Thank you for this! You really nailed it.. these ideas only seem "eccentric" because we've been so thoroughly conditioned to see dependency as normal. Self-sufficiency used to just be called.. life!

That observation about the trend toward the patriarchal state is spot on. People are trading freedom for comfort without realising the comfort is temporary but the loss of autonomy isn't.

I'd love to check out some of your writing on this — especially the direct democracy stuff. Feel free to share a link! And let's keep having these conversations.. the "eccentric" ideas always end up being ahead of their time 🙏