Chapter One: Decentralized Governance

A Community-based Approach

Imagine a world where you have no federal, state, or county government that tells you how to live your life. When you want to start a business or build a house, you get together with your neighbors and decide the best way to go about it. You can hire a consultant or private company that will check and verify all aspects of the business so that it suits the community, and the person who starts the business takes the risk with their own capital on how they want to run it. Your house is built with the least intrusion possible, with no costly fees, building permits, or engineering permits. The most modern, cutting-edge building construction at the least possible cost to the homeowner can be implemented. You can hire the best architecture and engineering firm, and the money otherwise spent to pay homage to the local government can be used towards building a better house. At each and every step of the build, you can show certifications from reputable firms that signify that the build is optimal. That way, further buyers, based on the inspection by private firms, can be assured that the quality of the build has not been compromised. No waiting for government officials to sign off at every juncture, who take their sweet time to approve projects, whether it is because of short staffing or a power trip.

This book is about so many things, but starting a new way of governance cannot start with the status quo. Trying to come up with patchwork solutions to the current system is futile. We need to reach deep to get to the roots of the causes of our societal dysfunction. Otherwise, we will only be desperately plugging the holes in the current system. When our current empire fails, as it inevitably will, it will be because we are enforcing whole solutions that are not anti-fragile, ala Nassim Nicholas Taleb. A force reset will ensue, and it will only be painful, prolong suffering, cause shortages, and cause more deaths—wholly unnecessary if only we would start acknowledging our problems now. At the same time, I do realize that the principles and solutions that I put forth will require an overhaul of the whole system, from nation-wide governance to daily practices.

I am not here to propose a perfect global system of governance. I am looking at the status quo and saying we can do better than this. As a classical liberal, I adhere to the principle of non-aggression. However, this principle certainly doesn’t preclude me from acknowledging an exchange of mutually beneficial care and protection we can all afford each other. As with all things in life, this does necessitate the giving of some measure of control, but never the ultimate control, which is the freedom to exit a situation where any future contract has not been entered into yet. What we should and probably will be able to do is ultimately take steps in the right direction.

As a humanist, I seek to put systems in place that promote the long-term continuation of the human race. Complexity calls for a nuanced framework. To do that, I would have to work with the complexities of our human nature. My impetus to help our older generation is the raison d’être that drives my passion to seek change. Those that know me have heard me say, "If a horrific idea such as communism that works against human nature can take hold of the imagination of hundreds of millions of people, why not good ideas?” To help our future most vulnerable population, good governance has to begin now.

To propose long-term solutions, I will need to lay out the necessary framework for ideas based on the inner workings of our human psychology. As a gerontologist who has always placed value on our older population and a passionate student of economics, long-term solutions to a better way of governance mean a whole-scale shift to one that works with and not against our baser human nature while inspiring our more enlightened parts. In the short term, we all need sustenance and shelter. However, my call, as paradoxical as it might seem to ensure the longevity of the human race, is that we need to focus on ideals that promote meaning for living first. When people have a purpose beyond themselves, that’s when humans can then begin to dream beyond striving for the basic necessities, and those then in turn become mundane needs that will be fulfilled as a matter of course. Striving for something greater than ourselves is a basic principle that I consider a priori to our discussion. Unfortunately, whole volumes can be written to support the many a priori claims I will be putting forth here. And thus, acknowledging my hubris with much bravado, I can only list these principles out as such.

At the heart of this new way of governance is community-based governance, hence the sub-title of this book, which seems less pithier than “Decentralized Governance.” With finite resources and an eye always towards the long-term viability of any governance, the most efficient and effective is one that is not based on strict rules written on thousands of pages, such as our current system. The ideal way is one that is the most gentle and yet uses the tightest and strongest ties that bind us together. Those ties are our relationships with each other.

This is the power of decentralized governance. It establishes a positive feedback loop that motivates people to uphold the social standards of the community and generates a sense of belonging, thus overcoming anomie. However, as with all things new—not so new as there is nothing new under the sun—this political framework is different in that it necessitates voluntary participation in order for it to succeed. This book, “The Fatal Hubris,” highlights the necessity of cooperation and good will among the governed, split between all the different personalities that make up our population, including those they call leaders. With that comes the acknowledgement that we all want what is good for each other. That trust can only be built through close connections. Thus, this framework works with human nature, not against it. It calls out all the noble, forgiving, tolerant, and magnanimous traits in all of us to participate in this journey called life.

Any system that tears down these ties does so at the peril of waste, inefficiency, and ineffectuality. Worse, bad governance steals our livelihood, dreams, and resources and stymies innovation, which is often the springboard to the next extraordinary level of standard of living beyond our current imagination. That is how much I see the government stealing our future.

Here is the essence of decentralized governance, to put it personally: no one has the authority, amongst other things, to execute me, levy taxes on me, penalize me, direct how I should run any of my businesses, direct how I should develop my properties, or imprison me unless they have a personal relationship with me.

For the many objections that I foresee forthcoming, give me a chance to elaborate on the beauty and advantages of decentralized governance and have it stand side by side with the current dismal political non-solutions we currently live with. We have already ceded our freedom and lifeblood to our present government and local authorities, with us having little control on an individual level.

