Let's Build a 4th Branch of Government that Holds The Other Branches Accountable -100% Run by the People
(This is an audio recording for anyone who would rather listen than read):
It is time to stop waiting for “authorities” to fix our corrupt systems.
In America, We The People are supposed to be the government.
Let’s reclaim our seat at the bargaining table and start holding anyone who corrupts our systems accountable by creating a new decentralized fourth branch of government.
In the past, the term “fourth branch of government” has been used to refer to various organizations that have had influence on the other branches of government. Such groups include the press, the people, grand juries, and other highly aligned organizations.
The time is ripe to take ownership for this concept, and work together to create something brand new. Something transparent and trustworthy. Something decentralized, aligned, organized, and powerful. Something that government itself has no say in or control over - including how it is built and how we evolve and engage with it.
As we have written about many times, our biggest problem in the world today is that our systems have been corrupted by colluding actors who do not have the best interest of We The People in mind.
If we can find a way to unify - even temporarily - and set down our arms against each other (over the hot button issues, politics, etc.), we can stand against the people doing the corrupting. It is the most important thing we can do as citizens. It is also what the powerful people who are doing the corrupting fear most.
The possibilities for a new decentralized fourth Branch of Government are endless. Let’s just brainstorm a few of the interesting ways possible that we could organize under this banner, together:
1) A DECENTRALIZED INVESTIGATIVE NEWS NETWORK (ARM 1):
Remember the good old days when the investigative press actually helped the people hold accountable those who corrupted our systems? There used to be a time when investigative journalists would break stories on corruption, and then turn their evidence over to authorities who would follow through by prosecuting these criminals.
We need to find our way back to this.
There is a lot to unpack here. And a lot of ideas that haven’t been brought to the table yet. But let’s consider just a few of the possibilities.
Imagine a DECENTRALIZED INVESTIGATIVE NEWS NETWORK. One that acts as a scrutinizing arm on behalf of the people and is truly part of our own 4th branch of government. It is 100% run by the people, and government itself has no say in it.
Picture having several arms of this decentralized investigative news network.
The first arm could simply be an interview-style talk show where we invite politicians, powerful business leaders, and anyone who affects our systems onto the show to answer questions - in real time - that we the people come up with.
Imagine if the people ranked all of the politicians, powerful people, and entities we wanted to see be interviewed on this platform. We could do this in a variety of trustworthy ways but let’s just say we used upvoting to make the concept easy to understand. Then, we’d invite the top upvoted people onto our talk show to speak directly with us, We The People.
An hour before the show starts we use technology to submit questions that we want these people to answer. These questions would also be upvoted in real time on an open-sourced transparent platform. We start the question “percolating process” right before the interview so the guest does not have time to be fed answers to our questions from any entities that might be financially backing or corrupting them from the outside.
Once the questions “percolate” up through our platform we then ask the guest the questions. These would almost definitely be tough questions (unlike what the corporate media asks today). We could use this same process to ask follow up questions as well. We wouldn’t even need a host for this show. It could be a virtual host since those being interviewed would be responding directly to the questions of the people via our platform.
Any system - or corporation - that has power over people should have to prove its trustworthiness with transparency. If guests refused to come on our show that would mean that they refused to answer directly to the people. If that was the case it should send up immediate red flags. If that person held office and refused to answer to the people then we should do everything in our power to remove them from power. They could either be recalled using ballot measures, or investigated with our SECOND ARM (ARM 2) of the Decentralized News Network.
2) DECENTRALIZED INVESTIGATIVE NEWS NETWORK (ARM 2):
Arm 2 of the Decentralized News Network could be truly the investigative arm. Any person or entity that refuses to come on our show and speak directly to the people and answer our tough questions, we could investigate. We need a trustworthy place to collect evidence against those corrupting our systems, as we currently do not have one.
