The elephant in the room is banking/financial systems. So, while reading this SA is thrilling, as always, the reality is that decentralized, self-organized actors still need to get a salary. For example, all of the CDC scientists, doctors who were fired over the last few years can self-organize all they want, and propose newer, better, more robust solutions, but they can’t do so on a 40-hours/week basis if they have no income. We all have to buy groceries.

One might maybe point to some kind of P2P financial networks, (blockchain-based or not) but these seem hopelessly immature for now. Never mind that, for the CDC to be effective, there has to be power behind their recommendations: they actually have to be deployed. There are sticky questions: can we successfully communally self-quarantine, or does the inevitable difference of opinion translate into inevitable super-spreaders? At any rate, how, exactly do supply chains integrate with decentralized financial networks? Without supply chains, we have no facemasks, no intubation machines, no PCR machines, and no toilet paper).

Last but not least: careful what you wish for(!) Imagine a world where we’ve invented all the infrastructure to provide robust, decentralized organization, decision making, supply-china control, etc. And now imagine it’s colonized by ISIS. Or the American Taliban. Or some other reprehensible groups and/or meme-complexes. Cancerous, you might say, but cancers metastasize, and can be hard to exterminate. As we invent newer, better robust systems, we must cast an eye towards creating robust traps.