In the early 1930’s, prior to the authoritarian horrors of fascism being exposed, president Franklin Delano Roosevelt embraced economic fascism and urged lawmakers to adopt the governing philosophy. In 1933 president Roosevelt signed the National Industrial Recovery Act which established what’s known today as the administrative state. 

It was not long after the establishment of the first federal administrations that two sizable lobbies recognized an opportunity to rid itself of a competitor—Hemp. Together, the DuPont Family,  and news mogul William Randolph Hearst, worked to have the Marijuana Tax Act passed. Despite protestations from the American Medical Association, a “wacky tobacky” campaign, ran in Hearst’s newspapers, convinced the public that smoking “Marihuana” made people crazy.

The concept was simple; control the on and off ramps via taxation and the ability to transact, and you can effectively leverage economic sanctions against Marijuana—making it illegal, without actually making it illegal. 

By 1937 a marijuana tax stamp became a requirement in order to transact. However, in order to buy the tax stamp, one must present the crop which was illegal to possess without the stamp. This simple, yet effective catch 22 at-law, became the policy vehicle for which Hemp and Marijuana became illegal in all 50 states.

The Evolution of Economic Fascism

Nearly a century later, the U.S Treasury is using recently (Feb. 28, 2024) expanded sanctions authorities under the reauthorized emergency declaration of the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA),  to target the on and off ramps of gold, precious metals and crypto currencies through online transactions. 

The USDA, and the EPA are similarly using expanded authority to target decentralized means of farm-to-table, or consumer-direct access to meat and dairy through dragnet-net surveillance tactics, centralized testing and prohibitions on sales and trade. 

While the actions of each administrative agency have been justified as a means of protecting consumers, a fine line exists between protection and prohibition. 

Unlike the “Wacky Tobacky,” social engineering campaigns of the 1930’s, special interests have only become more sophisticated in their approach to garnering public acceptance for policy-based marketplace interventions. 

Today,  these calamitous narratives have been carefully woven into education, entertainment and the fabric of societal identifications. Concerns over orgies and debauchery may have given way to concerns for climate change, illness, and social justice, but the mechanism for manipulation is still the exploitation of fear.  

While some opine over secret cabals of manipulators, planning the future in a dark smoke-filled room, the reality is much easier to understand in terms of human nature and even the laws of physics. 

Physics – an object in motion will stay in motion, unless met by an equal or opposing force. 

Human Nature – humanity desires comfort, safety, and connection.

Oddly, modern-day society has never been more connected, or safe, and yet, never more uncomfortable. Most recognize that a deep-seated problem exists, and perhaps that level of discomfort stems from knowing that neither the safety, nor the connections present are real. On some level, people are looking to create their own peace-of-mind today. At some level,  we feel a sense of urgency, calling us back home, back to our roots—back to the source of the seed.  Perhaps, Klaus Schwab is correct, perhaps it is time for a Great Reset…

Local, decentralized redundancies are vital for human health, food security, local economies and ecological health. The closer your food is grown or raised in relation to your geographic location,  the healthier it is for you, and the environment. Yet, the global industrial food shift has created a trust-less, community-less commodity market where surveillance has taken the place of relationships, honor and real value. 

As with Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs, we cannot build a functioning society on higher-order ideology. We must reset by securing our most pertinent needs—food security first. 

In the name of food safety and climate change mitigation, the very same regulatory and administrative apparatus that made Hemp illegal, is now targeting access to local and healthier food options. 

Rather than work with small processing facilities at the state-level, the USDA has prioritized funding to meat alternatives, while eliminating market access for local producers. A bulk of the Rural Development budget has been reallocated to ideological priorities like “Climate-Smart Commodities.” 

“Shake Your Rancher’s Hand,” the motto of the Beef Initiative, is the ultimate KYC model. 

Composed of decentralized family-owned farms across the United States, The Beef Initiative has an equally simple model; single source, chain-of-custody trust. Unlike a centralized multinational conglomerate-owned facility, processing thousands of cows per day, The Beef Initiative model is one cow, one source, one box, and full consumer control. 

For millions of Americans today, the thought of buying frankenfoods, and potentially contracting frankenviruses due to the centralization of power via public-private economic fascism levers, have become unacceptable risks. These risks can no more be mitigated by surveillance and control, than trust can be restored in these very same public institutions run by private interests.  

In order to rebuild trust and reset, it’s become very clear to most of the population that we must begin by strengthening our foundational framework of the needs hierarchy by eliminating ideological priorities that are eroding these base pillars. Beef is the last remaining decentralized commodity in the world, and frankly the only source of nutrition that falls outside of the surveillance grid. 

However, the walls are closing in around beef, just as quickly as they are bitcoin. Perhaps, that’s because the value of the cow is the last remaining vestige of self-custody, self-reliance and therefore self-governance. The value of the cow is the value of the individual. 

This is why it has become a self-governing imperative for individuals at the state-level to work collaboratively toward community through strengthening local food supply chains. More than a value structure, this is a calling for a reset, and foundational restoration.