Can government and the economy be Hardforked like STEEM, to change behaviour?

In this article I want to explore how our current system is amplifying our greed by centralizing power, and encourages selfishness by the way we measure value. I want to answer the question of what that world could be like, if we were able to bring the measurement of value closer to our natural sense of value. Sort of like a Hardfork for our world, done by the people themselves collectively.

Humans are greedy, and that is why things are the way they are

I've talked about this idea in several different forms for a long time, but the most common reply from people is that "Things are they way they are because people are greedy.". To a degree they are correct, greed is a human trait, but it's only one of many. Cooperation is also one of those traits, and it actually might be the more dominant trait. Take survival in nature for example. Most animals can walk within hours of birth, humans are dependent on others for survival. Even once we have grown up we have no natural defence. Rather we work together for survival, learning to make tools, and work in groups to take down animals bigger and stronger than us.

Greed only became a factor once we had established the concept of wealth, before this all lived as tribes or communities. If one looks at a forest through the lens of money, the value is in cutting it down, digging up resources, farming the land, and exploiting every part of it. However if you look at that same forest through while thinking of the planet on a whole, it is priceless, and should be saved. So if we wish to be able to stop, or even reverse the damage to the planet, we need a value system that reflects the value we see in our hearts, not our pockets. Not to mention, how many kids have you heard told to change their dreams what they want to be when to grow up, because their dream wouldn't make money? The answer is too many.

Power Corrupts, And Absolute Power...

We know power corrupts, and absolute power, corrupts absolutely. Take the experiment using Monopoly for example. All they had to do was give one person an unfair advantage, and they began making choices of questionable morality. Yet all throughout history people have given up their power the authority, to provide them security. This of course was needed as when we all traveled by horse, as only a few people could really attend regular town meetings to vote on everything. Thus we created representative democracy.

If our computer has a vulnerability, we repair it. If we have vulnerabilities, we exploit them.

These days we have the internet, and now blockchain, so we could all attend town hall meetings virtually. So why do we need to continue to create positions of concentrated power, which are coveted by those that hold them, and targeted by lobbyists? It definitely reminds me of centralized computer systems, with weak security. The lobbyists are the hackers, the politicians are computers with weak passwords, and most of the passwords are just "give me money". If the data, or power in this case, is spread out to all computers in a network, the hackers would need to hack the majority of the network to get piece together the data. Thus if we all got the option to vote on anything, corporations would need to sway the majority of the population to get what they want on a single vote. Of course if we take away their control of the media first, that will become very difficult for them to do.

How I picture us going from A to Z

Now having an idea of how the future could be, is one thing, but without a plan to get there, it's just a dream. Unless of course society collapses, and I just so happen to be left alive to be the one to rebuild. However I would suspect that much of our infrastructure might be destroyed in that process, so we need to transition before that happens.

I propose we build this hive mind, direct democracy, blockchain system, but we run it as a simulation at first. This will allow us to calibrate it to counter our crowd mentality, detect vulnerabilities, and perfect how to handle the many many things there are to vote on. An added benefit will be that we will see that most people will agree on major issues, such as not wanting to go to war with each other. This would dispell the spell that has been put on us by the media that focuses only on sensational news, making us think the majority of people are dumb. They are rather just misinformed, and once informed would hae a much easier time making better choices.

Issues we cannot come to a majority decision on, will need to be discussed until the idea is hashed out, and we can move forward on the subject. Kind of like how when kids learn to work out their differences, rather than yelling for their parents to do it for them. Eventually as the system evolves, we'd see we no longer need politicians, because our system would be making better choices than the politicians. Politicians would either have to start following the will of the people, as the system would clearly show them. Or they would have to go against what the people want, which will be very visible to the world. Then anyone who is still living in denial, would see the truth, and join the direct democracy hive mind system.

infrastructure

Ironically the NSA spy system the US has created is a double edge sword, in a good way. We already are storing everyone's data, we're just doing it for the wrong reason. They are already building, or already have, a system to sort through all this data. How about we turn it into something that benefits us all, rather than a tool of our oppression!

