Karl Marx is said to be the person who changed the world forever, a man so ahead of its time. is the book where his genius insights about the world (as he perceived it) are recorded. He predicted that ‘conflict’ gives rise to Capitalism would eventually result into and finally . Even though he failed to show how and when the transformation will take place, but he predicted it would definitely happen. Communist Manifesto capitalism. socialism communism As a reader, you may wonder how is Karl Marx even closely related to ! Well, he is. If he was alive today, he’d have seen blockchain as a perfect apotheosis of his theory. So without any further wait, let’s dive into it right away. blockchain technology The rationale behind invention of blockchain technology engenders from Marxism. 1. From Disruption to Revolution In a capitalistic milieu, there is concentration of power in few hands which leads to abuse of power. As a result of this abuse of power, working class has to suffer. That’s how new political, economic, social structure of a new society will evolve. What Marx said — BUT sooner or later working class would become fed up and rise to revolt. In today’s age aphorism of is gaining more and more awareness among people. Data as well as money is being concentrated into few hands leaving the people vulnerable to loss of privacy, increase in fraud and scandals. One scandal which shook the world was the financial crisis of 2008. This gave rise to a noble soul — Satoshi Nakamoto who came up with the groundbreaking, life-changing theory of . There have been so many banking scandals that people have started to find it very normal. People’s data is used without their consent, their finance may get mishandled without their knowledge. As utopian as it may sound, the world today seeks a more egalitarian society. What blockchain touts for — data is the new oil Bitcoin: a peer to peer system Banks should be as transparent to their customers as their customers are to them. 2. If control is divided, will it result in chaos? Anarchy? Gradually, capitalism will be overthrown by the more intelligent class (the working class) in order to gain control which had been taken away from them unrighteously. The final stage is Power will be decentralised from central authorities and will be distributed among regular people. Bureaucracy will come to an end. What Marx said — Communism. No disruption will be there after communism. The key feature of blockchain technology is the fact that the entire ledger on which transactions are recorded is in nature. Everyone can see it. It’s transparent. No single entity (say a bank) controls it. With advent of cryptocurrencies like bitcoin and ethereum, central banks will lose their control over fiat currencies thereby liberating people. What blockchain touts for — distributed For the first time in history, everyone can see ALL transactions a bank does. Gone are the days, banks could enjoy scandals. 3. End result is classless society where everyone is equal The revolt will ultimately lead to a classless society where everyone will be equal. There would be no possibility of abusing power. The gap between capitalist class and working class is only becoming wider and wider as we see it today. This gap would eventually disappear as the very fundamental idea of class would be eliminated because everyone will have equal stake in the society. What Marx said — Blockchain sees everyone as equal. In an era of cryptocurrency, concept of class doesn’t exist at all. The owners of cryptocurrencies are anonymous participants in blockchain network. Everyone is considered to be the same, yet everyone is different. Everyone has equal chance of mining. Everyone is offered equal opportunities. What blockchain touts — These were some striking parallels I could infer upon reading the communist manifesto. I’m sure there are more subtleties associated between Marxism and Nakamotoism. I’m sure revolt will take place. The storm is brewing and I can feel it. Even though Karl Marx did not explicitly use the term blockchain in his manifesto, yet he was so ahead of his time that he could at least conjecture that such a scenario is bound to take place in future. I’m totally blown away by this. I hope you are too!
