Lasse Birk Olesen

When we have a social agenda we still behave like those old scientists – we agitate instead of innovate. But a lot, if not most, of the social progress seen in history came not from new policies but from new technologies.

Scientists argued for 150 years that politicians needed to stop population growth, but it wasn’t new laws that stopped its acceleration. No, it happened as the pill became widely available.

When we have a social agenda we still behave like those old scientists – we agitate instead of innovate. But a lot, if not most, of the social progress seen in history came not from new policies but from new technologies.

Technologies make politics obsolete

And technological progress is accelerating. This means we get more and more opportunities to apply new technology to social causes.

For instance, technology now allows people to live weeks on end on cruise ships. Let’s use that technology to create new countries at sea! This will spur innovation in government systems, and the best will attract more citizens and grow, serving as inspiration for the rest of the world.

Or let’s free our economic activity from the government/banking-complex by using the new decentralized internet currency Bitcoin! No more do we have to trust huge monopolies with our valuable ressources, which could prevent another economic crisis. And we can give financial aid to anyone anywhere in the world no matter the political pressure they suffer from.

And 3D printers are already used to create prototypes, custom parts, and even organs. Soon everyone will be able to print out any product imaginable right in their own home. Karl Marx could not have dreamt of a better democratization of the means of production, and yet it will be brought about by everything he fought against: Companies acting in their own self interest with strong profit motives – not revolutionary politics.

So let’s rethink devoting ressources to the zero-sum game of politics. Instead, create the world you want by enabling technologies that make politics obsolete!

It was thanks to Guthenbergs printing press that the ideas of the Renaissance could spread across Europe faster than the Catholic Church could stop it.

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