Throughout history, the ruling elite have sought to consolidate power through an age-old strategy, they create a crisis, expand government control, and ensure dependency. This method has been refined into a systematic approach known as the Cloward-Piven strategy in the 1960s, an intentional overloading of social and economic systems to necessitate state intervention. By creating artificial scarcity, over-regulation, and economic instability, bureaucrats and politicians justify their own necessity, ensuring that the public remains reliant on their policies rather than on free-market solutions.
The natural order of human economic interaction is one of merit-based trade, where individuals exchange goods and services based on value, need, and ability. This principle, the invisible hand, ensures that resources flow to their most productive uses without external coercion. However, this self-correcting mechanism is viewed as a threat by those who seek control. Economic stability diminishes the perceived need for centralized intervention, whereas financial upheaval and social distress create fertile ground for increased governance.
Under the Cloward-Piven playbook, governments encourage unsustainable welfare programs, excessive public spending, and bureaucratic entanglements designed to push economic systems to their breaking points. Rather than allowing market forces to correct inefficiencies, politicians implement excessive regulations, debt-driven stimulus measures, and entitlement programs that inevitably lead to fiscal crises. The resulting economic collapse is then cited as proof of the market’s failure, justifying further government intervention.
A particularly egregious example is the manipulation of housing markets through reckless lending policies, first home-owners grants, building grants and government-backed mortgage subsidies. When these artificially inflated markets collapse, under the weight of bad debt, the same bureaucrats who promoted them emerge with sweeping financial regulations that cripple small businesses and homeowners while enriching government-connected financial institutions. The cycle repeats with each new “emergency.”
True economic mobility is the enemy of political control. If individuals can freely generate wealth, acquire property, and improve their own circumstances, the need for state intervention diminishes. However, when populations are conditioned to rely on government handouts, public sector employment, or subsidised programs, they become compliant dependents rather than self-sufficient actors. This is not a flaw of interventionist policies, it is their intended function.
Government overreach extends beyond economic policy and into the security realm, where rising crime, mass migration, and social unrest are leveraged to justify increasing surveillance and authoritarian enforcement measures. The very policies that weaken law and order, such as soft-on-crime prosecution strategies and open-border policies, are then used to rationalise crackdowns on civil liberties.
A destabilised population is a governable population. When crime increases, businesses fail, and law-abiding citizens find themselves at risk, they are more likely to accept draconian restrictions, additional taxation, and increased government oversight, all in the name of public safety. Yet, history shows that these interventions never result in safety or economic stability, instead, they reinforce cycles of dependency and state expansion.
The market is an organic system driven by voluntary exchange. When left undisturbed, it rewards efficiency, productivity, and innovation. However, interventionist policies, such as excessive taxation, price controls, and wealth redistribution, disrupt this balance, replacing natural economic incentives with political incentives.
Consider the effects of minimum wage laws. At face value, these laws are framed as protections for low-income workers, yet they create unintended consequences that disproportionately harm the very people they claim to help. Businesses, particularly small enterprises, are forced to reduce hiring, cut hours, or automate jobs altogether to offset rising labour costs. Instead of lifting people out of poverty, these policies exacerbate unemployment and drive skilled workers into government dependency.
Government-imposed rent controls suppress natural market adjustments by discouraging investment in housing and maintenance. Landlords withdraw from the market, reducing the supply of available rentals, and tenants suffer from deteriorating living conditions. Instead of addressing housing shortages through deregulation and investment incentives, bureaucrats use the crisis to justify even greater state intervention, further entrenching the cycle of decline.
The destruction of economic self-sufficiency is not limited to financial policies. The ruling class also weaponizes security concerns to tighten their grip on power. A well-functioning society, with low crime and a productive workforce, diminishes the government’s role in daily life. To counteract this, interventionist leaders engineer policies that encourage disorder while restricting individual freedoms.
Soft policing policies, the erosion of prosecutorial standards, and the demonization of lawful self-defence all serve to embolden criminal elements while leaving law-abiding citizens vulnerable. This lawlessness is then exploited as justification for mass surveillance, militarised policing, and expanded government oversight. The irony is that while crime continues to surge, enforcement efforts are directed not at criminals, but at law-abiding individuals who resist government encroachment.
National security concerns are leveraged to justify invasive policies that stifle economic freedom. Trade restrictions, punitive tariffs, and bureaucratic red tape hinder competition, granting monopolistic advantages to government-favoured corporations while pricing out smaller businesses. Instead of allowing market forces to determine winners and losers, the state anoints select entities to dominate industries, ensuring economic stagnation under the guise of “protectionism.” We see this in the NT in the security industries where companies reliant on government contract are not favoured by security personnel due to the toxic culture inherent with working with those seldom held accountable for their actions.
The antidote to bureaucratic overreach is decentralization, reducing government control and returning economic and security decisions to individuals and communities. A system based on voluntary trade, personal accountability, and local enforcement mechanisms naturally counteracts the manufactured crises designed to justify intervention.
To dismantle the Cloward-Piven strategy, economic policies must incentivise production rather than consumption. Reducing tax burdens, eliminating unnecessary regulations, and phasing out entitlement programs that discourage self-sufficiency will restore the conditions necessary for economic mobility.
On a security level, upholding strict law enforcement policies and reinforcing individual rights to self-defence will deter criminal activity and reduce the state’s pretext for authoritarian expansion. A well-armed, self-reliant population is far less susceptible to coercion than a disarmed and fearful one. People tend to be far more polite when the consequence of bad behaviour is far more permanent.
Ultimately, the ruling elite rely on public ignorance to maintain control. By understanding the deliberate nature of economic crises and the mechanisms through which government expands its influence, individuals can resist manipulation and reclaim their autonomy. The road to prosperity lies not in bureaucratic intervention, but in the restoration of economic and personal liberty. From the author.
The opinions and statements are those of Sam Wilks and do not necessarily represent whom Sam Consults or contracts to. Sam Wilks is a skilled and experienced Security Consultant with almost 3 decades of expertise in the fields of Real estate, Security, and the hospitality/gaming industry. His knowledge and practical experience have made him a valuable asset to many organizations looking to enhance their security measures and provide a safe and secure environment for their clients and staff.
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