If you’ve been around libertarians, or anarchists long, you’ve probably got at least one IT friend that has sound reasons why the blockchain may someday be able to replace many of the essential services of government, in a cheap, transparent model that allows machine processes to take the place of arbitrary human decision making in assigning resources and providing services.
I have several, one in fact, who lays out a pretty good case for an open-source, voluntary, blockchain welfare system, where resources go in one end, and needs in the other, and solutions are reached by matching the two through computer algorithms.
Crazy, right?
They talk about government being shrunk down to fit in a corner kiosk, where you go to get what you need taken care of, and the services being provided through an open source, competitive network, where price and quality are the products of the demands of the market, sounds awesome.
You’d think, if such a thing were going to happen, it would start in the USA, the home of “Free Enterprise” but seeing as how we are almost the only nation on earth that hasn’t tried fascism yet, it would appear we will be going through a dictatorial police state phase, before we are ready for anything that allows that much freedom to the individual again.
That sucks!
Meanwhile, on the other side of the globe, in the supposedly most totalitarian state on the planet, outside of North Korea, the Chinese are ready to give it a go. In a communist state, all services belong to government. All decisions for utilities, health, housing and many other things are filtered through a wide variety of government offices, with favors and bribes required at nearly every level to get anything moved to the next phase of approval. It can be a total nightmare, worse than dealing with a city planning office in the US, a process that will make you want to voluntary offer yourself to a Volcano God to change things.
But, here in China, efficiency is becoming a thing. As they get a taste of economic growth and what a tiny bit of capitalism can do, they are ready to create new solutions that don’t waste worker’s time, so they can be more productive! (I have no delusions about WHY the Chinese would do this, they are not being magnanimous) So, one city of nearly a million, is putting government services on the blockchain!
What??
You read it right, there is a Chinese district government, within Foshan City, called Chan Cheng, that will be experimenting with moving their central services hub, recently established in 2014, to the blockchain, for ease of access, user ID, and a reduction in repetitive multiple applications and approvals for common services. Yep, sounds pretty good.
Now, I’m sure the “transparency” of these transactions will only go one way, with the central planning authority keeping tabs on citizens to make sure they are not getting more than their fair share of anything, but it could easily be used to provide oversight and accountability from the citizens, over a government! What a concept!
Imagine, instead of running through miles of red tape, being shuffled from one office to another, (I was once sent to six different offices, just to find out what my fine was and pay it!) you could look up any transaction, get date and time, and an ID stamp of every person that touched your request and what the status was! No more bullshit lies about being too busy, or losing the paperwork, the blockchain, as Steemers are constantly reminded, is forever!
You’d be able to see who was holding things up, and who had actually done what they claimed and jumped on it and done their damn job for a change. What a deal! No more getting more than one report on a traffic incident, or property complaint. No more being told you didn’t file the right paperwork for a building permit, or a business license. You could actually see every step of the process.
An announcement issued by the Chan Cheng district provided some more details. A citizen would have a central identity, controlling their own information so that things could be updated, or amended.
They, in turn, could grant access to this identity to an agency they were requesting services from. Through a combination of private and public “keys” (sound familiar) citizens could instantly prove their identity to gain access to needed information, without having to physically wade through a sea of condescending, pretending to be idiots, public service employees! Wow, what a concept.
The platform creates an Intelligent Multifunctional Identity for each citizen. That would mean you could apply for water, heat and phone services, all at the same time, from one simple to manage account. In my dream world, each user from the government side would have a similar ID marker, with each person touching your requests being marked as to when they were there and what steps were taken.
While I’m sure it’s a long way from the Voluntary Utopia we could hope for, it is an interesting step in the right direction, in my opinion. By reducing the need for human interaction at every step, government could be free to focus on necessarily complex issues, like courts and policing, without needing huge human infrastructures to manage the mundane details.
In a system like this, no issue, such as the court being on one side of the wall, while the ticket issuing police department is literally on the other side of the wall, but they two computer systems being unable to communicate, could cause days long delays, confusion, frustration, additional cost and even criminal penalties based on faulty exchange of information. Sounds pretty damn nice to me.
Congratulations to China for beginning to embrace the future while the Western World, seems intent on taking several huge steps back into an authoritarian past. Bring on the blockchain. At least robot overlords would be consistent.
good post upvoted and followed keep on steeming
Thanks
Blockchain like any other technology can be used for good and bad things. It can make government more effective and efficient, though it is questionable whether it will necessarily increase civil liberties in a given nation.
I agree. But, it's ironic that this is happening first in China, historically one of the most repressive nations on earth for almost a century.
Hi, thanks for providing precious infos. But seriously - China a "communist state"? They maybe name their party communists, but fact is, capitalism is nowhere bigger and than in China!
