After Trump’s election, Blockchain is more relevant than ever
No one thought this was possible, all the polls said otherwise. No one knew this would start happening — but it is. Maybe if we listened more closely we could have known and the more time goes by, the more we realize that.
But, here we are. A man who fueled his campaign with bigotry, hate and anger won the election. People are relieved, scared, confused and every adjective in-between. And to play devil’s advocate, immediately upon being elected, Trump appears calmer. But can we trust him? If Trump wants to roll back the level of fear, hate and anger he activated, more must be done than simply toning it down now.
Can we trust he will?
We can wait for that to reveal — but why? We’re living in historic times, in which small actions now can reverberate influentially. My generation, being a 22 year old, has new expectations for our globalized world.
While returning home from a Blockchain conference in London with students from all over the world from who are part of ben, I felt stronger than ever in the sense that I feel we can really make an impact in this world, because we are natives to this digital world and can design with the tools needed to succeed.
The results of the election contradict hugely with the vibe I experienced. My generation has expectations to be able to collaborate with anyone regardless of borders, let alone race or gender. We want the freedom to customize and edit our services to best fit our own needs. This isn’t going to come through building walls or ignoring one group in favor of another.
The youth didn’t vote for Trump, nor the Brexit. Yet our expectations do not fit the outcome. Fear of uncertainty is high. It feels like our generation is pushed on center stage (right as I’m personally finishing my schooling) and only have our expectations and each other to navigate. We have to get this right, fast.
We do not wait and see how he acts — because we will take the initiative to build the future we want.
If we do not know if we can trust each other, we work around it. And maybe, after the elections, it’s kind of like this is the way it should be. Because maybe after all, if Clinton won, this huge movement wouldn’t have been recognized. Who knows in what that resulted? This whole thing dumbfounded all American institutions. And systems geared for Clinton, if she won, their flaws would never have been revealed.
We are moving towards a technology-driven world that replaces labor and there is not much time to figure out ways to maintain life security. Wealth is distributed a posteriori instead of a priori and rights aren’t protected in this globalized world. Speed is of the essence, at the expense of demagogues winning elections through activating anger and fear if we fail to empathize with everyone’s struggle.
So, this is how I’d suggest to start.
We can succeed locally by having the impact we want to see. When we do, we change our communities and feel empowered doing so. That enthusiasm is inspiring and motivates those around us to join and those afar to get started. And when ambitious leaders across the world are leading by example, we get a diverse ecosystems of communities experimenting with a variety of implementation strategies.
And how to grow that to bigger scale? Meet Blockchain, a way for people who do not trust each other to create a record of who owns what that will compel the assent of everyone concerned. It is a way of making and preserving truths. Meet Generation Blockchain. A utility that matched my generation’s expectation for the type of tool to manage interpersonal relationships that assume some level of trust.
Through the Blockchain, we can go from redistributing wealth to distributing value. We can work around institutions which are slow and only stifle innovation. Distributed applications can be — and are — built, enabling people to own and monetize their own data through owning own identities. The technology enables building accountable government through transparency, smart contracts and revitalized models of democracy. The latter may be more relevant and needed than ever.
So, I’m saying Blockchain everything?
No. I surely realize Blockchain isn’t a solution to everything. But what I do see is that society is fragile now. We are more divided than ever and we did not want to see the people who had a different opinion. And the one thing I know is that the more you organize decentral, the less fragile you become.
I’m not saying Blockchain is thé solution, but is definitely a hedge when legacy institutions go through periods of unpredictability. Both in terms of actual price jump and also a way of logistically thinking of doing business for long-term security against political instability. It is not to replace the current system, but the aim must be to decrease the dependence on the system and work from there.
This industry just became a lot more relevant.
