Please click the link below to listen to the 38th episode of my weekly crypto podcast ‘Two Minute Crypto.’ These are intended to be short, single-topic ramblings on some aspect of the cryptosphere. Comments and critiques welcome.
External Podcast Links
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https://www.podbean.com/media/share/pb-gdb45-b16038
Transcript
Two Minute Crypto: Wild Thoughts 4 – Crypto a Doorway to a New Age of Humanism?
.. humanism appeals to man as man. It seeks to liberate the universal qualities of human nature from the narrow limitations of blood and soil and class and to create a common language and a common culture in which men can realize their common humanity.
Welcome to Two Minute Crypto, today I’d like to propose that in the coming decades blockchain may usher in a new age of secular humanism. By secular humanism, I mean a world view which embraces human reason, the natural sciences, an altruistic outlook on morality and the socially just allocation of goods and assets.
Clearly, we live in an age of entrenched inequality, Dickens would feel right at home in modern-day London. Globally, we face many looming crises be it financial, political, social, economic or environmental. Obviously, there are a cornucopia of factors contributing to the current state of affairs. However, at some level, we can point to a lack of accountability as a key contributor for so much of what ails us.
Decentralized blockchain offers a ready-made solution to that particular issue. By their very nature, decentralized chains root out corruption and false actors. They highlight activity and open it up for verification and judgment, thereby lifting the veil on obscurity. How your tax dollars are spent is largely a mystery to most. How your elected officials vote – the same. Blockchain can make such information easy to access and interpret. Of course, corruption will continue and many efforts will be made to construct the appearance of independent blockchains which are in fact compromised in some way. Over time, however, most such false chains will be discovered, invalidated, and ignored.
Informed people are more likely to be engaged voters. Informed taxpayers are more likely to support the entity that taxes them. The return of financial autonomy through cryptos like BTC may encourage the re-emergence of a global perspective and in my opinion, a reconnection with fellow humans who just happen to be a different nationality.
Tyrannical states will struggle to obfuscate their actions and once open to the world such actions become less attractive to the regimes pursuing them.
Generally, money flows will be easier to track. Politicians will find it more difficult to ‘hide’ payments in-kind perhaps finally encouraging a slightly more representative political system. All in all, blockchain offers a stimulus to man’s better inclinations. No doubt, we differ in our interpretations of fairness, justice and so on but at least going forward we will have open, non-censorable systems with which to construct our world view. Much of what divides us stems from confusion, and uncertainty – blockchain can and most likely will, help in that regard, bringing us closer to some degree of shared understanding on a wide range of issues.
Thanks for listening.
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