World Web III

A war being waged on two levels……

We are at war.

In an very big way, in Israel and The Ukraine. This is World War 3 and we are in it. Just like World War Two, except we aren’t actually doing the fighting.

Our weapons systems are.

Have your war machine call my war machine….

Of course, the courageous soldiers in those two theaters are fighting back against fierce aggressors, both of whom are connected at the top, with shared interests.

And the tragic victims are very real.

World War Three.

As all peace loving people are, we wish for a swift and purposeful end to this conflict. We will get neither, but we do hope for it.

While the real battles rage, there is something else going on…..

World War Three, Layer-2 is underway as well.

Already battle tested in the Ukraine, our Global Social Media Infrastructure is stepping up and enabled its own form of modern warfare.

Social Warfare.

Context: We step into this war with a hyper-charged global social structure that allows any isolated incident, about just about anything, to instantly become a news story ready for global distribution. What was once relegated to Page 5 of the Local News Section, or never heard from at all, is now reported at a scale Walter Cronkite could only have dreamed of. As a proof point of whatever persepctive we each already have, confirming our already leaning biases.

“See. I told you so…”

Andy Worhal, or whomever it was, was absolutely right. We are in the future and we do have 15 minutes of fame.

On Facebook. Tik Tok.

Twitter enables instant audiences to form who both consume and deliver the news. No real editor nor middle man at all, yet conversations, connections, and strings lead people to places that start to look like news feeds.

Then toss in a real global conflict, as we have today, and bang…gas on the fire.

Now imagine monies being transported over that same global network as instantaeously as the video footage of some massacre being watched, while hitting the send funds button.

Go Fund Me Warfare…

We are playing at War. By proxy. We dial in for updates. We weigh in on Twitter. We are the updates. We think nothing of sharing grand strategies to those that should know better but don’t seem to.

It is almost a video game for all those not actually fighting.

No surprise, given the fact that those fighting the war are also using joystick-controlled drones to carry out the carnage and death. From the safety of an office, well behind enemy lines.

We are approaching numb, which may help explain the rampant domestic violence in our own country.

We form armies. We hang a Star of David or Ukrainian flag as our avatar.

Into battle we go. We Happy Few….

Looking for a fight, as is our nature, obviously. From the safety of our couch. But that does not stop us from considering ourselves courageous.

Heroes.

Wars are now and forever digital.

Instant decision making. Instant dissemination of news. Instant transfer of money. Instant direct two-way communications.

All around the world 24x7. A global infrastucture commandeered, like so many things in times of war, to support the struggle. On both sides.

But…..Peace is Possible.

If we ever, as a species, become ready, then that same infrastructure will be a weapon for Peace.

It could democratize the planet. It could allow single voices to be heard and peaceful groups to sue for redress. It could enable movement of monies to support good causes in faraway places. We will be able to provide much needed funds to people all over the world with an instant crypto transfer.

That is a good thing.

Web Three will allow us, as humans, to govern. To not only weigh in but actually vote and have our vote count. At a Global Scale.

A Digital United Nations.

Even Hamas, if faced with 99% global disapproval ratings, might rethink their approach.

It will do a whole lot more than we can even comprehend.

We are not ready right now, but when we are, technology is the answer. The double-sided coin of technology can be flipped to the good.

Web Three, if we allow it, could facilitate Peace.

“Imagine there’s no countries…it isn’t hard to do…..

Nothing to kill or die for…and no religion too.”

Peace!