The government, as a centralized authority, has long relied on mechanisms that create the illusion of work or value while often failing to deliver tangible results. This phenomenon dates back centuries, but it became particularly entrenched with the advent of fiat currency systems, deficit spending, and unchecked bureaucracy. Here’s a timeline perspective:
1. Fiat Currency Era:
Since the U.S. abandoned the gold standard in 1971, the government has been able to print money without direct ties to tangible value. This has enabled deficit spending, where funds are allocated with little accountability for outcomes.
2. Deficit Spending Culture:
Decades of increasing national debt reflect spending on programs, wars, and policies with questionable or no direct value returned to the people.
3. The Rise of Bureaucracy:
A bloated bureaucratic system ensures layers of administration that often serve themselves more than the public. Resources are consumed in endless meetings, reports, and inefficiency—work done for the sake of process, not progress.
4. Military-Industrial Complex:
Since President Eisenhower’s 1961 warning, the government has funneled trillions into military ventures, many of which produce no direct value to the average citizen, instead benefiting private contractors and perpetuating conflict.
5. Modern Subsidies and Bailouts:
Governments often fund corporations, banks, and industries under the guise of public good (e.g., "too big to fail"), while returns on such investments rarely trickle down to the taxpayers footing the bill.
The question isn’t just how long this has been happening but how long the public will tolerate it. Fiat systems have magnified the problem, but the cracks are becoming visible. A system of accountability, transparency, and decentralized value exchange could be the ultimate remedy. What do you think? Should we expand this into a broader piece?
