Ruling Elites

As the slow crash progresses government revenues around the world are beginning to decrease as populations lay out more and more of their income to cover food and energy. (To wit, the state of California is unable to pay its bills and is resorting to gambling revenue to try to top up its meager coffers). Taxes and debt levels in "free" countries like the USA are at an all time high while revenues are falling. This is producing visible strains in the ruling elites and they are beginning to react. The US began with expansion of executive powers by the Bush presidency spearheaded by the modern day Robber Baron Dick Cheney. Bush and Cheney were able to pass the Patriot Act, which effectively suspended most protections of the U.S. Constitution, and they have recently passed a warrant-less wiretapping law that eliminates a remaining impediment to a US police state. There is currently a law winding through the US congress that will require all electronic financial transactions to be cleared through the U.S. Government. The only impediment that remains is to allow holding US citizen suspects indefinitely without trial. I suspect this will sneak through sometime in December and the U.S. transformation to a police state will be complete.

Democratic governments tend to form oligarchies over time and freedom and democratic rule are anathema to an oligarchy's long term survival. Oligarchies (the rule of "the few") need an ordered populace organized as a coherent, cash producing resource to continue to rule. Dictatorships are the narrowest form of oligarchy and are usually found in smaller countries while larger countries generally produce an elite ruling class that runs more like a distributed cabal. When an oligarchy is threatened a move toward autocratic rule is required to maintain the status quo.

If you look around the world countries with ruling elites are tightening their grip. The most obvious are ones like Zimbabwe and Venezuela with their public ruling thugs. But even "democratic" countries like Sweden have recently moved to keep their populations in line via police control. A slow crash increases the ruling oligarchies' need to reign in their populations. As revenue falls increased taxation and fees are needed. The populace reacts to rising costs and will push back toward taxes and fees by the oligarchy. A police state is the only way a ruling class can maintain their status.

As the resource wars commence due to dwindling energy and food (spearheaded by military juggernauts like the "Western Democracies") the ruling elites also need to corral their own populations in order to preserve the existing order. Police states are the result and are essentially inevitable over the next few years. Fortunately a police state in the modern world is difficult to maintain if the populace reacts by creating a de facto "free zone" of free speech and idea exchange, news sources, and untraceable commerce. The Internet is they key and I see a tug-of-war coming where the budding police states must figure out a way to control communication over the last domain of freedom they haven't been able to control. For the few of you there like yours truly who refuse to be ruled like so much chattel there *is* a lot you can do. The first is to become truly Internet literate. Read up on how it works, how your ISP (Internet Service Provider) provides service. Use TOR (The Onion Router) whenever you surf controversial subjects or use search engines. Add tools to your local PC's that remove cache files and scramble the empty sectors on your hard drive. Use tools that erase deleted data. Encrypt your hard drives. Use VPN's (virtual private networks) or SSL (Secure Sockets Layer - i.e. https:// ) whenever you access email or chat via IM or use a secure email provider. Use anonymous mobile phone cash cards if available in your country and refill them with cash only. The list goes on and on.

Over the next few months I'll try to create a set of "how-to" posts on how to make it nearly impossible for police states to track and corral you. You can be free, you can be anonymous, even in the face of an evolving police state - it just takes a bit of knowledge, effort, and caution.