It is easy to look at the dystopian side of technology. Today, we have the surveillance state with most of our actions monitored in some way. This is done by governments as well as mega corporations.
Then we have hacks and malware. Cybersecurity is an enormous field and only growing for a reason. This is not going to stop.
We have many psychopaths who have a thirst for control. I think this point cannot be denied. Technology makes their job easier as it provides them enormous power in their quest to gain more power.
All of this makes it seem like things are going downhill quickly.
Fortunately, this is not reality. In this article we will describe how technology improves standards of living while also empowering people.
40 Years Worth Of Change
One on of the benefits to having a few decades under one's belt is enough time elapsed to see how things are truly different.
When we look at how things were in the early 1980s, there is a world of difference. The way we were entertained, worked, and communicated was much different.
To start, we were mostly ignorant. The topic of conversation today is fake news. Back then, we just took what was being said as gospel. After all, it was the news. In reality, we were unaware to what was taking place because the source of information was the media or newspapers.
Things were also slow. If something happened on the other side of the world, other than a breaking report on the radio, most were clueless. It was not until the news that night or the paper came out that people learned what took place.
Of course, due to time and space limitations, only major events were covered.
We also have to consider everything was on paper. Information moved at a snail's pace. This was something that also hindered growth. Computers were still in the realm of the largest corporations and even those are laughable compared to what we have in our smartphones today.
Another major point was, for the most part, we were dependent upon our local economy. No matter what was taking place in he world, all was local.
If you lived in an area that was thriving, then you had a lot of prospects. However, if the area was dying, such as the major employer leaving town, the area was cooked.
When I think back to those years, it is amazing how archaic it looks.
Technological Deflation
There is a lot of discussion about inflation and how things just get more expensive. The problem with this viewpoint is the overlooks a great deal of what has taken place.
Here is the motto for FedEx that ran on commercials for years.
This is very telling as to what the norm was. Businesses would spend $10 or $12 (at that time) to send documents overnight. The options were fax (still a rarity) or snail mail. The latter took a number of days while the former was of poor quality.
It opened the door for a multi-billion dollar company that basically focused upon moving original documents via plane and van. This seems absurd but consider the money that was spent.
Of course, the same is true for regular mail. Email was a major boom because it removed the needs for this expense.
Here is another one: when was the last time you had a long distance bill?
This was another common charge. If you called grandma to wish her a happy birthday, it would cost like 10 cents a minute. Businesses got a discount on the per minute rate but ran up some big numbers.
Those no longer exist.
Even automobiles are not the same beings. A low end vehicle of today is better made, has fewer issues, and provides more features than the top line car in the 1980s. Back then, most did not have automatic everything. They were not connected to one's phone. Back up cameras were non-existent.
Another problem was that cars had to be sold at 50,000 miles. The value plummeted from there because they were pretty much dead by 125K.
Today, even the most basic car will do 200K-250K.
Blockchain
Blockchain is going to revolutionize the world. I make this statement because it is in alignment with the Internet. That medium was the single biggest game changer for society in the last hundred years.
This is going to have am impact of similar size.
Consider how this technology and Hive has altered the lives of many. Think of those in the the developing world who are able to get some necessities simply through their online activity. That is a game changer.
No longer are they dependent upon the state of their local economy. In many countries, even a dollar or two a day goes a long way to alter their financial plight.
We also have global collaboration. People can be "employed" from anywhere since the engagement is in the digital realm.
This is also providing people with censorship resistance when it comes to data storage. When coupled with account ownership, people are able to post the content they desire. This is in direct opposition to the propaganda so many organizations put out. Naturally, we have to sift through and be careful who we are listening to but the bottom line is options are presented.
That was not available 40 years ago unless you had some type of ham radio setup.
Technology is always a race. It is also a double-edged sword. Overall, it improves society greatly. It does, however, open the door for those with nefarious intentions.
Cryptocurrency had its shares of setbacks. Rug pulls, scams, and establishment attacks helped to give it a black eye. That said, it is far from dead.
Money for the masses is not receiving a technological upgrade. This was always the case yet it rarely benefited the masses.
Just like commerce, information, music, and video, we see an trend in place.
Anytime the Internet enters an industry, two things happen:
- disruption of the existing entities occurs
- abundance is created
This is now the situation with money, finance, and investing. The democratization of this is being developed. It is not an overnight process. Nevertheless, money is now data.
Consider the video options available in 1980s. One could turn on the television to watch a show (or hope to catch a movie) or go to the pictures. This is even before VCRs. Even the televisions options were limited since it was pre-cable.
In other words, video was scarce.
Compare that to now. Think of the millions (billions?) of hours of video content that is available to us through our devices. Then consider how many platforms the same video can be viewed on.
It is easy to get caught up in "how bad things are" and believe society is falling apart. Certainly there are challenges. That said, when stepping back, we have to realize that much of this stems from the sensationalism of things. The fact that something is filmed and goes viral with tens of millions of views shows how this is the case. Bad news spreads like wildfire because humans tend to have a negativity bias.
The reality is that, when it comes to human tendencies, nothing is really new. Killing, corruption, and the thirst for power were always part of the human condition. If you think the government you have is bad, look back at some through history. For thousands of years we had leaders who were psychopathic butchers.
Today, at least, we have the tools to spread what is taking place and make others aware.
That wasn't the case 40 years ago.