We could (and absolutely should) have a safe haven for whistleblowers as part of this arm. As we learned from Julian Assange and Wikileaks, anyone on the top of this organization will be targeted - so it must be decentralized. But also, we should consider some kind of vetting process so this power isn’t abused. Maybe we elect - with our own systems and platforms - officials from various districts to be stewards to the evidence.
We also need investigative journalists and maybe even private detectives here. As a decentralized system, anyone could technically be an investigative journalist or part of exposing corruption. All they would need is a video or audio recording device, or a way to expose evidence to us in a safe manner.
We could compensate anyone who brings us evidence in a variety of ways as well. Something as simple as tipping people in crypto for exposing corruption. Would you tip someone $5 if they exposed something heinous? We would. And we bet millions of others would too. We could also have annual awards ceremonies honoring people who bravely exposed this corruption. Lots of possibilities here.
Of course, we would hope it never came to this. We would hope that our politicians and other powerful people would work with us and have discussions that included us about our own governance. That’s why “ARM 1” of this network should exist, so we can have virtual town halls, discussions and more. Anyone who isn’t corrupted should have no problem talking with us. In fact they should be eager to do so.
But, if any of the powerful people we invited onto our show refused, we could then try to find them in public. Some people might think of this as doxing, but we should not look at it like this at all. They are public servants. If they will not discuss governing with the people they represent, then we should have every right to try and get answers from them - wherever they try to hide. When we caught any of these people on our list in public we would simply ask them the most upvoted questions we had wanted to ask them when they refused to be interviewed by us in the first place.
We The People deserve to have answers, especially if you’re are abusing your position to corrupt the systems that govern over our lives.
If we had trouble finding them even on the streets, then we would start investigative files on them, collecting evidence on our own to be later turned over to law enforcement if needed. We could even explore creating decentralized law enforcement that worked directly for the people to curb this corruption.
3) A DECENTRALIZED BACK UP PLAN IF OUR MONETARY SYSTEM COLLAPSES:
Let’s face it, the people in charge of our monetary systems and government spending have been reckless and greedy. They have racked up enormous debt on our backs and there doesn’t seem to be any feasible way out of this mess. We have all heard of their plan for us - CBDC’s (Central Bank Digital Currencies) and digital IDs.
If you have spent any time researching these you understand the terrifying amount of control this would have over humanity. In all likelihood CBDCs would be programmable, which means the Central Banks would have control over what you purchased (much like they do in China). If they didn’t want you spending money on gas, meat, bullets - or whatever they wanted - they could shut your purchasing power off.
We understand that technology often terrifies people for reasons like this, but this is only because people have not taken the time to understand the difference between centralized and decentralized control. If you are one of these people who only fears technology, we implore you to read THIS and understand the “Last Hand on the Bat” theory of systems. Technology can be bad, yes. But it can also be amazing. Think of it like a weapon. If the centralized powerful entities wield it they can use it for control. But if we - the 4th Branch of Government (The People) use it, we can stop corruption from happening in our systems.
Instead of waiting for the Central Banks to issue their horrifying CBDCs and digital IDs, we should have a back up plan of our own. Bitcoin and some cryptocurrencies have already opened up the doorway of possibilities here.
Imagine if we all decided to switch to an agreed upon digital (and truly decentralized) currency and start over as humanity and not let the big Wall Street Banks or conglomerate corporations or big pharmaceutical companies or governments back on to our new system unless we, as the 4th branch of government, decided to.
This may seem wildly outlandish, but we should have a say in our own systems, and since they are not letting us at the bargaining table anymore these types of options should be explored.
As a thought experiment imagine if we issued $200,000 of a decentralized currency to every citizen as a starting point, and then issued more to the citizens and businesses who could prove that they had saved more than that amount. But the big conglomerates? Well maybe they would have to stand a public digital trial of sorts to see if they were worthy of existing on our new system. We wouldn’t have to let them back on to our system, and they would become powerless if we deemed them a menace to our society and/or part of the cause that lead us to this point to begin with.
