We can look back through history and see the ages change from one to another. In hindsight, we see the shift from agriculture to industry. At the same time, we can also see when the Information Age formed.
It is not, however, as easy to see the transition taking place. We are often mired in our daily struggles to notice what is happening.
Over the last 25 years, the Internet became an ever growing part of our lives. With each passing year, more of our activities involved "logging on". Of course, this was something we did in the early days. Once mobile was introduced, we simply were online all the time.
This is only a smidgeon of what is to come. Our entire world is about to be upended as this medium evolves and grows. If you will, the Internet is starting to turn into an adult. With that comes maturity and the ability to really influence things. No longer is the childishness going to be present.
Many find what is going to take place over the next few decades too hard to comprehend. Granted, it is fairly "out there" when we consider the point we started at. However, the pace of this advancement is something that increasing, meaning we will pace a half of century of change in a decade.
Here are some of the things we can expect.
The Internet moved discussions into the trillions. Previous to this, the only entities that talked in these terms were governments. Over the last 25 we saw this change to include companies.
Presently, Apple, Amazon, Microsoft, Google, and Facebook all have values that are greater than $1 trillion. The idea, 30 years ago, of a trillion dollar company was beyond most of us. Yet it happened repeatedly in the Internet Era.
All these companies operate in the digital world. While they might have a physical presence, albeit a small one, the bulk of their activity is done over the Internet. A few were companies that transformed while the others (three) were developed during the Age.
The Internet allowed for a company to have a billion or more customers. Again, this was something unheard of at towards the end of the last century. Being online allowed these companies to find people easily while bringing them into their ecosystem. This generated tremendous wealth, something that is not stopping.
We will see this advance to the individual level in the next phase. There will be trillion dollar people in the coming decades. Already some are surmising whether it will be Jeff Bezos or Elon Musk. While they could get there, it is likely to come from someone who has not hit our radar at this point. An individual is going to see the new opportunities and create something that generates a fortune never seen before.
In fact, this could be many people.
This was discussed since the early days of the Internet. It is something that developed yet, like the Internet itself, is still in its childhood phase.
It is about to change with the introduction of things such as cryptocurrency and blockchain. We are going to see a massive economic system that dwarfs our present geography based ones.
What we will see is networks take on an increasing importance in our lives. These will be economies in their own right, made up of sub-economies. People will gravitate towards others based upon likes. No longer are we going to assemble based primarily upon where we physically are. A software developer in San Francisco has more in common with a person in the same field in Tokyo than he or she does with the waiter at the local restaurant.
The ability to monetize just about anything is going to present all individuals with enormous opportunities. However, before we get to that point, the transition from the present economy is not going to be without pain.
Many will find they are "left behind" during the transition. Those with low skills are going to find themselves automated out. This will put enormous pressure on them earning a living. Most cannot make this conversion. Hence, we will see another level of tension arise, those who are sovereign versus those who are not.
The cyber-economy, since it is global, will move some away from the dependence upon governments.
We are going to see the emergence of "Sovereign Individuals". These are people who embrace the cyber-economy and excel. This will provide more freedom than any country provided in the past. The reason for this is these individuals will not be relegated to any one place.
The work from anywhere idea will apply to these people. Hence, they can opt to live wherever they want in the world. This means other factors besides where one was born are going to be utilized.
Governments are going to have to compete for the best people. Those who are sovereign will opt for those locations that offer the best tax structure, standard of living, and least amount of intrusion.
In other words, governments will have to compete for these individuals. Their approach is going to have to mirror competitive businesses as opposed to tyrannical monopolies.
For those in this position, government is going to mean little. However, to the rest, it will mean a lot. Governments will try to remain relevant by catering to this class. We will see this done through programs such as Universal Basic Income. This might work in those locations that are able to keep the sovereign ones without too much difficulty. Nevertheless, those that get onerous will find this class leaving, taking their money along with them.
On a side note, this is already happening within some countries as local governments have overstepped their bounds. We can look for this to not only to continue, but to grow.
As we forge deeper into the new Cryptoeconomic Era, governments will naturally try to control all they can. However, since we are dealing with a realm that is limitless, no matter which governments step in or how many, they will be overwhelmed.
They simply are not designed to operate in such an arena.
Progress is much swifter in this environment than government can ever dream of operating. This is because we will see a major shift whereby protocols will start to replace platforms.
What makes this so difficult, from the government perspective, is the methods of approach are eliminated. When a protocol is put out there, anyone can adopt it. This is regardless of location. If we combine this with the open-source nature of software, we see how hundreds of applications can pop up, offering the same service. Unlike going after a company, it becomes impossible to eliminate all of them.
Protocols also generate enormous wealth. The present Internet is siloed. Of course, governments will want their cut. This is going to be a problem due to the nature of the sovereign individuals involved. We will see this move happening on a larger scale as the amount of money grows. The entry of cryptocurrency in this arena will cause a massive economic explosion, another thing that is going to sidestep governments. It is akin to the file sharing of music yet with a monetary component built in.
The Nation-State is going to slowly be eradicated over the next half century. We can already see how that structure is becoming less relevant. The present push for control is truly a last gasp effort. If they cannot assert total domination, all will be lost for them.
Of course, we are not going to see an overnight disappearance. It will take decades since a lot needs to change. One of the biggest is people are going to have a new mindset. Unfortunately, this often is not possible in the majority of the population that exists. Hence, they need to die off and be replaced with newer generations who have a different viewpoint. Those who were reared in the Internet Age already think differently than their older counterparts.
Also, governance needs to be experimented with and established. Blockchain is allowing people to innovate with different ways to vote. This is all part of the quest to form new governance systems. As code starts to take over, this will be the "law". People who opt to operate on a particular network will be approving that governance system. Of course, if that does not work for the individual, there is always another network to join.
Since we can see already see how government is out of its element with the Internet, the later is only going to eat up the former. A case could be made that some of the trillion dollar companies mentioned above are close to being bigger than any government. While the are attempts to reign them in, it might already be too late. Those entities, and others that are to follow, could have such a lead that governments effectively are powerless to stop them.
Even if that isn't the case, a future wave will come in the form of "non-companies". Whether these are DAOs or some other type of structure, the bottom line is they will not be top down organizations with a physical address to go after them. Instead they will be completely build online with no centralized apparatus whatsoever. This makes it near impossible for governments to attack.
A lot of this might seem far-fetched at this point. However, if one looks closely, we can already see the green sprouts appearing. This will be an evolutionary process so we have to watch the progression more than the collapse. Governments, for example, will adapt the best they can. However, in the end, it will be fruitless. The same is true of many companies that are now in control of things.
The disruption that is going to be caused will be epic. We are heading rapidly towards the Metaverse. This is something that is going to get a lot more attention in coming years. Just like we know the "Information Superhighway" was upon in the 1990s, we see this is our future. Just consider how that, in comparison, archaic idea transformed the world.
That was the start of the Internet taking over. Over the past 3 decades, it only got more powerful. As mentioned, it is quickly growing up. No longer will it take on one industry at a time. Instead, it will start to alter everything at once.
We can already see the foundation being laid. By this time next decade, we will see the process firmly in place (if not sooner).
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