2 years ago
The pursuing is the written mentation of a video presumption which can beryllium viewed here.
The Waning Of The Modern Age
“In our view, you are witnessing thing little than the waning of the Modern Age. It is simply a improvement driven by ruthless but hidden logic. More than we commonly understand, the adjacent millennium volition nary longer beryllium ‘modern.’ We accidental this not to connote that you look a savage oregon backward future, though that is possible, but to stress that the signifier of past present opening volition beryllium qualitatively antithetic from that into which you were born.
Something caller is coming. Just arsenic farming societies differed successful benignant from hunting and gathering bands, and concern societies differed radically from feudal oregon yeoman cultivation systems, truthful the New World to travel volition people a extremist departure from thing seen before.”
–”The Sovereign Individual,” leafage 53
Published successful 1997 from authors James Dale Davidson and Lord William Rees-Mogg, “The Sovereign Individual” tin champion beryllium described arsenic a guidebook. The authors harvester a heavy probe into the past of antheral with a cautious investigation of praxeology, oregon the survey of quality action, to travel to a startling conclusion: Our civilization is lasting astatine the precipice of extremist change. Those who admit this alteration and instrumentality the due actions volition payment immensely, portion those who stay ignorant volition endure the consequences.
The publication tin besides beryllium viewed arsenic a prophecy, making bold predictions astir the aboriginal of civilization, galore of which person already travel to pass. A 4th of a period ago, portion “experts” specified arsenic Paul Krugman were predicting that the net would person small interaction connected the economy, Davidson and Rees-Mogg were predicting the emergence of the cybereconomy; non-state integer money; personalized media; the convergence of the telephone, machine and TV into a azygous device; arsenic good arsenic the grounds level of nationalist distrust successful large institutions presently unfolding earlier our eyes.
The Thesis Of “The Sovereign Individual”
While spiritual and allegorical themes are beautifully woven passim the book, the authors marque it precise wide that their thesis is rooted successful hard logic, specifically a conception they telephone “the logic of violence.”
Throughout each of history, humans person had to woody with the elemental information that taking is often easier than making. Working hard to get possessions specified arsenic food, structure and covering means thing if they cannot beryllium protected.
The disposable methods by which humans person defended themselves and their spot person transformed drastically from the clip of hunter-gatherers up until the contiguous day. In the authors’ views, it is this translation of the logic of unit that is astatine the basal of each large societal alteration passim history.
The cardinal axiom of the publication is this: Human enactment is guided by incentives. If we tin go conscious of the incentives, past we can, to a definite extent, forecast quality action. For example, dropping a $100 measure connected the crushed of immoderate metropolis successful the satellite volition nutrient precise predictable results: idiosyncratic volition rapidly prime it up.
To amended recognize the origins of these incentives, the authors present a conception called “megapolitics.”
“The conception of megapolitics helps illuminate immoderate of the large mysteries of history: however governments emergence and autumn and what types of institutions they become; the timing and result of wars; and patterns of economical prosperity and decline. By raising oregon lowering the costs and rewards of projecting power, megapolitics governs the quality of radical to enforce their volition connected others.”
–“The Sovereign Individual,” leafage 65
Unlike manmade governmental institutions, megapolitics beryllium extracurricular of the realm of conscious direction. Davidson and Rees-Mogg picture the 4 basal types of megapolitical forces arsenic being topography, climate, microbes and technology. Of these four, exertion is described arsenic “having played by acold the largest relation successful determining the costs and rewards of projecting powerfulness during the modern centuries.”
Cybercash
It is the authors’ content that the emergence of cryptography successful conjunction with the borderless jurisdiction of cyberspace was poised to drastically change the logic of violence, and truthful displacement the equilibrium of powerfulness from the authorities to the individual.
In the past, monolithic and costly armies were needed to unafraid ample amounts of wealth. Today, acknowledgment to the invention of Bitcoin, wealthiness tin beryllium stored successful the encephalon of immoderate quality being, simply by memorizing 24 words. Instead of needing to trust upon state-run institutions to uphold spot rights, wealthiness successful the 21st period volition beryllium protected by unbreakable cryptography, oregon successful different words, axenic mathematics.
Read arsenic the authors picture successful item the eventual emergence of what they telephone “cybercash” and support successful caput that each this was archetypal published successful 1997:
“Now the advent of the Information Age implies different gyration successful the quality of money. As cybercommerce begins, it volition pb inevitably to cybermoney. This caller signifier of wealth volition reset the odds, reducing the capableness of the world's nationstates to find who becomes a Sovereign Individual. A important portion of this alteration volition travel astir due to the fact that of the effect of accusation exertion successful liberating the holders of wealthiness from expropriation done inflation. Soon, you volition wage for astir immoderate transaction implicit the Net the aforesaid clip you spot it, utilizing cybercash. This caller integer signifier of wealth is destined to play a pivotal relation successful cybercommerce. It volition dwell of encrypted sequences of multihundred-digit premier numbers. Unique, anonymous, and verifiable, this wealth volition accommodate the largest transactions. It volition besides beryllium divisible into the tiniest fraction of value. It volition beryllium tradable astatine a keystroke successful a multi-trillion-dollar wholesale marketplace without borders.”
–“The Sovereign Individual,” leafage 215
Bitcoin has turned this 1997 prophecy into a reality. Bitcoin volition beryllium the astir important instrumentality successful the arsenal of the 21st period sovereign individual. Impervious to confiscation via theft oregon inflation, and unfastened to each quality beings connected world with entree to the internet, the emergence of Bitcoin represents the emergence of the sovereign individual.
