A freer people are a happier people

In the past eight years world history has changed in an unprecedented way. Just this week we learned the UK is leaving the EU and that Venezuelans have experienced prices increase up to 19,000% in the past four years – at the hands of its new unified socialist government.

Even more – the end of globalization seems to be at hand as many other EU countries are also looking to flee the EU and/or euro.

In 2009 there was a Persian Awakening which the government responded to with torture and murder of its citizens. Shortly thereafter the Arab Spring shook the middle-east and the Tea Party revolution in the US caused a historic shift in congressional control.

There is one common thread. In every case, the people are voting against large centralized governments and are choosing liberty instead.

They want their voices heard. Expect to see more of this talk in Venezuela as well.

Former director of the CBI, Lord Digby Jones tells BBC Breakfast that the UK has a “golden opportunity” as it renegotiates its relationship with Europe.

Make no mistake this is the exact type of phenomenon which happened in the 1700s leading to democracy in the United States and eventually in France and the rest of Europe… Large, centralized governments are failing the people.

The view of the EU and the euro from Italy

It’s Taxation without proper representation.

There seem to be two views on what is happening here. The first group sees much of these events as xenophobic and racist typically brought on by an uneducated and unenlightened populace. When these events are seen as a whole though, it is tough to make such a case with a straight face. There are no other races in Iran or the middle-east. The more plausible view in these cases is people want to be in control of their own destiny and have seen firsthand how their leaders have all gotten richer while they have gotten poorer.

The Mullahs in Iran are living very well as are the rulers throughout the middle east – regardless of how the common person lives. The daughter of Hugo Chavez in Venezula is worth $4.2 billion while the average person in the country cannot get food, medicine or toilet paper. In the US, the top politicians are all millionaires. The average voter who realizes that their salary for nine years is less than Bill Clinton can make in a one-hour speech is likely not only unhappy, they are furious.

Politicians on the left continue to make the case for the unfairness of income inequality but the real inequality is the ruling class and their cronies versus the people who put them in power. Is it really unfair to become wealthy when you invent a life-saving drug or a consumer electronics device or app which brings pleasure to millions? Politicians have demonized these groups to distract the electorate while amassing huge fortunes for themselves and families.

The Tea Party in the US was fueled by the huge stimulus which went into the pockets of big banks and government cronies who funneled the money back to the politicians come reelection time.

Bernie Sanders got it half right. Wall Street does own the US government but this is only the case because the politicians are for sale and in reality, if you don’t have a seat at the table, you’re on the menu.

The common thread in all these cases is the masses are being fleeced by the centralized ruling class.

To make matters worse, global central banks are printing money at rates never seen in history, all the while reducing the value of salaries while inflating the values of hard assets such as stocks and real estate.

In other words, the ruling class and its policies have hurt workers around the globe and as a result, central banks have responded with stimulus which enriches the wealthy at the expense of workers and savers.

This is the true nature of the problem and it dates back to Iran.

We are already seeing talk of countries fleeing the euro and EU altogether. Others are predicting that we will definitely see a Trump presidency as this wave spreads.

What hasn’t been discussed however is the elephant in the room, China.

The Chinese people have been censored to the extreme and it’s getting worse. Yet, they have been poised for an uprising for many years. The great Firewall of China keeps tries to them ignorant of the world around them. 

This time though the authorities are going to have the challenge of lifetime.

Are they going to be able to keep the Chinese from knowing the UK took its country back and so will much of Europe? Will the Chinese people be obvious to the failures of centralized government in Venezuela?

It’s really tough to “spin” the reemergence of the French franc.

The communist country has been doing everything it can to keep control of its people for many years but there is a global movement afoot here and China will likely be the final domino.

China forces US companies to partner with the country to gain access to Chinese markets – including signing over valuable technology. It’s really extortion which is enforced by the government.

You won’t hear about this from the media for some reason – only from Donald Trump. It is a major problem for western countries. In addition, China’s cyberhacking and protectionist tariffs are really hurting other countries and their workers.

Only one candidate has brought this problem up – again, Donald Trump.

At some point soon, it seems inevitable that the China domino will drop. The next five to ten years is a probable window when this happens. There will likely be some sort of uprising, reformation or another Tiananmen Square type incident.

A more democratic China is a win for global companies and global workers. Much of the activities above will hopefully moderate as a result.

In our immediate future however, we’ll have to see how things work out with Brexit and the treaties which follow. There will be some short-term pain and uncertainty but democracy in the form of increased sovereignty is winning and even if some of the results are negative, freer people are a happier people.