The key to making decentralized governance work is a framework of supporting principles that surround the core of decentralized governance. Quoting Ayn Rand, “The smallest minority on earth is the individual.”  Let each and every one of us decide what is best for us. However, that profound concept presupposes a citizenry that has been taught what is best. And besides having a moral society, the foundation upon which a blossoming society necessarily rests is trust. As strong-willed, independent, autonomous individuals, we do not naturally trust except when pushed to, even though putting the effort into creating trust is paramount to efficient transactions on every level.

When decentralized governance is practiced, it has the ability to inculcate trust between all vested parties, without which all talks of compromise and cooperation become short-lived when finer points of contention arise, as they invariably will in any complex, multi-layered societal situation. Trust is truly the bedrock of any functioning society; it is the oil that lubricates every transaction and interaction, creating efficiencies and leveraging relationships. The impetus to develop that trust is where the power of decentralized governance comes into play. At every step, all parties willingly and mindfully reach out to their community to grow that trust.

Thus, inbuilt into decentralized governance is the impetus that encourages, nay, necessarily insists upon, closeness to the people and community with whom you claim to be a part. The solution is always through relationships. Communism only works within the immediate family unit because there are already blood and familial ties. Decentralized governance seeks to widen the net of these human ties that bind.

This framework also encourages us to build that strongest and most powerful human trait, which is really the two faces of one coin: the overwhelming need to love and be loved. To love is to make a conscious decision and commit to bending one’s will through all objections. For parents who adopt a baby who has none of their DNA, the lifelong vow and pledge to provide sustenance, shelter, and affection is ideally a reflected, intentional, and purposeful call to be family regardless of blood or previous familial connection—such is unconditional love. And thus, decentralized governance also calls out to one to extend, to be part of a community that should have your best interests at heart, and vice versa. All that is intertwined with self-worth, within which is pride of work, standing in society, familial affection, and the lessons learned in overcoming adversities, brings a sense of accomplishment in being able to fulfill that deepest of longings.

If we all had the above, surely that would solve the majority of human woes. We would have meaning, purpose, and function. We would allay loneliness and build a true community. After all, where does striving come from? The urge to devour and attack when we do not feel safe because we do not seek to understand one another. And because each community's landscape is unique to its circumstances and familial structures, decentralized governance provides a platform for creating trust and a testing ground for experimentation on how to be better humans. It would also solve the growing isolation we are each feeling in this internet-connected age where technology has lessened human in-person connectedness, leading to an increasing epidemic of feelings of loneliness.

We all have a very finite time on this earth; any political structure that places more burdens on our resources and time needs to be eliminated. I don’t use a weaker tone than that because the freedom to live life to the fullest is everything. And thus, it all begins with education that passes on morality and emphasizes supporting creativity and play for our youth, which I will be elaborating on in future posts.

The details of how each community comes together or how one enters or exits will not be elaborated on in this book. That is best left to each district, township, or community to decide. The most I will posit is that we could start with an amalgamation of our current system and the option to leave it. So for those who choose not to connect with their neighbors, they will still answer to the existing overlords. However, as each person opts out, there will be a slow uncleaving of the status quo towards more freedom and autonomy. I say all this with much reluctance because our political, economic, and cultural paradigms are so interconnected that this way of exiting might mean a non-starter for our new way of living.

But onward and upward, here are the details I will list below, which are principles that might seem disparate, but they are vital in the creation of a new way of governance for human flourishing. These principles seek to mitigate the majority of our human misgivings:

The necessary component of close proximity, as in physical distance

Taught morality and the dangers of mass-formation psychosis

Skin in the game

A swift, effective, and efficient justice system

A sliding scale of oversight for the individual

The necessary freedom to fail and grow from adversity

Built trust as the bedrock for all our interactions and transactions

The acknowledgement that the digital world is not conducive to human interaction

The acknowledgement that even with quantum computing and AI, they are not good servants at predicting our vagaries, intentions, emotions, and physical and spiritual needs. Be very much on guard when those in charge say that it can be done. That is the beginning of totalitarianism. It is the nose of the camel under the tent, as that will inch us towards central planning. Invariably, their plans will be to consolidate their power over us.

Of course, we need to protect the weakest-minded and physically disadvantaged members of our society. However, if we do not take care to strengthen our own, we will not be able to serve those in need. It is with much humility and awe of human ingenuity and creativity that we should leave it in the hands of each community to fight their own fight to convince the powers that be to leave the other 80% of our population alone, following the Pareto Principle. Thus, whether it is done through a steady, quiet revolution with equanimity or one that is more fulminant, we need this revolution to happen.

When working on a problem, I never think about beauty; I think only of how to solve the problem. But when I have finished, if the solution is not beautiful, I know that it is wrong. Buckminster Fuller

With wealth and prosperity, we can then begin to build a cleaner, more beautiful world. However, if we seek to do it in reverse, we will find that we will quickly run out of wealth and end up with no prosperity. We have to free our citizenry from the shackles of increasing governmental oversight; this is the necessary order of things. And then we can do all things with aplomb and style. Life is too short not to have beauty in it.