I heartily accept the motto, “That government is best which governs least”; and I should like to see it acted up to more rapidly and systematically. Carried out, it finally amounts to this, which also I believe — “That government is best which governs not at all”; and when men are prepared for it, that will be the kind of government which they will have.
– Henry David Thoreau, Civil Disobedience
As we head into 2018, I believe governments around the world will become increasingly insecure about their positions of power and control, which will result in increased paranoia about whether or not they have the consent of the governed.
Being a global empire in decline, the U.S. power structure has the most to lose, making it particularly vulnerable to such panic. I suspect forces within the U.S. government are likely to engage in various attempts to reestablish authority via desperate and authoritarian moves as 2018 unfolds. I don’t say this to spread fear; rather, I think such moves will result in considerable pushback from the population at large, particularly from younger generations who are intimately aware of how spectacularity the status quo has failed them. Panic and desperation from those in control shouldn’t be feared, it should be expected and contemplated ahead of time. That’s why I’m writing this series. I want as many people as possible to start thinking about this now so we aren’t caught off guard.
The areas I’ll be diving into with these pieces consist of cannabis, Bitcoin and war against Iran. I’m sure there are plenty of other areas government will target in its last ditch effort to exert control over a populace sick and tired of these busybody, corrupt authoritarians, but these are issues I follow closely and have a certain degree of familiarity with. As such, they’ll be the focus of this series.
Today’s topic is cannabis. This seems the least likely area for government action, specifically because it would be such a monumentally stupid move. That said, just because something’s idiotic doesn’t mean we should simply discount it, particularly with human fossil Jeff Sessions continuing to chirp on the issue every chance he gets.
Although Sessions has been threatening to stomp on states’ rights and freedom of choice when it comes to cannabis ever since he became Attorney General, he hasn’t done anything yet. Nevertheless, he continues to issue threats.
As Axios reported yesterday:
Attorney General Jeff Sessions suggested in a press conference on Wedenesday that the Department of Justice is looking at changing Obama-era policies that allowed states to decide what to do about marijuana despite the drug remaining illegal under federal law, according to McClatchy DC.
Why it matters: This could have a huge impact on the 6 states and D.C. which will have legalized marijuana by January, 2018. Places that have already legalized marijuana and have seen the marijuana industry boom in their states could face particularly tricky legal situations.
Key quote: “In fact, we’re looking at that very hard right now, we had a meeting yesterday and talked about it at some length. It’s my view that the use of marijuana is detrimental, and we should not give encouragement in any way to it, and it represents a federal violation, which is in the law and is subject to being enforced.”
Meanwhile, bipartisan groups of Senators and House members have been pushing for criminal justice reform bills, which would lower minimum mandatory sentences for non-violent drug crimes. A crackdown on drug crimes is not what they’re looking for from Sessions.
If Sessions decides to do something, I predict he’ll have his ass handed to him in spectacular fashion. First of all, I can’t think of a single issue that unites Americans at this time more than the belief cannabis should be legalized. A recent Gallup poll proved this in spades. We learned:
WASHINGTON, D.C. — Americans continue to warm to legalizing marijuana, with 64% now saying its use should be made legal. This is the highest level of public support Gallup has found for the proposal in nearly a half-century of measurement.
Gallup first asked national adults about their views on the topic in 1969, when 12% supported legalization. Support had more than doubled by the end of the next decade but changed little throughout the 1980s and 1990s. By 2001, however, about a third of Americans favored legalizing marijuana, and support has steadily increased since. A majority of Americans have consistently supported legalizing marijuana since 2013.
That looks like the chart of Bitcoin.
More significantly, we live in an era in which basically no issue issue successfully crosses partisan political lines. Except cannabis. Also from Gallup:
Democrats and independents have historically been much more likely than Republicans to say marijuana should be legalized. In 2009, Democrats were the first partisan group to see majority support for legalization, followed by independents in 2010.
This year for the first time, a majority of Republicans express support for legalizing marijuana; the current 51% is up nine percentage points from last year.
Moreover, many of those against legal cannabis in their particular state still accept the right of people in other states to decide for themselves. The idea of the federal government going into states and denying the will of the citizens who voted to legalize it would be extraordinarily unpopular across the board. It’ll be completely obvious to everyone that if the feds think they can tell people their votes don’t matter on that issue, there’s zero freedom of choice for anything in this country. It’s the ultimate canary in the coal mine.
