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 19 | View Replies]

To: Wish2Post

FTA:.... of the last truly elected US President, John F. Kennedy

Kennedy and the democrats stole that election.


36 posted on 06/07/2021 9:26:01 AM PDT by minnesota_bound (I need more money. )
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: a fool in paradise
Yeah the author kind of left out all the things we need to subsist and even thrive.

Want some chips with your lunch?


37 posted on 06/07/2021 9:31:00 AM PDT by Pollard
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 5 | View Replies]

To: Wish2Post

Or perhaps the CIA already took over as dictators in 1963 with the assassination of the last truly elected US President, John F. Kennedy.
...

The strategy used by the democrats to steal the election in 2020 was the same as that used by mayor daily in the 1960 the presidential election for Kennedy. Wait till all the republican votes come in and then create just enough votes to steal the election.


38 posted on 06/07/2021 9:34:41 AM PDT by ckilmer
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Wish2Post

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-7987485/The-worlds-FLOATING-CITY-reality-decade.html?ico=embedded


39 posted on 06/07/2021 9:37:53 AM PDT by Brian Griffin
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Wish2Post

My observation is that our nation state is dying because many younger people do not consider themselves to be Americans, but rather global citizens. They work in an digital IT world without borders and see no need for countries with physical borders.

They also believe that when people talk about equity it means everyone living their middle/upper middle class lifestyle. They don’t understand that the plan of the ruling class is a return to feudalism where everyone but them lives in a state of shared poverty.


40 posted on 06/07/2021 9:38:01 AM PDT by redangus
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]


Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first previous 1-2021-4041-54 next last

Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.

Free Republic
Browse · Search
News/Activism
Topics · Post Article

FreeRepublic, LLC, PO BOX 9771, FRESNO, CA 93794
FreeRepublic.com is powered by software copyright 2000-2008 John Robinson