Thousands of years of struggle to achieve peace and understanding on Earth have led to this moment, yet we often seem to be no closer to success. People vie for supremacy, often in the name of 'justice', often aiming to stop conflict in society by increasing levels of control in 'just the right way' (their way). In doing so, they have fed power into society's artificial power pyramids without noticing that the pyramid they seek to climb or use is actually part of the cause of their problem. Decentralisation has the answers...
I have written many times about the effects of centralisation within organisations and how it tends to lower the level of ethics and the quality of the actions taken by the people involved. Now I want to be more clear than ever - Centralisation of power opens the door to evil and only decentralisation of power can close it.
I previously wrote at length to describe why the phrase 'power corrupts' is totally false. In fact, it is not only erroneous - it is suspiciously shaped in such a way that it looks like a weaponised idea that is intended to disempower people (see my linked post for more on this). We need power simply to live and to survive and it is possible for us to evolve to a state of non corruption - while retaining just the right amount of personal power.
Similarly, 'Centralisation' (as a way of organising a system or group of people) is another idea that is widely used and accepted as valuable - yet which is highly problematic and not generally being questioned enough to know whether it is flawed or not.
History shows us that, over and over again, both 'corrupt use of power' and 'centralisation' tend to go hand in hand. The largest examples of mass human death in the last century come not from pandemics, but from mass killings by centralised governments.
Where do we go once we have started to amass power, while possibly stealing/receiving it from others (usually while claiming we are doing so 'in everyone's best interests')?
We centralise that power into structures that help us to maintain it and to use it to our advantage. This is precisely what empire builders are doing when they create huge armies to dominate other areas, killing their way towards implanting the population with rules and regulations that disempower them and benefit the empire builders. It's also essentially what monarchies and warlords have done for a very long time too - though the passage of time obscures this in some cases.
"But not all centralisation is evil though" - I hear some people proclaim. Well.. voluntary centralisation is possible, that's true - however, centralisation ALWAYS results in a loss of power within some individuals and they generally always discover at some point that they really needed that power - which is why they had it in the first place.
All power loss is a problem that always leads to imbalance and which opens the door to evil. It may take generations, but eventually, the inability to act purely for self interest, WILL result in death and suffering of those who have lost power. Some of our needs MUST be met by us ourselves and we need the power to do that.
You are the saviour you have been waiting for
While many people are becoming aware of DEcentralistion in terms of technology (e.g. blockchain technology, Bitcoin, Hive, Ethereum etc.), I want to focus more here on decentralisation of power, rather than just technology.
The dictionary definition of 'power' is essentially 'the ability to act'. So, here, I am describing 'decentralisation of the ability to act'.
I'm sure by now that most are able to see why centralisation of power is a problem. Isn't 'the ability to act' (to take action) something that we all need? Might it not cause some problems for us if 'ability to act' is all piled up into the hands of a centralised group?
While centralising food shopping into 'convenient' mega malls that buy up massive stock at low prices sometimes seems beneficial - it comes at a long term cost. In the short term, you get a standardised experience, with measured quality and low/competitive prices. However, behind the scenes, the power of people across the world has been compressed into the structures designed with the optimisation of the mega corporation's profits in mind and many people have lost their own power as a result.
In our supermarket example, suppliers and customers involved have reduced 'ability to act' when it comes to negotiation and choosing the level of variety in their food supply because the corporation has a hierarchy which doesn't respond to 'the little people' in the same responsive way that is possible when power is more spread out among smaller, local groups.
While your ability to pick from 10 types of cucumber instead of 2 might not seem evil, there are countless stories of the way that worker rights are eroded by large corporations twisting the arms of suppliers in a variety of ways to lower prices. Such manipulation isn't so possible when suppliers have a wide array of retailers to sell to.
When people are stuck in a situation where their work is devalued and a relatively small group of other people are able to benefit as a result, the result tends to be mega riches for the small group and potential destitution and hard decisions for the workers.
It's not the local corner store that has ambulances on call outside of it's premises for when it's workers get too hot, pass out and maybe die. It's also not the local corner store that has employees wearing diapers while they work in order to meet performance goals. In both of these cases, it was Amazon - one of the world's most 'wealthy' and centralised business structures that was responsible.
