DECONSTRUCTING BABYLON #003 - THE ORIGINS OF THE MACHINE - HOW BABYLON TOOK ROOT IN THE NORTH🦎⚛️
We often talk about "the system" as if it were a natural force, like the tide or the wind. We assume that the way our economy works—extracting wealth, rewarding greed, and leaving the hard-working whānau behind—is just "the way it is." But Babylon is not a force of nature; it is a man-made machine with a specific starting point and a clear set of beneficiaries. To deconstruct it, we first have to understand where it came from and how it managed to plug itself into the soil of Taitokerau.
In our strategic research, we define Babylon as a "high-entropy engine" built on two primary foundations: Newtonian physics and Chrematistic economics.
Where did it start?
The intellectual "Source Code" of Babylon was written during the 17th-century Enlightenment in Europe. It began with the "Newtonian Error"— the belief that the universe is a giant clockwork mechanism made of separate, dead objects. This shifted our worldview from one of connection to one of separation.
This "physics of alienation" was then weaponised through the Doctrine of Discovery. In the 15th century, Papal Bulls like Romanus Pontifex declared that any land not inhabited by Christians was Terra Nullius—nobody’s land. This provided the legal and theological "licence" for empires to invade and subdue indigenous nations.
Why does it exist in Taitokerau?
Babylon arrived in the North via the colonial state, which imposed "Fee Simple" property rights. This was a deliberate act to collapse the "Wave Function" of the land—turning Papatūānuku from a living ancestor into a merchantable "asset". By carving the land into separate titles, the system severed the Whanaungatanga (entanglement) between our people and the environment.
Who benefits from its existence?
Babylon is designed to serve the "Leaky Bucket" economy.
Global Capital: Corporations and banks benefit by extracting "embodied energy" from our region—like the 61% of our timber exported as raw logs—and returning only high-entropy fiat currency.
The Static Bureaucracy: A bureaucratic class maintains its power by managing our "deficits". They benefit from the "Colonial Gaze" because if they actually solved the problems of poverty or addiction, their funding would disappear.
Chrematistic Interests: Those who prioritise the accumulation of money over the health of the "Oikos" (the household) thrive in a system where future benefits are "discounted" to zero, allowing for short-term profit at the expense of our mokopuna.
How can we fix it?
The fix is to transition from Chrematistics (wealth accumulation) back to Ekonomia (household stewardship). We must move from the linear, extractive model of Babylon to the circular, regenerative model of the Economic Pā. This means using the Mauri Model to ensure that every economic act increases the life-force of our environment and our people.
Babylon only exists as long as we observe it as the only reality. Today, ask yourself: Who is benefiting from my labour and my spending? If the energy is leaking out of your whānau and into the "Bucket" of a global corporation, it’s time to start plugging the leaks.