Sure, this is an extreme example, but parallel systems are a wise way to make sure that if everything collapsed we could keep on buying and selling things just like we always have. If something like this was built, those currently in power might think twice before continuing to break and corrupt our systems.
4) DECENTRALIZED SCIENCE (DeSci) AND THE FDA:
We have pretty much all now seen first hand how corruptible peer-reviewed “science,” academia, and the three-letter agencies are that govern over these practices. Building parallel trustworthy systems should be a priority here as well. We have many other options besides the current easily corruptible centralized entities we have now. For example, we could decentralize science altogether, and put it on blockchain.
Peer-review should not be the only standard we adhere to. If you can independently replicate an experiment, that is worth much more than anything peer-reviewed, or guarded by the government agencies.
One of our favorite thinkers on this topic is Balaji Srinivasan, and he explains a few of the many alternate possibilities here:
5) DIRECT BALLOT MEASURES:
This may be one of the most underrated and underutilized ways the people currently still have control over the system. Ballot measures can include everything from ballot initiatives, recalls (for recalling corrupt politicians), referendums, and even Citizen Grand Juries.
Think about how cannabis laws finally had to circumvent our corrupt process to become a reality. We could be executing this process together in a much more streamlined and easy to navigate system.
We could have all citizens working together to draft laws in nearly every state that specifically help the causes our 4th Branch of Government deems necessary for progress.
Do we need a politician removed? Let’s use a ballot measure.
Do we need a law removed or added? Draft a ballot measure.
Do we have a boatload of evidence that we have compiled but no one is willing to prosecute them? Ballot measure with a Citizen Grand Jury.
Do we want to create a police force that answers directly to the people whose sole purpose is to prosecute corruption everywhere else? Also a ballot measure.
Lots of interesting ideas we could explore together here.
6) DECENTRALIZED DEBATES:
This could be included with our Decentralized News Network in section 1. Imagine for all upcoming elections candidates being asked questions in real time upvoting methods, that answer directly to the people. In other words, We The People (the 4th Branch of Government) should be the ones asking the questions. Not the paid for corporate media that is clearly owned by the same lobbyists paying for the campaigns of the candidates. These should be tough questions, not soft ball questions with pre-planned answers like they obviously have been in recent times.
7) DECENTRALIZED EDUCATION:
We could build libraries, learning centers, and home education networks together online, at a fraction of the cost of the current centralized ones. This doesn’t mean eliminating schools and social settings for children at all, but rather having better options within these systems. We could also tie these new systems in with hands-on learning, apprenticeships, science camps, coding camps, and more. The need for centralized monolithic academia has never been less apparent. Education should be -and could be - available to everyone. We could explore compensating educators the same way here, with digital tipping systems and crypto currencies.
8) USING FORMS OF (LIMITED) DIRECT DEMOCRACY TO COMBAT CORRUPTION:
America was originally debated to be a direct democracy. Instead, it was decided that the “tyranny of the majority” problem was too dangerous, so America was made into a LIMITED direct democracy with representation, a Constitution, and a judicial system. Imagine if we could fix most of the corruption by leaning back into a more direct form of democracy. This idea takes a bit to comprehend, but with the internet - and especially blockchain - at our disposal, it should be part of the discussion now. If this idea interests you we suggest exploring it more HERE.
9) A PARALLEL VOTING SYSTEM TO MONITOR THE GOVERNMENT ONES:
Say what you want about voter fraud. Both major parties have expressed concerns in the recent past about this issue. Unless we have a transparent and auditable way to check these systems, we will never know the truth. We deserve to know the truth.
We could make a parallel system with constantly evolving and fully transparent checks and balances, to make sure that everything is acting as it should with our main voting systems. There is no reason we should leave our most valuable and vulnerable systems to be monitored by people who have already proven they are capable of mass corruption.
