Kerby Anderson

Yesterday I talked about the book, The Sovereign Individual which decades ago predicted the death of the nation state. To paraphrase Mark Twain, the rumors of the demise of the nation state are greatly exaggerated. Governments may still exist and exercise their power, but we can see how the power and influence of some governments are in decline. There are many reasons for this trend.

First, is geography. The information revolution has made it possible for many people to make a living online or by working remotely. A factory has a more difficult time changing locations, though many have done so by even leaving the US. By contrast, an individual participating in the cyber economy can pick up and leave a jurisdiction if taxes, regulations, or even climate is unfavorable. They can move from one state to another or from one country to another, and usually, the government is powerless to stop them.

Second, is the reality of a government monopoly. When we go into a store or a coffee shop, we expect customer service, but governments take us for granted and rarely treat us like customers. The authors use this example:

If you went into a store to buy furniture, and the salespeople took your money but then proceeded to ignore your requests and consult others about how to spend your money, you would quite rightly be upset… The fact that something very like this happens in dealings with governments shows how little control its “customers” actually have.

A third reason, not mentioned in the book, is the sad reality that governments are broke. You could argue that the US is $31 trillion past broke. Put another way, the US national debt is significantly more than GDP. And there are a dozen other countries in the world with higher debt loads. This is not sustainable.

Nation states are not dead, but most of them are dying.