The top 1% (~80M people) now owns the same amount of capital as the remaining 99% (~7.9B people).
1/ Crypto’s biggest potential impact to society is in sustainably distributing wealth, capital & ownership to a larger % of the world.
This is also its biggest risk: crypto can exacerbate inequality if it is not made accessible to everyone—especially those who need it most.
The top 1% (~80M people) now owns the same amount of capital as the remaining 99% (~7.9B people).
1. Revolution: Violence or war that leads to wealth redistribution to those who fought & won
2. Intervention: Political change that raises taxes on the rich & increases benefits to the poor
Is another option even possible when the system, power, rules, governance, capital, tech, etc. are centralized among the 1%, as they have been for millennia?
Historically, the answer is no.
Tech is accelerating inequality.
Assembly line workers. Retailer workers. Tellers. Etc.
A. Even more capital being invested in technology, in turn creating even more asymmetric outcomes and inequality.
B. Governments seeking to breakup big tech (yet knowing they are central to their economies).
- More big tech (and breakups)
- More automation
- More inequality
- More division
- More unrest
- Revolutions
- Government interventions
- Higher taxes
- UBI
- etc.
But there must be a better way, right? Hopefully?
Yes it can free the world from fiat.
Yes it can decentralize compute and finance.
Crypto can turn today’s financial and technology companies into platforms that are community-owned. Digital collectives of creators, contributors, and users that share their value.
More from Crypto
Michael Pettis @michaelxpettis argues that it is not always obvious who (China or the U.S.) adjusts best to "turbulent changes."
Bitcoin answers that question.
Thread:
World economies currently suffer four major redistribution challenges:
The most important is increasing government stealth use of the monetary system to confiscate assets from productive actors.
/2
That process is exacerbated by "Cantillon Effect" transfers to interest groups close to government ("the entitled class," public sector workers, the medical industrial complex, academia, etc....), which is destroying much of that wealth /3
The shadow nature (see Keynes) of government inflation makes the process unidentifiable, un-addressable and undemocratic.
The biggest victims (America's poorly educated young) are unequipped to counter generational confiscation tactics of today's wily senior beneficiaries. /4
Government control of the numéraire in key economic statistics (GDP, inflation, etc...) makes it impossible for economic actors to measure progress and liabilities. /5
Bitcoin answers that question.
Thread:
1/11
— Michael Pettis (@michaelxpettis) January 11, 2021
An article worth thinking about: \u201cAs changes to the world structure accelerate, China\u2019s rule is in sharp contrast with the turmoil in the West,\u201d says Beijing.
I agree, but I draw a different conclusion. The world is certainly currently going...https://t.co/ugha7ygqqx
World economies currently suffer four major redistribution challenges:
The most important is increasing government stealth use of the monetary system to confiscate assets from productive actors.
/2
That process is exacerbated by "Cantillon Effect" transfers to interest groups close to government ("the entitled class," public sector workers, the medical industrial complex, academia, etc....), which is destroying much of that wealth /3
The shadow nature (see Keynes) of government inflation makes the process unidentifiable, un-addressable and undemocratic.
The biggest victims (America's poorly educated young) are unequipped to counter generational confiscation tactics of today's wily senior beneficiaries. /4
Government control of the numéraire in key economic statistics (GDP, inflation, etc...) makes it impossible for economic actors to measure progress and liabilities. /5
Back with another #FreeLoveFriday. Last time, we covered how Mastercoin/@Omni_Layer pioneered digital asset issuance on blockchains. Today, let’s discuss @Chainlink and the vital role it plays in connecting blockchains to the real world.
I have said repeatedly that digital asset issuance is the killer application for blockchains. The next frontier is bringing real world assets to networks like @AvalancheAVAX, but we often face a significant problem:
Namely, how do you get data from the real world onto blockchains and into applications running on them? More critically, how do you achieve that securely and transparently in real-time? Smart contracts are tamper-proof, but they're only as reliable as their input data.
Enter ChainLink in September 2017, with a whitepaper outlining a vision for a decentralized network of “oracles,” entities that inject facts from the external world into blockchains in a suitable format for smart contracts.
Until ChainLink, oracles were trusted and centralized. This is a huge problem for high-value assets and smart contracts. High value projects, such as @CelsiusNetwork, @synthetix_io, @Aaveaave and others depend critically on oracle data.
Back with another #FreeLoveFriday. My first thread focused on what I love about Bitcoin, and features we borrowed for @AvalancheAVAX. Today, let's focus on @Omni_Layer, or as OGs knew it, Mastercoin https://t.co/fXFgmaeUEz
— Emin G\xfcn Sirer (@el33th4xor) January 15, 2021
I have said repeatedly that digital asset issuance is the killer application for blockchains. The next frontier is bringing real world assets to networks like @AvalancheAVAX, but we often face a significant problem:
Namely, how do you get data from the real world onto blockchains and into applications running on them? More critically, how do you achieve that securely and transparently in real-time? Smart contracts are tamper-proof, but they're only as reliable as their input data.
Enter ChainLink in September 2017, with a whitepaper outlining a vision for a decentralized network of “oracles,” entities that inject facts from the external world into blockchains in a suitable format for smart contracts.
Until ChainLink, oracles were trusted and centralized. This is a huge problem for high-value assets and smart contracts. High value projects, such as @CelsiusNetwork, @synthetix_io, @Aaveaave and others depend critically on oracle data.
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A brief analysis and comparison of the CSS for Twitter's PWA vs Twitter's legacy desktop website. The difference is dramatic and I'll touch on some reasons why.
Legacy site *downloads* ~630 KB CSS per theme and writing direction.
6,769 rules
9,252 selectors
16.7k declarations
3,370 unique declarations
44 media queries
36 unique colors
50 unique background colors
46 unique font sizes
39 unique z-indices
https://t.co/qyl4Bt1i5x
PWA *incrementally generates* ~30 KB CSS that handles all themes and writing directions.
735 rules
740 selectors
757 declarations
730 unique declarations
0 media queries
11 unique colors
32 unique background colors
15 unique font sizes
7 unique z-indices
https://t.co/w7oNG5KUkJ
The legacy site's CSS is what happens when hundreds of people directly write CSS over many years. Specificity wars, redundancy, a house of cards that can't be fixed. The result is extremely inefficient and error-prone styling that punishes users and developers.
The PWA's CSS is generated on-demand by a JS framework that manages styles and outputs "atomic CSS". The framework can enforce strict constraints and perform optimisations, which is why the CSS is so much smaller and safer. Style conflicts and unbounded CSS growth are avoided.
Legacy site *downloads* ~630 KB CSS per theme and writing direction.
6,769 rules
9,252 selectors
16.7k declarations
3,370 unique declarations
44 media queries
36 unique colors
50 unique background colors
46 unique font sizes
39 unique z-indices
https://t.co/qyl4Bt1i5x
PWA *incrementally generates* ~30 KB CSS that handles all themes and writing directions.
735 rules
740 selectors
757 declarations
730 unique declarations
0 media queries
11 unique colors
32 unique background colors
15 unique font sizes
7 unique z-indices
https://t.co/w7oNG5KUkJ
The legacy site's CSS is what happens when hundreds of people directly write CSS over many years. Specificity wars, redundancy, a house of cards that can't be fixed. The result is extremely inefficient and error-prone styling that punishes users and developers.
The PWA's CSS is generated on-demand by a JS framework that manages styles and outputs "atomic CSS". The framework can enforce strict constraints and perform optimisations, which is why the CSS is so much smaller and safer. Style conflicts and unbounded CSS growth are avoided.