Well, Thomas, no, it's not. The state controls every industry, and whether you want to think of capitalism in those terms or not, it doesn't mean selling things for a profit. Capitalism is set apart from every other type of business model by one factor, the sole control of the business by private ownership. In a state sponsored model, a new term needs to be applied. Are they growing businesses? Yes. Is it capitalism, no, it simply does not fit the definition and rather than bend this important word to fit the new usage, we need a new word.
china has a huge private sector. but anyway we may need a different definition :) Keep it up!
From what I know from friends that have spent years there recently, there is no true private sector in China. The marriage between industry and state is nearly seamless.
http://www.businessinsider.com/how-china-went-from-communist-to-capitalist-2015-10?IR=T/#following-the-ideals-of-karl-marx-and-vladimir-lenin-mao-tse-tung-created-and-became-the-chairman-of-the-peoples-republic-of-china-and-the-chinese-communist-party-in-1949-1
dictionary: Capitalism: an economic and political system in which a country's trade and industry are controlled by private owners for profit, rather than by the state.
I agree, big changes are afoot, but to label this capitalism is dangerous. We have too many decrying a failure of capitalism in the West, when protectionist policies have created a Frankestein system no longer subject to market forces, IE, the "too big to fail" policies in our banking and government partnerships.
but whatever - it is just a matter of definition...
China will see another way to make money in anything especially cryptocurrency. They may even not tax the cryptocurrency like they will in the USA. Somehow the world has to find away out of this tax system that we are in its ruining life for a lot of people except for Govt and accountants. I know people in both trades and they are laughing..
Great post! This makes sense in the sharing and access of data, especially with administrative type work. As long as we can keep data secure and private and allow the block chain to evolve in an ethical way, then there is great promise indeed.
Agreed, I think it's also essential, that the transparent parts (regarding transactions) be visible from both sides, not just them watching us.
Thanks for sharing amazing content. ;)
Cheers from @sologimi.
Thank you for the very kind comment, I appreciate the support.
I like your fosting, thank you
Thanks, appreciate the comment.
Greetings know and greetings greet you for me, from my son and here in steemit we can share experiences and interesting stories of course useful for all of us.
Yes, thank you for the kind comment.
that would put a kink in the west's tailpipe ;)
Maybe, maybe not. We seem okay with our march toward a police state for the most part. The sheeple need to wake up.
Interesting article. But China is by no means communist, although they have a plan economy. There is no free market anywhere anyway, capitalism has always been a cooperation between state and private capital. Free markets have never existed. How do you avoid monopoly? The only solution is to move beyond trade and the monetary system, and embrace a post-scarcity system.
Uh, yes, they are. Have been for a half century plus. They call themselves communist and they operate as a state run monopoly. Perhaps you need to educate yourself to the meaning of the word.
China has what they define as a socialist market economy, not very different from social democratic systems in Scandinavia, without the democracy. Its just capitalism with more state control than most countries.
Thanks for your highly insightful comments. Capitalism has only one defining feature, the means of production are privately owned. Seriously, you've made your point. We disagree on the meaning of capitalism. I'm sure you're smarter than me.
It's a sliding scale. There are no states without both private and public ownership. When the state owns big parts of the means of production, but allows private enterprise,and runs the whole country as a corporation, that is state capitalism.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/State_capitalism
Which, I am arguing is a poor bastardization of the word "captialism" which does not allow for state owned production. It creates a bad understanding of the concept that allows people to argue a failed "free market" in the US, which hasn't even approached a free market in decades.
I agree with your last sentence,except I have no wish to see a free market, even if it would have worked. Now it's time for bed. Peace out.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Communist_Party_of_China
Here is a quote from the Wikipedia article you linked:
The planned economy established under Mao Zedong was replaced by the socialist market economy, the current economic system, on the basis that "Practice is the Sole Criterion for the Truth" (i.e. the planned economy was deemed inefficient).
Talk to people who've lived there. It is a state controlled economy, no matter what they say.
I'm not defending China, or state capitalism. I'm a communalist,not a communist or socialist.And I have talked to plenty of Chinese people. But let's leave it here, I have no interest in a quarrel.
Really? Then why keep coming back?
communism
ˈkɒmjʊnɪz(ə)m/Submit
noun
a theory or system of social organization in which all property is owned by the community and each person contributes and receives according to their ability and needs.
synonyms: collectivism, state ownership, socialism, radical socialism; More
Okay, thanks for the comments.
They are always a step in front of all of us! Great reading!
thanks. this hasn't always been true, as Western govts move toward authoritarian rule, they deincentivize innovation within their countries, leaving the door open for the Chinese.
Very interesting :)
The triumph of persuasion over force is the sign of a civilized society. #taxationistheft
I love how RT does reporting... Here is a video of Assange.