We should not delude ourselves. One of the results of the coronavirus will be a major power grab by major corporations and governments.
With this, freedom will be reduced even further.
Whatever one believes about this pandemic, there is little doubt politicians are not going to let this opportunity go to waste. Anytime there is fear in the air, the powers that are will lovingly come in and help settle things down. Give them more power and they will protect all of us; that is the rhetoric.
We already see some calls for a "temporary" world government This came from the former leader of the U.K., Gordon Brown.
Of course, we are all awaiting a breakthrough in a vaccination. This will protect humanity. While that might be the case, it will really make Big Pharma more powerful. Is that something that is good for humanity?
The truth is we have no idea because the regulation is mostly a farce. Only after lots of people die do they have to pull things from the market. But that should come as no surprise. Take a wild guess who spends the most in lobbying dollars in the United States.
Amazing, it is not even close.
More people are finally latching onto the fact that the media is completely over the top. They have a big hand in the events that are taking place. A number of independent journalists already disproved many of the reports from the media. One investigation revealed that a report about NYC hospitals overflowing was actually from Italy. The NYC hospitals had few people in them.
Millions of small businesses are already wiped out. They closed their doors due to the virus and will never reopen. The $350 billion pledged by Congress for small businesses is a drop in the bucket. This only makes the larger players even more powerful as the smaller ones are removed from the equation. Does anyone believe that Amazon, Wal-Mart, and Costco are not picking up market share right now?
The Federal Reserve, along with most other central banks, are easing like crazy. This is causing a massive expansion of the money supply. Where do you think the bulk of this is going? Right into the hands of the bankers. What are they doing with it? Placing it in their excess reserve fund which the Fed pays them interest.
You see, free money is only a new concept to the average person. To the banking industry, this is a decades old practice.
Fortunately, there are a lot of movements that are going to counterbalance this. The shift to decentralization is humanity's answers to this major power grab. As I surf the world of technology, I see many projects that offer a great deal of hope.
Obviously, the entire cryptocurrency world is based upon the tenets of decentralization and open source. Bitcoin was developed as a result of economic collapse due to the actions of the banking and financial world. Hundreds of millions of people were adversely affected while those who were the cause suffered few consequences.
The expansion and development of cryptocurrency keeps going. This is offering humanity an opportunity to move away from the scarcity model we are presenting suffering under.
There are other avenues that are being pursued.
With the coronavirus, we see a decentralized effort intent on combating it.
Covidathon is a decentralized project that seeks to use blockchain, AI, and crowdsourcing to outpace the virus. It is an open source project that brings together Singularitynet, Ocean Protocol, and Nth Opinion to form the basis. The goal is to unlock the data that can be researched and provide a mechanism to get that to doctors and nurses around the world.
The idea is that an open-source, decentralized project can move faster than the virus by overcoming all the red tape and other drawbacks from centralization.
https://blog.singularitynet.io/new-ai-technology-partnership-to-fight-covid-19-37c356d2ea0c
Another area we see a great deal of progress is in the area of ventilators. There is a shortage of them globally. Not only have companies such as Tesla and Ford making ventilators, but individuals are printing them on 3D printers.
We also see a variety of other safety products that are in need being printed. There is an Australian company that usually manufacturers prosthetic hands. They do this using 3D printer. Now, the company is using 16 of its printers to manufacture face shields for medical workers.
Here is a video of an Italian student printing much needed valves for ventilators.
These are just a few examples of what is taking place out there. Open source and decentralization are not just buzzwords. They are a necessary component of our world going forward. Since we are become more technology based, the tools in the hands of people are growing. While this has resulted in the power of Facebook, Google, and Amazon, the developers have the opportunity to create decentralized projects across a wide spectrum.
Tyranny depends upon a centralized, top-down approach. A decentralized, gross-roots based system cannot be controlled. Thus, they are going to do all they can to use this situation to increase their power. This is something we must rally against.
The solution is all around us. We see it sprouting up everywhere we look. It is up to us to keep building upon it.
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Where is the arms industry in your list of lobbiests? Hiring ex soliders and generals puts them up there surely.
That's a good point I think their influence is probably a lot greater but more hidden perhaps
The link under the image shows the entire list.
They are not listed on there.
The tipping point I do feel has arrived, people are using 3D Printers here in South Africa to build masks, scientists are delving deeper into what this virus does, who will pay them after the fact?
Big business always tends to become richer during times like this, this time, it is time for fresh new thinking.... Well said!
Cryptoeconomics is one of the solutions to that.
It is time to push this to the forefront.
Crypto economics could assist in greatly reducing trade over borders costs. Ease of use is there, sadly too many are sceptical/scared to venture into something new, brain washed by old traditional ways.
Great write up and I can't agree more, our society has a chance to better it self for all humans and the environment and things like digital decentralization make it possible, at this point it's a matter of survival for our species this virus is just one of many things that can destroy our fragile society and for this day and age with our technological advancements it's not right for us to be so vulnerable. More needs to be done bringing this to light like this post is a start but so much more work to do.
The world will never be the same.
Great piece of writing
Leets face it. 1st world nations are too much dependent on China. And they think calling it china virus or not importing from china is racism. Meanwhile china is celebrating their freedom off this virus without helping the world. It shows you, the problem is not with mega corporations and people, but the china and the love for socialism and communism.
Thanks for your post. Just yesterday they asked me what would be the worst after the quarantine and I answered the fear that may remain and many people are already seeing several who say that governments are necessary to save us from these
crisis. the hardest thing will be to change that vision
Thank you for helping make more people aware of what's going on!