What are the hurtles we are likely to face?

1. Those that hold the power currently. One of the biggest dangers is if the system is hackable, and is taken over by the elite. If they did this, they could make it appear that what they wanted, was the will of the people, and we'd be none the wiser. Thus it needs to be open source, and the majority of people need to learn code so they can confirm it's trust-ability.

2. Crowd mentality. I think most of us have seen Black Mirror, or even Orville's version of this. It could be very easy for us to end up in a modern witch hunt, because we got emotional on a subject. Thus we would need some form of fair court hearing to go over evidence, but is also decentralized, to prevent corrupt judges.

3. Control of information. If we cannot get access to both side of a story, it is very easy for our choices to be swayed. The media as it is would need to be dismantled, and rebuilt to guarantee open access to information, while also making it readable.

4. Money. A new money system would need to be created as well. as it is, it's a system that rewards those who think of self interests, and it works against cooperation. We need to design a value system where actions that benefit the majority, reward us on a individual bases. This why thinking of others, means you will be taken care of, so we no longer have to think selfishly to survive.

5. Those who do not want to participate. We cannot force people into this system, or it defeats the whole purpose. Rather everyone should be given a guaranteed income so that they can live their lives as they wish. If they volunteer to be a part of the system, then they can earn an improved standard of living, based on how they benefit the society.
   Becoming soft. I'd put this in with crowd mentality, but on the other end of the spectrum of a witch hunt. What if we make life too easy, or we trust the system too much, and we are not prepared to defence against a group of people who seek to take control. As we evolve, so will the troubles we face, so we must learn how to evolve our system with the change. Good thing is I believe the system would be a lot more flexible than our current, ridged government systems.

Benefits

1. Behaviour changes. Much like increasing the rewards for curation has made it left profitable to make shit posts, this change will make greed less profitable as well. Worrying that someone will take advantage of your generosity is one of the biggest reasons I see people refuse to help their neighbours. Now if you help your neighbours, you benefit yourself as well as your community.

2. Environmental. Regrowing a forest, and protecting the environment will make you rich. I cannot think of anything more valuable than protecting the planet that keeps us all alive.
   Purpose. How many people do you know who don't vote, because they think their vote doesn't matter? Well now your vote will matter, so it should give people purpose to vote, and feel meaningful.

3. Corruption proofing. Can attack a weak point, if there is no weak point. Lobbyists will become obsolete.
   Efficiency. If we are measuring the true value of things, waste becomes a big deal. Currently one third of food produced is lost, or wasted. This only makes sense in a profit driven system, because rather than giving the food to those that need it, we throw it out because they don't have money to buy it.
   Good by politicians! Not only will we no longer have to deal with these professional liars, we also won't have to pay for their life long pensions.

4. Control. Humans are now finally in control of their own futures. You want to explore the solar system? Propose your idea to the masses, and if they agree with your idea, you become a real life Captain Picard!

Conclusion

Although there would be many hurtles of us creating this self governance, decentralized new world. I cannot actually picture how it could be any worse than our current system. As "Tyler Durden" says in fight club, " Advertisers have us chasing jobs we hate, to buy things we don't need." We are trapped in a rat race that exploits the majority for the benefit of a very few.

I compare this to living under a parent who is abusive, so we vote ourselves into a foster home, with abusive foster parents. Sure it it keeps a roof over your head, but you'd probably do better moving out on your own. You know you're going to make mistakes, but it will be in your control to learn from these mistakes, and make better choices the next time. It is time for people as a whole to stop relying on our abusers! It is time to stop giving up our power of freewill, in exchange for a scapegoat, who we vote out in exchange for the next one. Time to break free of this cycle, and create our own path!

Sources
Monopoly experiment:

Tyler Durden's speech:

Picture source:
https://images.app.goo.gl/moE2hkc6SgCtCEoA7