We’re headed towards an unprecedented recession. The root cause analysis shows that the fragility and volatility of our value systems is caused by the disconnected worlds of paper and real (or: physical) value. The opaque trading floors of complex derivatives ,invite nearly unlimited risk taking and frankly, rampant fraud to our economy. An invite that has been picked up with gusto. As no one can tell what will crash first: the stock exchange, fiat money, real estate or other bubbles: the real hedge is investments in owned, physical assets like our natural resources, factories, machines and people. And ultimately in our most personal ‘bearer assets’ – our health, families and autonomy.
Voor iedereen die zich nog niet in een donkere grot heeft teruggetrokken, is het geen verrassing dat er economisch zwaar weer op komst is. Weinigen beseffen echter hoe ernstig de recessie zal worden en vooral – hoe beperkt we ons erop kunnen voorbereiden. Wat is er aan …
Is deze technologie de basis van een nieuw utopisch vooruitzicht van de vrije mens? Of is het juist een middel van ultieme controle die ongemerkt al onze vrijheden beperkt tot datgene wat goed is voor het steeds nauwer geformuleerde ‘algemeen belang’?
Global decentralised standards for digital personal- and product identity are needed for a world of 10 billion. Applications built on these standards will have to cater to local need for relevance, immediacy and personal freedom, as well as the central needs for coordination and efficiency. But we need to adopt these with both a sense of urgency and inevitability, as well as a sense of human proportionality and a firm dedication to personal freedom and layers of protection against tyrannical government. Or we stand to lose both to the ever present threat of the dictatorship of best intentions.
Well before the pandemic, there was a cultural war happening over values. Contrary to what many believe, these values are not left wing versus right wing ideologies, or progressivism versus conservatism. The struggle is only framed in this way due to coincidental polarization in politics and wealth …




