With the conviction of Alexey Pertsev, the Tornado Cash developer, in Netherlands the industry now faces the toughest battle yet. (citing Tornado Cash information from https://cointelegraph.com/news/tornado-cash-founder-prison-defi-eu-struggles-finance-redefined). This conviction and subsequent prison sentence place all developers at the forefront, setting us up as martyrs in the quest for decentralization of information and user data ownership. Make no mistake, this is a direct assault on our liberties and creative expression as software developers who solve real world problems for users. The fact that this hasn’t happened earlier is surprising to me. There has been a global push from many government officials to tighten their grip on the flow of information and power and there is no better example of this than in decentralized finance . This is dangerous territory, and I knew this showdown was coming sooner or later, for all of us.
Accusations will arise, claiming developers create systems that allow for the facilitation of illicit activities, such as money laundering, and the spread of hate speech. These accusations are just smoke screens. The powers that be do not want a decentralized web3 structure challenging the status quo. They despise censorship resistance & the decentralization of finance and information. Now that software development is more accessible than ever before and the rise of AI tools like ChatGPT and the various LLMs, there is a formidable opponent to global servitude, which governments & existing corporations fear. They would prefer if we were all compliant, content with our smartphones, reality TV, and mindless entertainment. Similar to the famed Roman Circus, give the people entertainment & they cannot possibly have the where-with-all to address well laid out plans.
Governments, many in the investment banking system & the tech giants are colluding in a disturbing attempt to silence the people. Surveillance capitalism has birthed a monster. The United States and China, in particular, have engaged in a corrupting dance, each influencing the other in a grotesque power play. It’s unimaginable to most that these entities would concoct such an audacious plan, but when you step back and consider, it couldn’t be any other way.
Yet, the biggest issue we face is that no one sits back and thinks about this. People are too distracted or too busy working, dealing with the faced paced world & unprecedented flow of information. Those who do ponder this and speak up are systematically silenced, picked off one by one. Take, the accusations against Russel Brand for instance, or the very obvious WikiLeaks example ofJulian Assange - either discredited and attempted humiliation, or in the case of Assange, far worse. There are many others. This will not stop. We have a generation of misinformed and uneducated youth more concerned with their identities than their freedoms. This was designed from up high. Today the youth cheer for censorship opposition, under the guise of compassion. My generation aimed to do things differently than our parents, promoting ideas like no losers and equal outcomes through trickery and fancy wordplay. When citizens are ill informed, and have not developed a strong ability to think critically they are less likely to challenge their rulers. This is not about left or right; we are beyond that as a society. And the grip is tightening, fast.
How much time do we have to act? It's difficult to determine that, but I pose a for instance. Artificial Intelligence has developed so quickly, for public use - look how far that has come. Where there is good there is always the chance of the bad, so this technology is also being used against us, the same way it is being used for our benefit. Without a significant change in how we interact, we will lose the ability to communicate ideas and organize effectively. This will require a concentrated effort from all sides—left, right, and center. We must recognize the alarming signs. When the US government became the largest employer, it was a clear indicator that our liberties as citizens were being eroded, yet it went unnoticed. People looked at the proposed good the government claimed. When Covid appeared and we had to shut down all of our businesses, and literally the world stopped was another key indicator but the fear of appearing out of touch & public humiliation silenced dissent, a major red flag.
When the citizens silence themselves, that comes from deep programming of thought - that could only have come about through those that gather data about people, and those who disseminate and break down that data to build profiles on the citizens. Then it is simply a matter of triggering actions. And while this all seems so complicated when taken as a whole, it's basically just multiple conditional statements acting in accordance with each other.
Part of the challenge lies in the foundation upon which our children and many young people have learned to approach problem-solving and their understanding of the end goal. Privacy and freedom of speech seem to hold less importance than they once did - at least as far back as I can recall. The convenience of applications and programs that utilize predictive analytics with real-time user data has contributed to our current situation.
We often fail to recognize the sacrifices we make when we allow our shopping data to be tracked, our geo-locations to be shared at all times, and social media platforms to remove 'harmful content' (determined by the individual platform) - all part of the data dilemma. With search engines like Google tweaking their algorithms, the best-optimized pages appear to represent the truth, simply because it's easier to ask Google a question than to conduct our own genuine research. We have become intolerant of each other, and all trusting in companies like Google, Meta and Microsoft.
Now, they are locking up developers for creating applications that some user used in an illegal manner, not intended by the developer. This is madness. Understanding the law's significance, the courts have just set a precedent, justifying future actions against similar developers & technologies. How far are we from a world where the only sanctioned technologies, businesses, products or services will soon be state-approved. The idea of America was borne our of smaller government, yet it seems like the government is only growing, expanding and becoming more intrusive. We have more rules in New York State than almost anywhere else in the entire world-- how "free" does that sound? This is where we are headed. As an American, I understand the global impact of our actions. When America speaks, the world listens. The stakes have never been higher, especially now that socialism and communist ideas seem to be very 'chic' .
As software developers in the web3/blockchain space, we must resist this encroachment on our freedoms digitally and IRL. The web is complicated to follow at times, that's the point, overcomplicate the issue so most won't get involved. That does not apply to us, not developers. We are on the cusp of change, always. We are the creators, the innovators. But it seems like those that have succeeded in tech already, the big tech giants and conglomerates intend to keep their power, their pull and their status through colluding with governmental agencies in official and unofficial capacities to legislate away competition, silence opposing thought through censorship resulting from the collection of our data.
An important election is approaching, with outspoken individuals on both sides. The media, seemingly fully complicit with the current powers, spreads half-truths and misrepresents events and words in cooperation with certain digital platforms. With so many examples of tech companies and government agencies working together I will only mention the biggie: old Twitter and current Meta, censoring questions, concerns and thoughts in regard to Covid, at the direction of the government. Whoever hides the most information, is up to something. An unholy alliance has been formed, most likely promising crumbs of power in exchange for complicity in enslaving the rest of us. But we are more. And we are resilient.
We rely on technology for everything—sharing information, conducting business, and exchanging value and ideas. They are in control all of it. This is why they are locking up developers who dare to challenge their setup with the idea of decentralization. I have devoted my life to liberating minds through data decentralization. Data may seem trivial, but it is the crux of our privacy & of our liberty. As developers and engineers, we cannot allow them to continually pass laws that incrementally grant them more and more power. We are being plundered and bamboozled. It has reached a point where their desire to censor opposing views is no longer hidden. The traditional education system has been infiltrated, tainting the foundation of knowledge, which pepople pull from to build their decision making process, ensuring that conclusions are all but predetermined by the surveillance state. This is a serious issue.
We must wake up, organize, and act decisively. Educating others & standing on our principles is the first step. The most important step. Informed users make informed decisions. So, we must inform. Our digital sovereignty, actual liberties and the future of decentralized technology depend on it. The battle for freedom is far from over, and we must stand united to reclaim our rights in this digital age.