Decentralisation helps us recover lost power and take actions to ensure each individual has sufficient power to get their needs met, without them having to bow down to a central hierarchy who may or may not listen to them.
The centralised structures that 'empire builders' direct are designed to prevent the need for them to deal with 'the little people' directly and prevent the kind of reciprocal communication and responsiveness that completely honest communication requires.
At the micro level, this results in every day annoyance to many people, but at the bigger level can set the scene for massive power to accumulate in the hands of a small number of people - who can then commit huge crimes, often without being noticed.
We can point to numerous events in history where this has been made extremely obvious, from the slavery of many people that built the Roman empire, to the slavery of many people that helped build the Nazi German empire and the slavery of Africans and others who helped build the British and American empires... There are many examples of many cultures trying to use slavery and evil to further their agenda.
Even in cases where people are passionately invested in trying to right the wrongs of such evil, the attachment to power pyramids continues, completely denied. People are so convinced (conditioned) in some cases, that centralisation is 'good' that they never question whether they are actually part of the problem.
Take this quote from a BBC interview from a few years ago with an activist who created controversy online by stating that:
All white people benefit from racism, with white privilege.
Many people became polarised by this statement since it implied that they were either victims or perpetrators in a giant racial war - whether they liked it or not. What no-one seemed to notice is that the very next words contained the key to a much larger piece of the puzzle and an actual solution.. Which was never mentioned or thought about.
If you are not dismantling racism, if you are not going to pull people up from the bottom of the pyramid, to the top - then you are participating in and benefiting from racism.
What was missed is that YOU CANNOT SOLVE INJUSTICE IN A POWER PYRAMID. As soon as you take people from the bottom and put them at the top, you have achieved precisely NOTHING. The only significant change that this could lead to would be if the power pyramid itself were completely dismantled.
See original video:
This realisation of the need for structural change is perhaps part of why we see groups such as BLM (Black Lives Matter) controversially advertising themselves as Marxists (commented on in numerous mainstream articles) - they seek to destroy empire - rather than strictly focusing on racial issues.
The answer isn't communism
The answer isn't communism
The answer isn't communism
I'll say it again for the hard of thinking -
The answer isn't communism
I have to repeat this because people are so heavily conditioned to think and feel that any criticism of 'the system' can only come from people pushing communism. I am not pushing communism, I am a systems engineer and information scientist promoting rationality and harmony. I am also one who has focused specifically on the fine art of understanding free will for many years, something that communists (and many capitalists) seem to have failed dismally at or never even bothered to start understanding at all.
Since the nature of the problem is power loss, a loss of freedom and a loss of the free will of individuals - any answer must not only correct these issues but cannot come simply from one person. I can point out the problem and I can identify an ideal system, but ultimately if my system doesn't feel good to you - then don't use it and your actual rejection of my idea is itself part of the solution! This is the literal opposite of authoritarianism - I am promoting your own self empowerment, not telling you how to live!
Even the least curious among us are sometimes forced to admit that the actions of governments and corporations that we are told are 'on our side' and are 'looking out for our best interests' seem suspiciously like they are intended to achieve the opposite. I'm not pointing to actions that just seem to have been poorly thought out, but actions which seem to be deliberately intended to exploit or harm us. Lacking all the details, we tend to want to trust that these people are inherently 'good'. This means we tend to assume that what looks like exploitation is actually just ignorance on their part or some kind of mistake.
It is this, our inherent trust and uncertainty, that the most manipulative people use to their advantage. They know from experience that just the right amount of money, intimidating social status and repetition can convince many people that what they are seeing is based in integrity/truth and not simply deception and lies.
The pryamid structure of centralised organisations is guaranteed to create situations where the people at the top have much more power than everyone else - this is obvious, it is not ignorance - it is deliberate and by design. The intention of the pyramid system designers is to hoard power for themselves, which inevitably harms others in the process since there is not an infinite supply of power for them to draw on. So that only leaves us with 'evil' as an explanation, since to deliberately take action that causes suffering for others is essentially evil.
