With centralization comes vulnerability. Having all your wealth in a single financial asset is riskier than having a balanced portfolio, right? Well think of the same for government, finances, and other pieces of the human societal framework. Centralized authority in government has been observed in nearly all developed societies. The hunters and gatherers of early humanity are the first good such example of a society with a relatively flat hierarchy structure.
If we have used centralized government for this long, what is the problem?
With centralization comes vulnerability. Centralized institutions such as government are immediately at risk from malevolent forces such as greed and corruption. This is seen most significantly through lobbying and using money to influence governmental policy. As income inequality has increased dramatically in the United States, so too did the influence over basic policy. Prior to blockchain technology and Satoshi Nakamoto, a system in which to decentralize government did not exist.
Decentralization on a world wide scale has suddenly become possible for humanity with the rise of bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies. Platforms now exist that can be the building blocks for making traditional centralized powers of government obsolete. By utilizing the blockchain and proof-of-stake models, transparent, accurate elections and votes can be held free from corruption. A direct democracy is now feasible anywhere and everywhere.
It is rational thinking to assume that the powers that exist now will resist a change to blockchain. Through the blockchain, all the influence and power of a society is taken away from central power and given equally to all members of the society which is a threat to the holders of that power currently. So, how do we as a society encourage this level of change?
It is already happening, whether knowingly or not, through the rise of cryptocurrencies and platforms of exchange. Until Bitcoin, world governments enjoyed an unshakable monopoly over the money supply and currency designations. Banks, in turn, were the sole centralized powers in which to safely store financial assets. Now, both of these points are incorrect. As more and more money worldwide moves into cryptocurrencies, the financial power is slowly moving away from centralized governments and to decentralized networks. Through these new decentralized networks, anything can be funded. The people apart of these networks could, in time, have the power to fund different initiatives, programs, and other aspects of society free of the influence of government. Over time, voting could completely move to the blockchain and society could become truly democratic.
Just by investing in cryptocurrencies, funding projects, and using the platforms as your new financial system, each person doing this is already in a way revolutionizing society to be more democratic.
