Phantom Empires
As humanity evolved, members and articulations of the State were created.
Forms of government fell, being replaced by others or completely annihilated. But some of their articulations remained in power, such as a counselor whose king is overthrown and, even so, remains in office when a new king replaces the old one with a new regime.
These State bodies expanded so much that they can be interpreted as complementary governments, endowed with their own hierarchies and legal distinctions that separate their members from the rest of society.
One of these articulations/instruments created that was consolidated, expanded and has its own hierarchies and legal distinctions between its members and the rest of society is the judicial system.
Yes, there is an "invisible empire": the rule of law. Since its creation, parties, presidents, economic systems, forms of government, States..., have fallen, but the judiciary remains – that is, it is not totally dependent on them, and is therefore limitedly autonomous.
Central governments do not get rid of its existence and still seek its support. The empire of the judiciary is so strong that we do not call it a legal crisis when its positions are in danger – which is very rare – but rather when the effectiveness of legal processes is slow – the uncertainty of results for the weakest and richest is a historical constant, it is not a crisis but rather its “healthy” mode –; and its popularity is so strong that, since its creation, it has not stopped expanding throughout the entire globe, from society to society, never being abandoned or replaced. The market, freedom of expression, politics..., all are influenced by the invisible hand of law and the classes that monopolize it; obey and you will be protected, disobey and you will be punished. Society is controlled, but also benefits from the legal empire and that is why every government and society does not get rid of this member of the State: they are dependent. As another example of a phantom empire in the present day, we also have the Military and Religious Empires, which are phantom empires because they also have their own hierarchy system and legal distinctions that separate their members from the rest of society, in addition to transcending the time of government of the main political regime.
All these empires have in common the fact that they co-govern society alongside the government. In other words, they are parallel governments - or, as I like to call them, given their great age, phantom empires.
In the Middle Ages, the church was so omnipresent in Europe that several historians argue that – at that time – the main governments were not commanded by vassals and suzerains, but by the Church! The notion of State and nation would only come into being later to replace something that already fulfilled its role of organizing society: the absolute religious State! In my interpretation, the medieval church had its own hierarchical system and legal distinctions that separated it from the other members of society: it was, therefore, a Phantom Empire (the church, unlike the empire of the judiciary or military, ignores supposed borders between States; it is an extremely autonomous phantom empire).
Something interesting to note is that these co-governments decentralize power, thus helping to make autocracy more difficult (a government can become corrupt, but phantom empires that still own their own powers prevent the monopolization of a government from translating into the general monopolization of the State: this is why, although an aspiring dictator can buy the votes of city councilors and senators, this aspirant cannot yet be a dictator: he needs to buy the army to obtain military power and carry out a coup; he also needs to buy the judiciary). Conclusion: the difficulty of becoming a dictator increases proportionally with the strength and number of phantom empires existing in your State in a kind of institutional "democracy".
Similar to what Nick Land said, capitalism can be largely automated by machines, with its entire system controlled by machines. In this process, the owners of most of the shares in companies can be other companies that are, precisely, controlled by other machines, thus placing human beings on the margins of capitalism and the very objective of profit and practices in the hands of machines. In other words, a capitalism that does not need humans, a dead skeleton that continues to wander and expand, acquiring and exploring new possessions for other machines. This same phenomenon can occur in other institutions that are automated by machines, such as the other phantom empires, and are not subject only to capitalism.
As more phantom empires are automated, the dynamics of interactions between them are also automated. Thus, for example, a capitalist machine company could go beyond the planet on which it was limited to operate because the phantom empire of law reinterpreted constitutional laws to understand that new territories can be used by the other systems of this bizarre structure.
As humanity evolved, members and articulations of the State were created.
Forms of government fell, being replaced by others or completely annihilated. But some of their articulations remained in power, such as a counselor whose king is overthrown and, even so, remains in office when a new king replaces the old one with a new regime.
These State bodies expanded so much that they can be interpreted as complementary governments, endowed with their own hierarchies and legal distinctions that separate their members from the rest of society.
One of these articulations/instruments created that was consolidated, expanded and has its own hierarchies and legal distinctions between its members and the rest of society is the judicial system.
Yes, there is an "invisible empire": the rule of law. Since its creation, parties, presidents, economic systems, forms of government, States..., have fallen, but the judiciary remains – that is, it is not totally dependent on them, and is therefore limitedly autonomous.
Central governments do not get rid of its existence and still seek its support. The empire of the judiciary is so strong that we do not call it a legal crisis when its positions are in danger – which is very rare – but rather when the effectiveness of legal processes is slow – the uncertainty of results for the weakest and richest is a historical constant, it is not a crisis but rather its “healthy” mode –; and its popularity is so strong that, since its creation, it has not stopped expanding throughout the entire globe, from society to society, never being abandoned or replaced. The market, freedom of expression, politics..., all are influenced by the invisible hand of law and the classes that monopolize it; obey and you will be protected, disobey and you will be punished. Society is controlled, but also benefits from the legal empire and that is why every government and society does not get rid of this member of the State: they are dependent. As another example of a phantom empire in the present day, we also have the Military and Religious Empires, which are phantom empires because they also have their own hierarchy system and legal distinctions that separate their members from the rest of society, in addition to transcending the time of government of the main political regime.
All these empires have in common the fact that they co-govern society alongside the government. In other words, they are parallel governments - or, as I like to call them, given their great age, phantom empires.
In the Middle Ages, the church was so omnipresent in Europe that several historians argue that – at that time – the main governments were not commanded by vassals and suzerains, but by the Church! The notion of State and nation would only come into being later to replace something that already fulfilled its role of organizing society: the absolute religious State! In my interpretation, the medieval church had its own hierarchical system and legal distinctions that separated it from the other members of society: it was, therefore, a Phantom Empire (the church, unlike the empire of the judiciary or military, ignores supposed borders between States; it is an extremely autonomous phantom empire).
Something interesting to note is that these co-governments decentralize power, thus helping to make autocracy more difficult (a government can become corrupt, but phantom empires that still own their own powers prevent the monopolization of a government from translating into the general monopolization of the State: this is why, although an aspiring dictator can buy the votes of city councilors and senators, this aspirant cannot yet be a dictator: he needs to buy the army to obtain military power and carry out a coup; he also needs to buy the judiciary). Conclusion: the difficulty of becoming a dictator increases proportionally with the strength and number of phantom empires existing in your State in a kind of institutional "democracy".
Similar to what Nick Land said, capitalism can be largely automated by machines, with its entire system controlled by machines. In this process, the owners of most of the shares in companies can be other companies that are, precisely, controlled by other machines, thus placing human beings on the margins of capitalism and the very objective of profit and practices in the hands of machines. In other words, a capitalism that does not need humans, a dead skeleton that continues to wander and expand, acquiring and exploring new possessions for other machines. This same phenomenon can occur in other institutions that are automated by machines, such as the other phantom empires, and are not subject only to capitalism.
As more phantom empires are automated, the dynamics of interactions between them are also automated. Thus, for example, a capitalist machine company could go beyond the planet on which it was limited to operate because the phantom empire of law reinterpreted constitutional laws to understand that new territories can be used by the other systems of this bizarre structure.
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