The Struggle for Sovereignty
Sovereignty successful this discourse is simply a zero-sum game. When individuals summation sovereignty, the authorities needfully loses sovereignty implicit them. As citizens proceed to instrumentality vantage of caller technological innovations, institutions volition people conflict to reclaim power.
We are not lone seeing this with Bitcoin successful the signifier of propaganda-style attacks launched by galore cardinal banks, but we are seeing it successful bequest media arsenic well. In the words of “The Sovereign Individual,” “The wide media volition go individualized media… No longer volition you beryllium astatine the mercy of Dan Rather oregon the BBC for the quality that reaches you. You volition beryllium capable to prime quality compiled and edited according to your instructions.”
With the emergence of alternative, autarkic and societal media, the mainstream media has ne'er held little powerfulness than it does today. Legacy quality organizations are truthful hopeless for value that they bash not hesitate to lie, manipulate and sow fearfulness and hatred among its viewers successful speech for inexpensive clicks and views. So galore of the biggest issues successful nine are kept live by the mainstream media’s incessant desperation for relevance.
CNN’s caller spat with Joe Rogan provides america a existent clip illustration of bequest media’s waning influence. Rogan, a azygous man, was capable to exposure CNN’s lies astir him by the elemental virtuousness of the information that he, himself, has a larger assemblage than CNN does.
We are entering a satellite wherever each voices volition person the accidental to beryllium heard. The net is providing each quality being a accidental to unrecorded up to their afloat potential. Geography, societal class, sex and different labels are nary longer limitations successful the caller integer world. The net doesn’t attraction what you look like. If you are capable to supply value, you volition beryllium rewarded.
A New Paradigm
As fascinating and awesome arsenic the authors’ usage of logic to accurately foretell galore aspects of our modern beingness is, possibly arsenic fascinating is their quality to look into the deeper, much mysterious patterns of history.
“Giggle if you will, but we bash not despise oregon disregard intuitive understandings of history. Although our statement is grounded successful logic, not successful reveries, we are awed by the prophetic powerfulness of quality consciousness... Understanding the mode the satellite works means processing a realistic intuition of the mode that quality nine obeys the mathematics of earthy processes. Reality is nonlinear. But astir people's expectations are not. To recognize the dynamics of change, you person to admit that quality society, similar different analyzable systems successful nature, is characterized by cycles and discontinuities. That means definite features of past person a inclination to repetition themselves, and the astir important changes, erstwhile they occur, whitethorn beryllium abrupt alternatively than gradual.”
–“The Sovereign Individual,” leafage 49
The signifier they are referring to is simply a funny 500-year rhythm which seems to correlate with paradigm shifting events successful Western civilization. Beginning successful 500 BC, the emergence of Greek ideology and doctrine laid the foundations of Western civilization. The birth of Christ successful 4 BC, during the tallness of the Roman empire, acceptable the signifier for Judeo-Christian values becoming the bedrock of Western culture.
Five centuries later, successful 500 AD, the autumn of Rome would pb to the acheronian ages successful Western Europe, a play of organization illness and lawless disarray. 1,000 AD marks the opening of a play present known arsenic the Middle Ages successful which commerce and literacy were rediscovered. In the words of Raoul Glaber, an 11th period historiographer quoted by “The Sovereign Individual,” the crook of the millennium “shook disconnected the tatters of antiquity.”
500 years later, astir the twelvemonth 1,500, the Renaissance, the Reformation and the find of the New World each contributed to what we presumption arsenic the commencement of the modern era.
Now, present we beryllium 500 years aboriginal successful the precise aboriginal stages of the 21st century. Technological advances are being compounded exponentially. The epoch which gave commencement to our modern conception of the federation authorities astir the twelvemonth 1,500 is coming to an end. As the equilibrium of powerfulness shifts from the organization level to the idiosyncratic level, we would expect the bequest strategy to tighten its grip. This is precisely what we’re seeing.
Simply questioning the authoritative communicative fixed by the authorities oregon mainstream media tin effect successful being labeled a unsafe conspiracy theorist. Attempting to make a dialog astir important issues connected societal media tin effect successful censorship and re-education. Suddenly, the inalienable close of bodily sovereignty encoded astatine Nuremberg is being revoked by governments passim the world.
Citizens of galore countries are virtually trapped wrong the borders, incapable to permission unless granted support by their government. Innocent Australians are being removed from their homes and shipped successful buses to internment camps wherever they are being held successful isolation, and past hunted down erstwhile they effort to flight backmost to their families.
Unable to money these operations against their citizens via transparent taxation, governments and cardinal banks passim the satellite person resorted to printing exorbitant amounts of wealth resulting successful the highest ostentation successful decades.
The mainstream media tells you this is each normal, the authorities tells you this is each normal, the large tech monopolies archer you this is each normal. However, to anyone paying immoderate attraction astatine all, it is becoming abundantly wide that the emperor has nary clothes.
As unsettling arsenic each this whitethorn be, it is each a portion of a earthy process. Metamorphosis requires decease and rebirth. Old institutions are dying, and the madness we are witnessing each astir america is simply grounds of their accelerating decay. Just arsenic Gutenberg's printing property broke the Catholic Church’s monopoly connected accusation 5 centuries ago, Bitcoin is poised to interruption the state’s monopoly connected money.
The signifier is already set: Insolvent governments volition proceed to people wealth successful an effort to support power implicit their subjects. The savings of millions of liable radical passim the satellite volition beryllium wiped retired arsenic the worth of insubstantial trends towards zero. Many unwitting radical volition spell down with the ship. But for the remainder of us, a agleam orangish lifeboat awaits.
This is simply a impermanent station by Bob Simon. Opinions expressed are wholly their ain and bash not needfully bespeak those of BTC Inc oregon Bitcoin Magazine.
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