WWFD

What would Franklin do?

Smell that? That’s the odor of graft and corruption. It’s spiling off the land and into the sea. It’s polluting every aspect of society and no public agency can be trusted to act rationally or even legally. The legislative branch is blighted, the executive branch is rotted, and the judicial branch…well, it sawed itself off and went AWOL decades ago.

Here in Indonesia, this has been the status quo since, um…the dawn of time? The system here does not function without handing envelopes full of cash to some apparatchik or another. There was never a pretense of legitimacy, and the citizenry behave accordingly. Everyone knows it’s a fraud, so just ignore it with a wink and a nod, and go about your life.

The US and Europe, on the other hand, once told themselves the faery tale that they had invented the greatest legal systems in history, with lofty ideals of individual sovereignty, the end of abject slavery, and direct control of power in the hands of the people.

Pardon me while I quit laughing…

We have huge paintings of periwig-pated fellows in heroic poses framed in Divine Light gesturing at pieces of paper, as if they had just created sliced bread, or something useful like that. Somehow the words “We” and “People” would stand as bulwarks against the abuse of power and secure liberty, or something to that effect.

Mighty wars on two continents were fought over those pieces of paper, thousands died for the well-written and grammatically correct text on those pages, and now all that soggy parchment is slowly sinking into the Pacific Trash Vortex.

So what set me off this time?

Thanks to Reagan’s War on Drugs, the US began using “asset forfeiture” as a weapon against the citizenry. At first, if you were caught with a couple of seeds or a roach, then the Man would steal everything you owned. It grew to include any large amounts of cash they claimed were proceeds from illegal activity. Now the country is blowing speed boats out of the water and seizing oil tankers, because…well, um…possible annoying and unproven activity? Yeah, that’s the thing.

The citizens didn’t say anything, because evil criminals and ne’er-do-wells. Doesn’t affect me — except for Know Your Customer, two-layer log in, and can’t go anywhere with cash in your pockets or the “authorities” will steal it.

The EU is even worse. Here we have an organization that is entirely a legal fiction. It is an artificial body created completely out of paper (see my book), with exactly zero de jure fibers in its being. If the EU fails to uphold its own laws, it ceases to exist as a legitimate political entity. It fully undermines the very foundation of its existence.

So, when the EU retroactively changed its rules, excommunicated Hungary (and possibly Belgium itself), went against the European Central Bank, Euroclear, and virtually every single legal expert on the planet so it could steal Russia’s money for their insane money laundering scheme in the Ukraine, well…the EU no longer exists.

They can scream and yell, stamp their feet and hold their breath as much as they want, but that single act violated its foundational treaties, Natural Law, and just plain common sense (a classic oxymoron). When you build an empire out of paper, and then set fire to the paper, you just can’t claim to have an empire anymore.

The EU is now simply a military junta called NATO, masquerading as a de jure system of governance, whose only power flows from an iron fist.

Together, the US and EU are running amok. The US is behaving like a neighborhood bully, and the EU is a bunch of trembling chihuahuas cowering behind Uncle. The world is devolving into a turf war, with a handful of aging bull dogs pissing on everything in sight, trying to maintain their once-dominant territorial reaches. But if you’re stealing money from other nations and engaging in piracy on the high seas, you’re obviously losing your grip on the world’s throat, to mix a bagful of metaphors.

So, what now?

Obviously, the world is at war. It may not look anything like most of us imagine a world war to look like — unless you are in the Ukraine, Iran, Syria, Lebanon, or Gaza. Instead, it’s an international pissing match, with the EU assigned to keep Russia busy in the west, while the US tries to encircle China in the east and disrupt the Belt & Road project. The Belt & Road is key, since the US is trying to erect a naval blockade, but China is trying to establish land-based routes to avoid the open seas.

Things really heated up recently with the BRICS introducing the Unit. Despite sounding vaguely pornographic, the Unit is backed 40% by gold, and 60% by faith and hope. It is a cryptocurrency on the blockchain that circumvents the US-controlled SWIFT/JCB clearing system and dumps the dollar as the global standard for trade.

You can practically hear the hyperventilating in the hallowed halls of Warshington, as the Deepsters grasp their pearls and clench their butt cheeks. How dare anyone even entertain the passing thought of replacing the dollar? Who will CONgress sell its debt to if no one needs Treasuries anymore? Oh Rhett, Rhett! Wherever shall I go? Whatever shall I do?

Frankly, my dear…

=====

Today’s cinéma d’auteur is a Robert Redford joint called The Milagro Beanfield War (1988), based on the wonderful 1974 novel by John Nichols. This beautifully shot film absolutely captures the New Mexico milieu, not to mention perfectly dramatizing the rest of the world against a bully with vast resources and lust for empire. This is a hidden gem of a film — warm, funny, absurd, just like real life. Read the book too. You’ll never forget El Brazo de Onofre.

---

Counting my Units on the Far Side:

• Telegram / Locals / TwiX

• Rumble / BitChute / YouTube / Spotify

• Home Site / Old Blogger Site

• E-book: Paper Golem: Corporate Personhood & the Legal Fiction

• Contact Bernard Grover: bernard (at) radiofarside (dot) com

Radio Far Side, published (mostly) every Sun/Wed at 7a CST/7p WIB, is a labour of love. We don’t use a paywall, and we don’t sell stuff. We just create things to inform and entertain. But like any good busker on the digital mean streets, we put our hat down and if you feel inspired, drop a coin in to show your appreciation:

• BTC wallet: bc1qth6drgzcyt7vlxxpvqh6erjm0lmaemwsvf0272

• XRP wallet: rMSQzLyE3RHacCLwYPADBbq4RHQ71HpCzw