10) DECENTRALIZED POLITICIANS:
This is also a grander vision. But since the current status quo of politicians don’t want to sit down to listen and work with their constituents, we propose a foundational change to what we demand of our representation. Imagine if politicians and leaders decentralized their own positions. Seem unlikely? Maybe. But maybe not. Supply follows demand, and as the 4th Branch of Government we could demand all of this. Read more about this idea HERE.
Let’s not be the frogs in the hot water anymore. Let’s get out before it boils, and organize. If any of this sounds appealing to you, we have created a Discord group for the “4th Branch of Government.” Join it free HERE. If we get enough people interested we can all decide what to do from there.
We have to do something. This is the start.
As always the entire purpose of The Rationalist is to connect with other solutions-minded results-driven people like yourself!
For over 3 billion years on this planet there were only single-celled organisms. Then one day they somehow learned to work together and make complex multi-celled creatures . Right now we are like those single-celled organisms. Our next evolution is finding how to work together, better… (like we wrote about here).
#UnifyAgainstCorruption #ResultsMatterMost #DecentralizeEverything #DemandTransparency
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This is absolutely what must be done. Home schooling, crowd-funding (though presently compromised by being controlled by big financial institutions, as we saw in Canada), crypto, supporting citizen journalists and small independent media of one's choice, open-source software like Apache and so on. There are already newly independent medical networks already being formed by world-class doctors and medical scientists who were maligned and lied about by 'the authorities' during the past couple of years. Much that can be done. Longer term vision is to push for legislative changes in the balance between what you call the 4th branch (and I usually call 'cultural institutions') and govt / corp.
Some perspectives on that longer term vision HERE https://michaelwarden.substack.com/p/good-government and HERE https://michaelwarden.substack.com/p/the-circular-economy.
Also might be of interest, this video in which a 'constitutional expert' advises that the public actually have legal powers that they are not aware of having. (It's based on UK, but similar situations may exist elsewhere): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7R3KDFeaSK0
Also this from a guy who is one of my own substack readers, on approaches to holding power to account: https://treasonableman.wordpress.com/foundations-of-accountability/
The first step in what is likely to be a long battle is enough people having a shared vision of what is possible.
Stay on the case!
I'm with you on most of this. Let me put my take on the Libyan model where the people held the power in broad keeping with what you have suggested above.
Gaddafi guided his people (who were from different & often deeply feuding tribes) towards a system he called Jamahiriya, or 'State of the Masses' where Peoples Congresses everywhere was the order of the day and it was highly successful bringing prosperity & peace to all in pre-NATO days. He had a couple of bedrock rules - no political parties allowed and absolutely no usury whatsoever; that is to say no lending of money at interest. He gave the people Full Participatory Democracy while rejecting representative 'democracy'.
Here is a video of Gaddafi fearlessly riding around Tripoli to the acclaim of the people. I place this short video here as it has information as to what the Libyans decided to welcome into their life, politically & economically speaking. On that score alone it's well worth a watch IMO. https://vimeo.com/28700488
While I was there working in the mid-80s I picked up his 'Green Book' in which he explains his thinking & vision. Now it's available in pdf & again well worth a look to see how the empowered Libyan society ticked. http://openanthropology.org/libya/gaddafi-green-book.pdf A customs officer at Gatwick begged the book off me saying he wasn't taking it from me officially but he's absolutely busting to read it which I found a little strange but that's by the by. Even the Establishment can't machine gun an idea whose time has come.
It was clear to me that the West wanted to destroy the works of both Gaddafi & Libyans essentially because the Cameron, Sarkhozi & Bernard-Henri Lévy, Clinton, Obama & other psychopaths couldn't bear the prospect of the rest of the world cottoning on to the solid proof that another [far better] way was possible. Don't forget that NATO left a destroyed Libya where open air slave markets now flourish without a single shred of interest from the psychopaths of the West. We'll be up against this dangerous class of madmen & women so it's as well to be aware of that.