Empire building, pyramid makers use a centralised structure to break up work among a large number of people, while ultimately retaining the ability to direct all of the action from one board room or centralised office/mind. The pyramid shaped structure of their organisation means that their intent to corrupt the free thinking world for their own personal gain requires them only to corrupt a small number of people - who then corrupt more, who then corrupt more and on it goes.
We need look no further than the billions in US dollars paid out by pharmaceutical, 'health' and other corporations for serious crimes in only the last few years. Some of the biggest fines ever levied against anyone are to such groups - specifically for fraud and medical/scientific lies. In fact, most of the manufacturers of COVID19 vaccines are among these mega liars! People no doubt lost their lives due to the lies of these companies - yet they continue to prosper on a massive scale and are even haled as heroes by half the world today.
This is a good example of a collection of testimonies from pharma industry insiders, describing the level of criminality involved that has become normalised (can you say 'prostitutes and cocaine for doctors in exchange for prescribing drugs'?):
These groups use their massive wealth to buy off scientists, doctors and others in order to use their positions to mislead the world and make profit (plus accumulate power). This is evidenced by numerous court cases, whistleblower testimonies and the obvious daily experience of millions of people.
The average scientists at a pharmaceutical research company or the average doctor/nurse does not want this kind of greed based activity, they want to help people heal. It's the 'thinkers' at the top of the pyramids that design and profit the most from all of this.
Decentralisation takes the pyramid structures and turns them into something that might resemble a circle or simply a structure that is more balanced than a pyramid. While there may be groups or individuals within a decentralised structure that have more power than others, the design of the rules of the structure itself are not intended to be skewed in any particular entity's favour.
A decentralised food supply chain may involve each 'consumer' becoming a producer, for example - so that they have food grown on their own property (or nearby). This eliminates much of the unfair power accumulation of the mega corporations and can also allow for a wider range of crop types being grown and at higher qualities (assuming the people take care when growing). Further, the system might include ways for everyone to access tools needed to grow their own food - so there is a low barrier to entry (or no barrier) - leading to true inclusion and decentralisation.
Decentralisation in the digital world tends to mean blockchain technology at this point in history and blockchains are big business. Users of the Hive blockchain and it's many sub community sites are already well aware of how decentralisation can benefit them immensely. From censorship free social networking, to being directly paid for their posts in coins that they can use to buy things in the real world - the difference is like night and day when we compare Hive to the Facebooks and Twitters of the world.
Evil denies free will, ignores the feelings of others and at times seeks to deliberately harm others. These are all traits that the big centralised corporations are engaged in and are also traits that seem to always be present in centralised organisations (once they are big enough). From churches, to governments, to corporations, to social networks and schools - centralisation attracts those who intend to dominate others as they seek to gain power without regard for others' real needs. We can't truly know what other people need unless they know and then tell us. If we censor them, then by definition we are likely preventing them getting real needs met.
Decentralisation, meanwhile, generally allows for each individual to be supported much more than centralisation can really allow. If there is a shortage of power in a decentralised system, it tends to begin locally and nearby members of the network can pitch in to help.
As each participant is autonomous, how much help they give to others is voluntary and so balance can be maintained - without overriding individuals in the name of some kind of amorphous concept of 'group needs'. It is in the interests of network members to help each other as they could easily find themselves in the same situation and need help. Equally, the network relies on it's collective strength to thrive and so it's collective health is in the interest of all of it's members.
This is the opposite to centralised organisations, where the system controllers will often vampire power from everywhere they can before acknowledging that their actions are doing damage - even to the point of risking the entire society.
Whether those at the tops of pyramids manage to collapse everything, harming everyone, often depends on whether the rest of the community stops them. To stop them, they need personal power and it is decentralisation that maximises personal power and helps them to create harmony most efficiently.
Using the Hive social network and related sub sites is a great way to become familiar with the possibilities of decentralisation, so I suggest everyone start here to learn more in a practical way. It would be very exciting for schools to send students here to at least understand what decentralisation can look like, but it will take courageous souls to do so in an environment that is ever more centralised and domineering. Take heart, you are on the right side of history!
Let's co-create true freedom in the way that feels best to us, while including the needs of others carefully.
Wishing you well,
Ura Soul
@crucialweb. We help our clients to grow and innovate online and offer discounts for decentralised projects. Get in touch if you'd like to work with us.
