Originally Posted by nachtnebel

...take a look at what is happening to almost every highly centralized industrial country. Their balance books are in shambles, their banks are insolvent, and they can no longer borrow with any hope of paying back and also with no hope of even making the interest payments once inflation starts.

In our own country, 46 states have budget gaps that they cannot close, many with budget gaps that require gutting of many critical functions, 10 states that cannot pay retires within a few years, and a lot more states that run out of retiree money a few years later.

Our federal government survives only by printing money the rest of the world accepts. This is coming to an end, as our status as the world currency is ending fast. Many oil producing countries no longer accept payment in US dollars. When no one accepts US dollars or only at a hugely discounted rates, our standard of living will collapse. There will be no money for the empire, no money for the army of spies at HSA, no money for the wet dreams of the TSA...

...what we are looking at over the next 20 years is a probable decentralization due to the unsupportable expense and waste of the central govt's.