After the fall of Rome a period commonly referred as “The Dark ages” emerged, during this period the big cities fell and the population decentralised into small tribes again. I believe by studying this process we might have a greater understanding of what we are living today.
Of course, like Mark Twain once said, history doesn’t repeat itself, but it rhymes. Studying the past offers the opportunity to explore the relationship between human behavior when confronted with a changing political landscape, the relationship of powers and emergence of new technologies.
Most of the information here I took from the book “The Sovereign Individual” which I haven’t finished but I urge everyone to read as the authors go into far more greater detail than I could ever be capable of.
Turns out with the fall of the Roman Empire the big cities were unsustainable, since the only thing that kept them from collapsing was the central authorities power to collect taxes from the city itself and its surrounding areas. Once this ability could no longer be employed, it was clearly shown to everyone that the cities were acting in fact as parasites. Taking massive amounts of resources to maintain, while in return creating little to no value.
I think this is more likely than not going to happen again. With the collapsing value of our reserve currency (the US dollar) and the emergence of Bitcoin (which every day gathers more traction as the new reserve currency) the power of the government to collect taxes will be severely diminished. This will be both good and bad for our society.
First let us explore the good aspects. More money in the hands of the people and a freer trade, with less middleman and taxes taking cuts without adding value. This could lead to a never seen before level of abundance for the individual, while a decrease in the government's ability to fund things.
Here comes the bad part. Big cities, with their ridiculously high rent and low production of actual goods will (most likely than not) become unsustainable and a drag on the economy. This (in my opinion) will lead to a decentralization in the human population as people seek to settle in less populated areas.
Of course this won’t happen instantly and the most likely scenario is that they will become more and more inhospitable as they collapse. Lack of funding will mean that the standard of living is likely to fall, institutions such as police, hospitals, fire departments and schools will struggle to keep providing their services. In addition to this, the reduction in the local authority to control its citizens plus the reduction in resources available could make violence and theft more viable and lucrative options. I wouldn’t be surprised if a rise in criminal activity could be seen during this time.
This helps support my theory that I explained in previous posts, most people won’t make the necessary changes unless the pain of not doing so it’s too big. So when I say that we will see people abandoning the cities (which even today is happening at record numbers) what I truly mean, is that the life in the cities will become unbearable for most of the population in them.
This is why it is so important in times of transition to pay attention, so you can see the patterns forming and anticipate them. In doing so you can avoid most of the damage and participate in most of the upside.
To further support my theory you should check out the amount of books that came out in the last few years (and are still being written) with titles like “escape the cities”. I think this is a new literary phenomenon that most people aren’t aware of. It seems many authors have begun to see the signs and are sounding the alarms.
During the Dark ages the people who benefited the most were the small farmers. Suddenly the lack of the government to collect taxes meant they could stop subsidizing the big cities (which took a lot from them and gave little back) and were freer than ever to trade with whomever they chose.
Because farming became so profitable, many of the unused land became active. The cheap price to get started gave the people fleeing from the city a fast way to become productive and a chance to start being economically active.
In today’s age there is little to no “unclaimed land”, but it is true that the further away from the city you go the cheaper the land is. Therefore making it easier and more cost effective to get started in your profession. At the same time most of our work is being moved online, and thanks to the new technologies, most people can work remotely from anywhere in the world. The opportunities this brings are immense, especially for lower populated areas with cheap real estate.
Another great positive to this is that living in a smaller community tends to make the relationship of the people within it much stronger. At the same time gives each individual much greater political power, and the ability to influence in the decision making process that runs your town. Whereas in the city there is little social cohesion, people often bump against each other just to get somewhere faster. As well as having very little power when it comes to voting, creating a sense of low self worth, high rates of depression, suicides and feeling powerless in affecting your own destiny.
The last thing I will touch upon in this article (I have more to say but that will be left for the next one) is in the “Emergence technology” department.
We need to start paying attention to the incredible business that it’s “Bitcoin Mining”. As the price of this new currency surges (the more it’s valued the more profitable it is to mine). More and more people are jumping to it, this not only makes the network more resilient and harder to attack (benefiting everyone who uses it). It also makes, the same as the unused land of the dark ages, people activating their old unused mining rigs again, as well as incentivizing them to look for cheaper sources of energy.
The most complicated thing when it comes to energy is to transport it, which means that most of the mining facilities need to be built as close to the energy source as possible. Most of the energy production happens outside of the cities. This also creates extra pressure for the fastest growing enterprises to move away from heavily populated areas. Taking their business to smaller ones, where the people working on it will live, spend their earnings and foster the life of the small towns.
This trend has already begun. The past has shown us that it’s a tendency that happens every time the central structure becomes too big to support itself. My only objective in writing this is for you to start paying attention to the signs all around us. Don’t take my word for it, do your own research. If I’m right though, then starting to make plans accordingly to where things are going could save all of us an immense amount of pain and sorrow. While at the same time help us to participate in the massive opportunity that this uncertain time will bring. I hope this helps, have a great day!
