John Robb of Global Guerillas and Resilient Communities just started Home Free America, “an open notebook on the future of the American Dream.” This is a natural progression for his work, as he is focused on how we cope as a society and individuals when our government clearly is hollowing out, increasing unable to provide what it used to, while financial predators at the top vacuum money out of the middle class and a captive government does little to stop them.
It’s where I’m doing some thinking on the future of the American Dream (I personally think it is the most important idea the US ever produced)
It’s still a very early effort, but the brainstorming so far has been pretty fruitful. If you are interested in this topic, please join me. We’re already diving into new ideas and frameworks that offer promise.
Robb thinks we will, sooner or later, see serious breakdowns in the social fabric and in society. Yet some of this may be beneficial in the long run – if we are prepared.
The unbundling we are seeing work is part of a larger process driving the direct economy forward. Every building block of the existing economic system, from education to finance to law to science, is being unbundled. Being made small and malleable by the individual. The big bureaucratic chunks of education and financial overhead of the old economy are being replaced by chunks the size of individuals: a very specific skill or knowledge, a block of time, a small amount of money”¦
But to what end? Why is this unbundling so important?
It speeds up innovation, the lifeblood of economic progress. The reason is that smaller economic building blocks nearly guarantees an explosion of technological novelty. It’s easier to do your own science, prototype your own technology, finance your venture, manufacture your product, and sell your product than ever before.
There’s lots more thought-provoking articles at Home Free America. Jump on in.
Someone recently posted on FB a photo of a billboard in TX suggesting a 6-state secession. It seems likely that our “nation” will eventually split into geographical and cultural areas. (Robert Heinlein suggested this decades ago.) As the government continues to fail, regional solutions will become more important than two-party bickering. Already, CA has signed treaties with other countries. Though it seems CA would probably split as well. It’s hard to maintain cohesiveness with diverse and conflicting needs and interests.
It could happen. I hope not. It would probably just make things worse.