In fact, I’ll take this one step further and say if Sessions dares to make this move, it’ll accelerate secessionist movements across the country and delegitimize government credibility more than any other single act in the forty years since I’ve been alive.
The clowns in D.C. have no conception of how fragile this nation is right now.
One more gigantic policy disaster and the whole thing could fall apart.— Michael Krieger (@LibertyBlitz) November 30, 2017
If the Trump administration actually moves on this issue, we’ll know for sure how completely inept and desperate it is. Part of me almost wants to see them try, because the resulting monumental fail will demonstrate the power of the people and give a gigantic black eye to authoritarians in government.
Stuff like this is all part of the process we’ll be going through over the next few years, and we need to be mentally prepared for it. We the people will increasingly move to take sovereignty back in a variety of ways, and government will respond with panic. The good news is they’ll be reacting from a position of weakness, not strength.
Which brings us to the topic of Bitcoin. As the price crossed $10,000 recently, I noticed increased squeamishness and fear on behalf of various banksters, economists and other assorted statists.
Monday’s post will dig into what all of that means.
If you liked this article and enjoy my work, consider becoming a monthly Patron, or visit our Support Page to show your appreciation for independent content creators.
In Liberty,
Michael Krieger
Donate bitcoins: 35DBUbbAQHTqbDaAc5mAaN6BqwA2AxuE7G
Follow me on Twitter.
It’s my belief that in time the American dollar will become worth less and less. Because federal government programs are paid for using federal income tax dollars, the federal government will eventually stop paying for state projects leaving the states federally unfunded. This will force the states to act in their own interest and have a states rights convention where different states join together to form new countries. I expect to see as many as 10 new countries created.
Let’s look forward to the complete failure of the US Empire (shouldn’t take that much longer at this rate) at which point decentralization will occur. Like the old Soviet Union, or Roman Empire.
http://www.yesCalifornia.org
••• WHY? http://www.yescalifornia.org/2017/11/justice-thomas-what-do-we-have-in-common-anymore/
••• WHAT TO DO? read and think https://yescalifornia.org/blue-book/
How do empires fall apart? SLOWLY, at first, and then all at once.
Does anyone know where the switch for the OPEN sign on the US Capitol is located? It’s not long until we can turn that thing off once and for all.
For those who are listening, the twisting and cracking of the piers holding the whole thing up is becoming deafening.
My little dream is not just California seceding, but if ALL the states did…in which case, guess what? We are roughly back to the Republic we began with, or at least in a position to create one, and the Federal government evaporates (show of hands, how many think that .gov would just box up theirs desks and leave in such a scenario?)
Have you read the constitution? It doesn’t seem as though you have. I’m not willing to give up the constitution. If all 50 states secede. That would be the end of the constitution.
Decentralization is Treason – Andrea Iravani
https://rebel0007com.wordpress.com/2017/10/28/decentralization-is-treason/
This is where all of this is headed by the late 2020’s. It will result in a re-write and update to the Constitution and it’s the oligarchs and their statist lackeys worst nightmare come true.
Convention of States
The Congress, whenever two thirds of both houses shall deem it necessary, shall propose amendments to this Constitution, or, on the application of the legislatures of two thirds of the several states, shall call a convention for proposing amendments, which, in either case, shall be valid to all intents and purposes, as part of this Constitution, when ratified by the legislatures of three fourths of the several states, or by conventions in three fourths thereof, as the one or the other mode of ratification may be proposed by the Congress; provided that no amendment which may be made prior to the year one thousand eight hundred and eight shall in any manner affect the first and fourth clauses in the ninth section of the first article; and that no state, without its consent, shall be deprived of its equal suffrage in the Senate.
– Article V, U.S. Constitution
I would think the gov would be all over anesthetizing the voters. At this point, if the Federal government tries to re-criminalize marijuana, they will just be waking up the dead.
Right, because the citizenry was all awake before 2012 when CO and WA legalized it.
This is the dumbest comment I’ve ever read.
“Alcohol is the anesthesia by which we endure the operation of life.”
– George Bernard Shaw
BTW Joe, the Feds don’t need to “re-criminalize marijuana”.
http://criminal.findlaw.com/criminal-charges/federal-marijuana-laws.html
To expand the topic, you might be interested in this amusing in its absurdity — but appalling interview
THE WEST IS FINISHED