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We've had a problem over the last decade or so: how do governments deal with populations where the individuals have more and more power? America has traditiona
by DanielBMarkham 14y ago
We've had a problem over the last decade or so: how do governments deal with populations where the individuals have more and more power?
America has traditionally been more libertarian than most countries, so the crisis isn't as bad here, but we still see the signs. We're outlawing doing certain kinds of reverse engineering, we're making copyright violations a criminal offense, and so forth. (Most of our government reaction has been in the form of protecting large industries).
Some other countries are seeing crackdowns on where you can go on the internet, who you can talk to. To those countries, individuals simply having the power to gather information is too much for them.
I hate to make cataclysmic predictions, but I think the U.S. is going to get pulled more and more into your house and head. Where you surf, what you consume, what kinds of things you print on your 3-D printers. 3-D printing is the thing that is going to change everything, because now we can make whatever we need without having to rely on established patterns of commerce (which the government can control).
If it helps any, I don't think this is some sort of deliberate power grab. Quite frankly I don't think the people we have running things are anywhere near qualified enough to be making the decisions they are, On top of that, we have no examples throughout history of a government with the ability to control and monitor so much of each person's life. There's no precedent.
3-D printing, to me, is the one tech that over the next 50 years or so will dramatically change everything. Robots are a close second. Fun times to be alive! (Or perhaps a more accurate word than "fun" would be "interesting")
- Samuel_Michon 14y ago"America has traditionally been more libertarian than most countries, so the crisis isn't as bad here, but we still see the signs." I think we're way past seeing a few signs. I encourage you to read Naomi Wolf's 2007 article 'Fascist America, in 10 easy steps' [1] or watch the presentation 'The End of America' [2]. [1] http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2007/apr/24/usa.comment http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2007/apr/24/usa.comment [2] http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Skhd9NCseF4 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Skhd9NCseF4
- jrogers65 14y agoIt'll be even more fun when argiculture and currency become distributed. I know that we already have bitcoin but imagine if it entered the mainstream. The powers that be would be reeling since they would effectively no longer be relevant and would have very little influence left. Personally, I think that this is all going to cause today's authorities to become increasingly violent until they collapse as a result of the new ways making them obsolete. Then we just might see another golden age for humanity. My forecast is thunderstorms followed by bright sunshine.
- jstalin 14y agoI think you're right, particularly when it comes to currency. Currency is the absolutely pinnacle of power of modern governments. Loss of that power means weaker governments. Most people don't realize that for much of the USA's early existence, currency was essentially outsourced to the Spanish Empire in the form of silver coins.
- Mordor 14y agoPerhaps people who have less power and the government which has more? Obama can kill anyone he chooses for example.