The End of the Nation-State

[Chris]

An excerpt from a longer piece that argues each age and what it ended, so read the whole thing.

The End of the Nation-State

Right now I believe we’re at the cusp of another change, at least as important as the ones that took place around 12,000 years ago and several hundred years ago. Even though things are starting to look truly grim for the individual, with collapsing economic structures and increasingly virulent governments, I suspect help is on the way from historical evolution. Just as the agricultural revolution put an end to tribalism and the industrial revolution killed the kingdom, I think we’re heading for another multipronged revolution that’s going to make the nation-state an anachronism. It won’t happen next month, or next year. But I’ll bet the pattern will start becoming clear within the lifetime of many now reading this.

Just to whet the appetite for thought, the author says his vision is somehwat Marxian: "What pattern am I talking about? Once again, a reference to the evil genius Karl Marx, with his concept of the “withering away of the State.”" He also refers to another thinker: "The way I see it, Thomas Paine had it right when he said: “My country is wherever liberty lives.”"

Hans-Hermann Hoppe, a libertarian thinker, sees the same end in localization: "Don’t put your trust in democracy, but neither should you trust in a dictatorship. Rather, put your hope into radical political decentralization, not just in India and China, but everywhere."

I think the new age could be called the Information Revolution where the Internet connects us to information

Douglas Adams, author of Life, the Universe and Everything, once gave a speech on the Four Ages of Sand, for which this is an excellent summary:

...The Ages of Sand is Adam's description of the technological changes humanity went through and how those changes broadened our understanding.

The first age is that of astronomy, when we looked at the stars and realised our belief that the Earth is the center of the universe was false.

The second age is of the microscopic, when we looked down at the tiny formations that make life and the universe and found something quite startling.

The third age is that of computers- the silicon chip which gave us process. The computer can perform mathematics very fast and this allows us to create models, simulations. This gave us another form of perspective as where can see how life works with these models and simulations.

The fourth age of sand is the one we are entering, is that of the Internet. This runs on fibre-optics and is the fourth form of communication many-to-many (the other three being, one-to-one (telephone for example), one-to-many (broadcasting, journalism, etc) and many-to-one (democracy is a model of this).

[Peter1469]

From sources that I follow the evolution is not going to be in the direction that most want. It is toward global corporate control. Many corporations are already worth more than most nations.

[Mister D]

The nation state has grown increasingly obsolete. I agree on that it it appears obvious. I don't agree that this change leads inexorably anywhere.

[Chris]

From sources that I follow the evolution is not going to be in the direction that most want. It is toward global corporate control. Many corporations are already worth more than most nations.

It could as well go in that direction.

[Mister D]

From sources that I follow the evolution is not going to be in the direction that most want. It is toward global corporate control. Many corporations are already worth more than most nations.

That is certainly the greatest threat and its precisely because of the global economy that the nation state has become inadequate.

[Peter1469]

That is certainly the greatest threat and its precisely because of the global economy that the nation state has become inadequate.

Exactly.

[Mister D]

It could as well go in that direction.

It is going in that direction because a monied minority is pushing it in that direction. We need to push back. We need more democracy not less.

[Chris]

It is going in that direction because a monied minority is pushing it in that direction. We need to push back. We need more democracy not less.

Democracy on the local level and small scale.

[Dr. Who]

We are moving toward world government. The only question is whether it will be ruled by and really only represent multinational corporations as an evil overlord or whether we have the capacity to make it represent the people of this planet for the betterment of all.

[Mister D]

We are moving toward world government. The only question is whether it will be ruled by and really only represent multinational corporations as an evil overlord or whether we have the capacity to make it represent the people of this planet for the betterment of all.

Any sort of world government will necessitate strict control and oligarchy. There is no question whatsoever about that. Reconsider. I say that because I know you are deluded enough to think there is a snowball's chance in hell of a global democracy. With all due respect, ma'am, Star trek is science fiction.