[Skybird]

Sounds as if you are talking about the abuse of capitalism, stemming from monopolistic positions of actors who then indeed became powerful. All true. And even then - general wealth levels rose nevertheless, for the rich and for the poor. In the medieval, peasants and slave farmer were worse off, I would say. There is no romanticism to be found.

The problem is monopolism, and the huge size of community units and administration systems. They are too huge as if people would be able to avoid monopole holders by just evading into a neighbouring community, because the next community is not two or three villages away, but two or there nations, or continents.

Politicians want to get elected, they crave for powerful positions, and for that they promote gold and candy falling from heaven, and who has to pay for it? The money printer (debts, money devaluation), and the citizens they cheat (protection money, and more debts) . If you, as you did, claim they are the lesser evil than monopolists, than you trade anthrax for ebola.

Statelessness, a million small, minimalistic communities is the answer to make both evils smaller in size and bring them down to a scale where you can actually avoid them, battle them, control them. Only then local politicians cannot claim the power and control over nations and continents, only then monopolistic producers or power holders can be avoided by moving just some miles away into another city where they handle things differently. And that means cities, local regions must be independent form any central governance, to be free to do it like they want. If they all are part of the same nation and government, then nothing changes, and you have no chance to evade that government.

Governments must be small, not big, lacking power, not having a monopole on power. Due to politicians always necessarily turning any democratic regime into a socialistic tyranny and planned economy, you cannot put your trust in "democracy". It is doomed to fail, always. The mob demands, the politicians promise, both leads to unhealthy finances and dreamdancing economic policies, state wants more power, state plans more, regulation of markets, planned price fixing next, expropriation by currency devaluation, planned economy, et voila - there you are. Give it some time, it always will go this way, and it always has gone like this in every democratic Western country since WWI flushed monarchies away and replaced them with democratic republics. It always must lead to totalitarianism, because socialism is totalitarianism by essence and nature.

the suggestions of how state and society shall be - it is well meant, but totally disrespecting the grim realities. Those craving for power are not like that as if they will allow that. those having monopoles, will not give them up. Capitalism must be kept on a short line in that it can only be prevented from turning into monopolism if implemented in somewhat small community cells, the mere diversity of communities preventing the establishment of monopoles, because the more diversity there is, the more alternatives for the people to evade monopolists. Balancing it all, planning it all, that is all nice and well, but you fall for the classic trap of intellectuals in the west: to think that you can PLAN such things. You cannot, if there is one outstanding message from this set of ideas named Austrian economy, than this: you cannot plan human people, human acting, prices, market events, demand. The market, as if by miracle, does all this itself if you allow people meeting on it and participating freely in it. Those who have something of value, skills or items, will succeed in finding a partner with whom to barter. Those who have not, either adapt by learning and developing said skill or work to get items to trade (even money, that is: a normal trading good), and those who do not adapt and do have something valuable to contribute, will depend on working for others instead - and then again joining the market events, because by their employment they get items of values: currency quantities (=coins). Which are a traiding good.

Prevent monopoles, yes. But also prevenhjt polticians, and worse: prevent poltians gainign cintrol of the money and turning it into paper fiat money. That is the road to toal and complete disaster. Thes epolticians can only live when chnagign towards paper money and debt rising, and brainwashing people for socialist ideas so that they vote them. One should not allow these anti social parasites to unfold their destructive acitivities.

It's all around us. Right now. Forget what you believe to know. Open your eyes, and see. It's all laid before your eyes. Unhidden. Clear. Obvious. The ways we have chosen, are the ways into our doom. Doom that we have seen before in recent history, its been just 1-2 man-live that socialism and nationalism formed the unholy alliance after republicanism won WWI, and communism was a able to abuse the weak condition in Russia to enthrone itself and call itself the Soviet Union. Nobody prevent us to learn from this. We refuse to learn all by ourselves.

Stupid we are.

In capitalism (not to be mistaken with monopolism!), wealth must be distributed unequal, that keeps motivation, competition and creativity alive, and in general, everybody is better off. In socialism, all are equally poor, and no personal motivation survives.

the great role of Europe in history was made possible because its immense diversity (something that the totalitarian socialists of the EU totally ignore). that begins with the fruitful competition for talents in science arts and philosophy between cities and dukedoms in the German territories, and leads to the Italian city states. Add to this the competition between small villages and town communities who were separated by geographic obstacles like valleys and mountains. This was the mixture that did not completely prevent corruption and abuse, no. but it produced an overall raise in wealth and cultrual production and intellectual life of which almost everybody benefitted and that led to some of the cultural monuments that until today illustrate the greatness that once was there and that has led to the most advanced, profound, unique and precious achievements on behalf of human rights, freedom and dignity in the history of ALL mankind - no other global region ever pushed these qualities that we value so much to the levels our forefathers once had.

And we throw all that away? For a false religious stupid cult like socialism? Because that is what it is: a stupid religion, focussed not on the afterlife but the here and now and assuming paradise could be enforced by planning it, enforcing collective obedience to the plan, and planning economy and all that planning mania. How f#cked up is all this? Read a bit of Rousseau, and then you get a taste of how twisted and porked it all is, Rousseau is so very much alive these days, and that is a tragedy (no wonder he had mental issues and was paranoid, if I would have thought these things, I would have turned insane, too). The more the Judeo-Christian tradition ahs been pushed back, the more the spiritual vacuum has been filled by the left ideology, by Marx and Lenin and the like. Everybody knows that I am no friend of religious superstition and supremacism. But I know dam n well that people have an existential hunger for meaning, for a sense and reason in their lives, and religions address this hunger. they may play foul, but as long as the crowd does not become aware of that, it functions. How many more disasters are needed before the crowd realises that socialism and planned economy also is such a foul play? Historians count 100 millions minimum having been fallen victim to socialist regimes in the past one hundred years. Some more critical thinkers publish lists that calculate numbers three times as high. But we celebrate defenders of such bloodshed and barbarism like Che Guevara, and dance in the streets (during Vietnam) singing Ho-Ho-Ho-Tchi-Minh...? We must have a deep-rooting desire to destroy ourselves.

When will it finally be enough of this madness, and we sent career politicians and socialism to hell where they already are awaited?? Only religions maybe have caused more misery and suffering in man's history than this poisonous melange of actors and ideology. But at least they produced nice architecture and paintings and music, at times.

Don't trust monopolists. But do not trust politicians either. They are holders of the most powerful monopoly there is!