The world is changing at a rapid pace. This year we saw a lot of things happen that, quite frankly, scare the pants off people. For this reason, people are facing greater uncertainty than at any time in recent history.
It appears that the world is "going to hell in a hand basket". Even the United States, one of the leading countries in the world, cannot hold an election without major controversy. Sure, dead people vote in every election but we saw it go to new levels.
Of course, those who stand back and realize that, in the end, it doesn't really matter. Donald Trump, who's faults are legendary at this point, was not the one who are obliterating the freedom of humanity. We saw this taking place on a grand scale, outside of the Trumpster.
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The "Great Reset" is underway, with politicians and think tanks leading us into the new generation. To accomplish their goals, they need to collapse the old system before they can "rebuild". The first part was mostly accomplished. Another 6 months will lead to the finishing of what they started. After that they can embark upon the second phase of the plan. If only building economies were that easy.
We saw the ascent of technology companies to a level we never saw before. The likes of Facebook and Twitter basically told the U.S Government to go stick it in their eye. Many feel this is a wonderful thing since they agree with the political perspective of what these companies are doing.
However, be wary of authoritarian regimes because they are parasites who have to chew on someone. After they are done with their host, they move onto another. That is the corruptive nature of power.
Technology is a powerful force that can change humanity for the better. For the most part, technology is neutral in nature. The results are based upon how humans use it. The "good" or "evil" is determined by us.
@zoidsoft often wrote about how we were going to enter this age where technology companies overtake governments in the early part of this decade. We are seeing it unfold. Facebook, Google, Twitter, and Apple affect our daily lives more than the governments we live under. Mark Zuckerberg, right now, impacts more people than Joe Biden can ever hope to.
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Hundreds of years ago we emerged from the Dark Ages. The Renaissance allowed humanity to take a great step forward. This was something that had not been seen before. Change took place at an anemic pace before that.
With the introduction of the Renaissance, the fate of the world progressed forward rapidly, at least in comparison. Change was absent for thousands of years yet, suddenly, within a couple centuries, remarkable things happened.
Fast forward to now and the pace back then looks anemic. We are likely entering another Renaissance Era. This one will not take centuries but, rather, will occur in a couple decades. The leap forward based upon what is rolling out will be monumental.
Sadly, the determining factor with technology often comes down to control. While politicians and governments proved throughout history how they were ill-suited for power, corporations are showing the same tendency. The abovementioned companies are no better at resisting tyranny than any other enslaving institutions throughout history.
Thus, humanity has to decide its fate. While it might seem hard to believe, people do have a choice in this matter. They are able to "opt out" to a certain degree on a daily basis.
Cryptocurrency is the starting point. Throughout history, money equals power. It is really that simple. Money is what bought castle walls, forged steel into weapons, and paid solders to kill the "enemy". Unfortunately, this resource controlled by only a few people. In fact, the creation process was monopolistic in nature.
Today, we see a different model forming. Anyone, with an Internet connection, can create a currency. This is something that was not possible even a decade ago.
Does this mean that power is going to be pulled away from the monopolistic entities that historically controlled the fate of humanity? If the majority of humanity embraces what is happening, there is a good chance that is exactly what happens.
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Decentralization is one of the most powerful concepts we ever encountered. Unfortunately, humanity is not very good at applying it. There is sound reason for this since there was a problem with scaling. Cooperatives have shown themselves to be very successful on a small scale. However, when trying to scale up, they tend to fall apart.
The Internet is changing all of this. We saw over the last few decades how the "network effect" completely alters things. Cooperatives now are able to scale into hundreds of millions of people because geographic location means nothing. Cryptocurrency adds to this since we can tokenized every aspect of the process, offering the users exactly what is needed. For example, governance can now be spread throughout with the use of tokens.
This year saw a great leap forward in the acceptance of cryptocurrency as an asset class. Validation certainly came to Bitcoin through the activities of institutions and very powerful people. Isn't it interesting that we still require the participation (approval) of the powerful for something to be valid? Sad but that is where humanity is at.
As we move through the rest of this decade, we will find very powerful technologies at our finger tips. If edge computing done unfold as many expect, we will have powerful AI systems on our devices. This is going to change what is possible.
However, we need to be wary of this all stemming from powerful corporate forces. If they are at the core of it all, humanity is not going to be any better off. In fact, it will rapidly become a dystopian nightmare.
On the other hand, if we can start to spread the power of technology out, into the hands of millions, and then billions, of people, we will see a completely different outcome. The "for profit only" motive is going to diminish as more people are involved for a variety of other reasons.
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We are not shedding a monetary based system anytime soon. For this reason, it is critical that we use cryptocurrency to fend off the potential dystopia that could arise from technological control. The benefit starts with the fact that cryptocurrency is a technology itself. Thus, simply through engagement, we are spreading the power that comes from this technology out.
The last 30 years already moved things forward on a large scale. However, compared to the original vision, the Internet of today is a far cry from what the originators set out to do. We have a siloed system that have controlled and profited off the actions of many. The beneficiaries are but a few, pushing the wealth inequality of the planet to an even greater extreme.
It is time to start reversing that trend. The technology is in our hands and we can do something about it. Those who are able to build should do so in an effort to promote the ideals and concepts contained herein. If they do not, the applications will be build. The problem is then we will see the mega-corporations step in and take over.
They are already well on their way. The technological renaissance is upon us.
What are we going to do to ensure that it is not dystopian?
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