There is a lot happening that is shifting how the world operates.
At the end of World War 2, we were still a world of nation-states. From a geo-political perspective, this has not changed. There is the conflict between Russia and Ukraine. The United States and China are doing battle. The Middle East is also seeing unrest.
Ultimately, it mostly boils down to certain geographic regions still operating like it is the 1800s.
Post WW2, an interesting thing happened. We were introduced to the idea of globalization. Naturally, this dealt with mostly trade. Over the ensuing decades, we saw the rise of the multi-national corporation. While this still had ties to a particular country, mostly via headquarters, it was an entity that extended beyond national boundaries.
Manufacturing was the industry that was affected the most. It was not, however, the only one as we saw customer service positions and other jobs outsourced.
All of this took on new meaning when the Internet came around.
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Decentralization And Open Source Changes Geo-Politics
Many surmise that globalization is retreating. This is likely a true statement if we focus solely upon manufacturing. technology is allowing us to, ultimately, make things closer to where they are consumed.
However, this is not the totality. In fact, I make the case that, overall, we are going in the opposite direction.
The reason for this is simply the Internet. Upon entering this realm, we are immediately outside the nation-state. We are thrust into a global world that extends everywhere.
It is one of the factors that makes geo-politics difficult.
This is about to get a major kick in the pant.
Governments have transitioned by targeting the company behind the technology. If the EU does not like something Meta does, it can take action against that company. The United States, in its rift with China, can take steps to hinder (or stop) TikTok.
All these entities operate under the traditional corporate structure, which is tied to a nation. If this changes, governments are going to have to tough time.
Bitcoin As The Model
Bitcoin has no nation. It is not tied to any particular plot of land. This network has no ties to the physical realm. The software is open to anyone to run on a server.
When we consider this concept, it is revolutionary. Imagine Google or Apple operating in a similar fashion.
Governments, specifically politicians, have targeted Bitcoin for years. The challenge is that it is immune to their tactics. There is nothing that can be done against something that is decentralization(, open source, and global. The tentacles spread beyond any nation.
Since there is no physical presence, attacks levied in that realm are useless. Here is where the impotency of governments emerges.
It is also part of the major paradigm shift we see taking place.
When something is open source, it can be replicated. While Bitcoin is a network, software brings another level of capabilities to the table.
The open source community keeps growing. Each week, there is more software available than previously. This is something that gets overlooked as most tend to focus upon what the major corporations are doing.
This gets taken to another level when a company like Meta decides to open source its large language model (LLM). When governments talk about regulating things, here is where it looks absurd.
Meta can still be targeted. The problem arises when the software is forked, updated, and built upon by entities that have nothing to do with the company. Again, this is global. The next addition can come from an anonymous source in India.
Networks. Software. Protocols.
They all can be impervious to governments.
Geo-Politics Forever Changed
Bitcoin forever changed geo-politics.
While the open source community has thrived for decades, growing in numbers, it was this network that garnered the attention.
Bitcoin penetrated one area of society that was fundamental: money.
While it was the first decentralized iteration, where consensus was achieved without a centralized entity, it did provide a wake up call to everyone. Governments followed their typical pattern of being late to the party. The developers, on the other hand, were not.
Development within cryptocurrency is now more than a decade old. Probably the biggest innovation was Ethereum, specifically the smart contract platform, that emerged roughly a decade ago. This opened up a host of option and developers were able to build applications on top of these networks.
The concept of the decentralized autonomous organization (DAO) also emerged. It is being warped to fit into the existing system. That said, I do not think it will ultimately end up like that. Again, it is a digital entity that does not require ties to the physical world.
As artificial intelligence pushes autonomy forward, the DAO will likely step up as a preferred business structured.
Of course, if truly decentralized, it is outside the bounds of governments.
So what happens when there are millions of entities (DAOs) that are tied to billions of AI agents, none operating in the physical world? Their domain is not particular countries but, rather, the entire world. It is virtual in nature albeit with real world impacts.
What do governments fight over? How do they maintain relevancy?
The United States' attacks on TikTok change completely if, instead of a Chinese backed company, it was a DAO. Who does the US go after at that point? What if it was totally open source and anyone could fork TikTok? Even if the government took it down, another could appear instantly.
Bitcoin is not the last of its kind. Instead, it shows the potential of what is taking place. We are still not dealing with a lot of software of this nature, the type that is used globally and starts to gain significant adoption.
I think that will change in the coming years. As more developers start building on blockchain, coupled with the continued advancement of the open source community, we could see a tremendous shift. I would not be surprised if much of this is tied to the advancements being made with AI.
Countries (governments) can fight all they want. My view is there will be a rude awakening as we see even more powerful technologies available to the masses.
The numbers simply do not work in their favor.