The elections in Burma (Myanmar) are in the news. On television, I watched reports of voting in a remote, hilly province, where poverty is stark, and where they surely grow opium; there was also a clip on armed rebels fighting the Army. I watched as Barack Obama, in Indonesia, criticised the elections as a sham. Undoubtedly, they are. But, then, they are a sham in India as well - and Obama ignores that. Further, if you read LewRockwell.com regularly, you find many Americans who write that democracy in the USSA is also a sham.
I do not buy into the proposition that the betterment of the world lies in old, jaded ideas like sovereign nation-states, democracy and suchlike. To me, the most important institution for human survival and betterment is The Market. Further, I hold that the most important institution of political organization is The City. Thus, to me, what is vital for Burma's future is a self-governing and free trading Rangoon. Burma is a nation of many, many discontented minorities. Their future lies in being able to trade in a Rangoon that is a true "catallaxy" - that is, an open trading arena wherein all peaceable strangers are free to mingle.
Second - and this is something no one talks about - there is the important question as to what will constitute The Money. What is the currency in use in Burma? If we look into that, we will surely see that it is not much better than what is used in the USSA. And therein lies the rub.
Obama is now proceeding to a G-20 meeting in Seoul, South Korea. These guys run the IMF. Each of them runs a central bank and prints money - to finance their State. This universal practice is anti-democratic, for it frees the State from the budgetary limits set by the citizenry as taxpayers. The State is then able to spend as it likes, on whatever it likes, without limits. Instead of "representing" taxpayers, these states represent all kinds of "tax parasites." So much for "democracy."
There is an article on the G-20 meeting in the Hindustan Times today, written by the South Korean ambassador to India. The first claim the ambassador makes is as follows:
The Seoul summit will be the fifth since the G20 leaders got together in the immediate aftermath of the global economic crisis in 2008. Thanks to the G20-led concerted efforts, the world has been able to avoid another Great Depression. The successfully-performed feat has earned the G20 an honourable title: 'a premier forum for international economic cooperation'. To be fair, the G20 that accounts for 85% of the global domestic product and two-thirds of the world population deserves due respect on its own merit. The emergence of the G20, with both developed and emerging markets as members, is definitely a welcome step forward from the standpoint of global governance...
If you go through the entire article, you will come across many troublesome words and phrases - like "global governance," "corporate social responsibility," "sustainable growth," "job creation," "balanced development of the world economy" and "global safety net." To me, these ideas are all totally and completely nonsensical.
The first thing we need is sound, private money - and, of course, Property, Liberty, and self-governing, free trading cities.
There is an excellent example of such a City in recent history - and that is colonial Hong Kong. The British practised unilateral free trade there. There was Liberty, Property, Private Money - and no Democracy. The British did not interfere in anything - and one report I read said that their policies are best described as "benign neglect." They built roads, provided Justice, administered The City, raised a low, flat tax - and that was that.
In our own country, this is precisely what led to the development of mighty cities like Bombay, Madras and Calcutta - built and administered by a private company. Trade was free - and the East India Company traded in opium, too. There was no talk of Democracy. And, most importantly, the coinage was honest.
In the West, there is a long history of self-governing, free trading cities run by Mayors - and the Olde City of London, the One Square Mile, is an excellent example that still exists, preserving its independence as well as its civic traditions. There must be many, many more - in Italy, in Germany, and elsewhere. The ancient port city of Hamburg, for example, is an independent State of the German Federation. And, while on a walkabout in Frankfurt-am-Main with a local libertarian, I was told of the city's past as a Freireichstadt - a self-governing city.
In India, during British times, it must be remembered that there were over 650 "princely states" - and most of these were nothing more than small cities, as in Rajasthan. Gujarat was composed of over 150 of these - and there was perfect communal harmony, even during the Partition. The British did not take them over - they did not covet "acres and revenues." All they did is tender good advice to the rulers. The primary goal was Peace. Indeed, British civilian administrators considered these princely states as better government that their own - for the ruler was a local man, with whom the people could identify. The Raja of the port city of Porbandar, for example, where Gandhi was born, was called "Bapu" by his people.
(I have included essays on the Lord Mayor of London, the Princely States of British India, and the British Indian civilian administration in my last book, which you can read here.)
There are other "models" of traditional city government as well - like the emirates of the Middle East.
In our present time, it is the "model" of the big, centralised, powerful, democratic (or otherwise) nation-state that has failed. This is true of the USSA - where there is much talk of "nullification" and the rights of the states, of secession, and well as ending the Fed. The last, in fact, is very much on the cards, with Ron Paul leading the way.
Across the Atlantic, the idea of a "Fortress Europe," with its own central bank, and a centralised "parliament" that, incidentally, spends 40 per cent of its budget on "agricultural subsidies," has also failed.
In China, there is much trouble as well as reaction to Beijing's authoritarianism beneath the surface of prosperity. The Chinese currency is also facing problems.
In India, an extremely serious crisis in government is underway.
All these are signs that wrong ideas have serious adverse consequences. There are also signs that fundamental changes are on their way.
This is my modest contribution towards the public discussions on these vital issues concerning human survival, the furthering of Civilisation, and the betterment of the lot of the world's poor.
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