Scenes From the End of the World (As You Know It)
They say the Dot-Com bubble & Y2K were only small tremors compared to what is coming next.
Looking back, overzealous internet marketers wrote checks their bottom lines couldn’t cash. And so the bubble burst. The future would have to wait.
Then the towers came down and we went to war. But let me not get caught up, I’ll end up ruminating too much.
Fast forward to December, 2017. The thing they called a scam, ponzi scheme, or even mass fraud became worth more than most of the Forune 100. But again, the bottom fell out.
To me, there is arrogance on both sides: the old establishment & the anarcho-technologists.
Starting with the latter, developing blockchain tech and taking its application straight to currency was perhaps shortsighted. It’s like Harry Potter just picked up a wand for the first time and instead of playing the reluctant hero he says, “Ok boys and girls now I’ll kill Voldemort,” even though it’s still book 1 and he’s not yet a teenager.
Instead the Anarchos should have bit by bit challenged establishment social media networks and search websites then gone to crypto. It’s the ultimate irony when you realize that had they employed the old paradigm’s tactics, the strategy would have been reversed.
The old controllers on the other hand put out statements dismissing outright the new tech, even denigrating it. What larger in this picture, the old’s ego or fear. Sorry guys! We saw the man behind the curtain!
In an age when politicians belch out — WE NEED A UNIVERSAL INCOME NOW! What if instead everybody’s “Facebook” page paid them according to their sociability and originality. (Of course this won’t happen on Facebook → please see steemit.com)
I myself am a creative with some semblance of vision & content to share and have attempted to participate in the old, broken arena that is Hollywood for my chosen medium of Film. Perhaps this new tech could straighten out this historically shady industry too? From accounting, to talent management, to capital raising — nothing is beyond the pale of a possible application.
What if Crowd Funding, Social Networks, Currency, Real Estate, Entertainment and Product Development all were 100% meritocratic; and the way you knew the best won is that everybody has a chance to vote… ON EVERYTHING.
And ANYBODY would ALWAYS have an OPPORTUNITY to CONTRIBUTE at/on/for ANYTHING.
I haven’t heard the value proposition of Block Chain spelled out for your average person yet and so I wrote this.
Whatever your (desired or known) skill is, this new internet age (now being developed) hopefully can teach and/or reward you!
Whoever you are.