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months free government is the body that
runs the country one or more political
parties make up the government and a
huge team of civil servants supports
them politicians often attend debates
and meetings in government buildings
where they decide on what policies will
or will not work and how the national
budget should be spent a good government
protects and provides for the people
it keeps the country moving forward
today we'll look into just how important
the government is in this episode of the
infographic show what if the government
suddenly disappeared it's not hard to
find examples of countries functioning
without government Belgium sets the
record for the longest period without an
elected government in a democracy when
between 2010 and 2011 there was a 589
day break after wrangling between
Flemish and Walloon figures and Spain
spent the first 10 months of 2016 in a
similar position with a stalemate
between socialists and conservatives
beyond Europe it's not difficult to find
more examples Iraq went without a
government for much of 2010 towards the
end of the war what happens when there
is no government depends a lot on the
back-up plan the country has as well as
the cultural response so what would
happen in the US the first few days
let's just assume that in this case
study you simply woke up one day and the
government had disappeared overnight
vanished into thin air leaving us all to
fend for ourselves one of the first
things most of us do after waking up is
brush our teeth but when you go to turn
on the tap knowing there is no Public
Services Authority you'd be wondering is
the water supply safe to drink
who's decontaminating it from dangerous
bacteria feeling a little gritty with
your unbrushed teeth you might head back
to the bedroom to get dressed for work
but if you use public transport for the
commute you'll soon realize you can't
get there we're only 20 minutes into the
day and it's already looking bleak you
decide to check up on the latest news to
see how much impact the lack of
government is having on the country
there would be chaos in the financial
markets the US federal debt exceeded 21
trillion dollars in March 2018 and it is
the largest single investment instrument
in the market if the federal government
disappeared there would be no guarantee
of the debt being honored the value of
the US dollar would also be
completely questionable each note is
backed by what's known as the Full Faith
and Credit of the US government but with
no US government what would it be worth
the federal government is also
responsible for a whole host of
corporate functions such as taxes
regulations and trade operations there's
no backup plan to keep any of this going
if the whole government disappeared
overnight one thing that may shoot up in
value would be gold and silver as
precious metals would always be worth
something in trade so quick thinking
investors would jump on that it's a
pretty dreary first morning as you sit
watching the financial chaos wishing you
could brush your teeth the first few
weeks after the crazy start life would
need to carry on in one way or another
where governments have fallen apart or
been overthrown the capability of the
military often plays a big part in what
happens next
using Thailand as an example in May 2014
the Royal Thai Armed Forces launched a
military coup against the government of
Thailand following six months of
political crisis the military
established what was called the National
Council for peace and order or ncpo to
govern the nation with the military
stepping in they took on the
responsibilities of a government which
limited the disruption however Thailand
has been through this process a number
of times and there would likely be a lot
more chaos if the US government
disappeared assuming most businesses
carried on as normal
with the lack of federal government
there would be no reason to deduct taxes
from wages so workers would receive
bigger paychecks that's good news right
maybe not as systems such as the federal
social security program would also stall
and retired people would struggle to
find the cash for day-to-day living and
Medicare would disappear causing havoc
in the health sector they would quickly
need to be state-level Authority before
further community functions fell apart
who would pay USDA inspectors FAA flight
controllers and other key personnel and
how would federal prisons continue to
run or would they simply open their
doors and set everyone free it's not
easy to answer these questions as it
would come down to many factors the most
important question being who would step
up and take responsibility in these
first few vital months it's quite
possible that the banking sector might
take some control as the major banks
hold a lot of the country's wealth
something similar happened in New York
in 1975 when the city found itself in a
debt crisis and was forced to hand some
of the earth
to its lenders the banks formed a
committee called the municipal
Assistance corporation and set out to
control the city's finances this
resulted in thousands of teachers police
officers and firefighters being sacked
so it's not unimaginable that the likes
of Citigroup and Bank of America could
band together in an attempt to create a
replacement system and even form a new
currency a few months in more issues
would crop up as time passes assuming
that a local authority did not take
responsibility for the federal food
inspection system there would eventually
be contaminated food on supermarket
shelves and in restaurants potentially
leading to mass disease there would
certainly have been a major economic
collapse and with thousands more people
out of work and all major government
activities ceased it's highly likely
this would lead to civil unrest as
people start to lose patience it's hard
to say what would happen with Interstate
Commerce what companies be hampered by
the absence of a federal court system
and a means of resolving state boundary
legalities you would hope that corporate
responsibility and the importance of
reputation would see most disputes
resolved the tax system would be well
and truly broken by this stage with the
non-existence of income taxes capital
gains taxes and excise taxes so even if
there were some states ruling they would
need to find a way to raise revenue to
pay for the services previously handled
by the federal government one year on a
year in an America would likely be
considered a third-world country
with society looking more like it did in
the 18th century with a great deal more
responsibility back in the hands of
citizens there might be Town Council
meetings to decide whether to allow
business projects to go forward and what
was left of the corporate sector would
probably play a major role in societal
governance instead of a food and drug
administration perhaps business or
community would demand an independent
organization to develop standards
conduct tests and certify which drugs
were safe and effective by now the
prisons would likely all be privately
run and you would hope that other
functions previously managed by the
government would fall into the hands of
people or small businesses Somalia went
with no functioning national government
for two decades until 2012 when an
internationally backed government was
installed there was much chaos and
fighting during that time but people
still got by and the country sets a good
example of how people respond to
collective problems without government
in many parts of the country commune
he's organized themselves to solve
collective problems and provide public
goods and residents managed to maintain
daily routines much like bills in more
developed countries private sector firms
offered basic utilities and services
such as garbage removal and clean water
sources and small local council units
took responsibility for jobs normally
left to the state removing the
government certainly sounds like a bad
idea
but does society see it that way we
looked at debate org an online community
debating website where we found the
debate titled is life without government
possible that vote came in with 58% of
people saying it would be possible one
subscriber argued it would be utopia
worldwide Anarchy is something to strive
for it would not beat utter chaos
and what if all the basic things you
take for granted suddenly went away
would you know what to do in an
emergency if you're like us you probably
haven't thought much about it before
that's why we recommend taking a class
called basic disaster prep developing a
home preparedness plan you can learn
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so what do you think would life be good
or bad if there was no government in
place let us know your thoughts in the
comments also be sure to check out our
other video called most powerful
corporations in the world thanks for
watching and as always don't forget to
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time