The Next Revolution Will Begin with a DAO.
The following was a finding, by New York Times deputy Opinion editor Patrick Healy, from a pair of focus groups with voters:
“[W]hat unites the left and the right is a mistrust in people at the top.”
Americans from all walks of life and from all points on the political spectrum, understand and agree on certain fundamental truths. And one of those fundamental truths is that “those at the top”, have lost the trust of the American people.
A 2021 Gallup poll placed public confidence in the criminal justice system at only 21%; confidence in big business at only 18%; confidence in television news at only 16%; and confidence in Congress at only 12%.
Mistrusting “those at the top” is a natural consequence of rising economic inequality, a rigged economy that favors the corporate elite, a corrupt political system that caters to special interests, a system of justice in which the rule of law is applied unequally, and a media that traffics in false information, and promotes false narratives embraced by their corporate owners.
Shared truths are what Americans need to build upon to leverage their combined power and influence through unity, community, and collaboration.
Understanding and building upon our shared truths are what it will take for Americans to re-engage, foster increased collaboration, and usher in a more just, abundant, and sustainable society.
And the best way to organize around, and act upon, our shared truths is through a DAO.
What is a DAO? A decentralized autonomous organization (DAO), is an organization represented by rules encoded as a computer program that is transparent, controlled by the organization’s members, and not influenced by a central government.
Ali Yahya, a crypto general partner at the Andreessen Horowitz venture capital firm known as a16z, described it this way: A DAO “enables online communities to form, pool resources, and coordinate towards common goals — all run trustlessly via code.”
That code runs on blockchain technology and enforces the rules that govern the group.
One could, given the historical corruption, underperformance, and incompetence of our elected representatives (some of those at the “top”), argue for an end to representative government as we know it. A strong case could be made that the best way to run the entire country is now through a DAO. But I’ll leave that for another day.
Let’s start with what is urgently required and readily available. Systemic reform is urgently required. And DAO technology is readily available.
The vast majority of Americans understand and agree on the following fundamental truths.
- The system is broken.
- Systemic change is required; and
- Those who control the current system have no incentive to create systemic change.
Most of us hold these truths to be self-evident. And these shared truths can unite us.
Americans recognize that the system is broken, and we understand that systemic change is required. What we don’t know — is how we get there.
How do we cause those in power to create the change that most Americans want — absent a revolution?
How do we cause the political elite to create the change that the American public now recognizes is necessary and appropriate, when creating that change will ultimately reduce their power, influence, and control?
How is such change even possible when our political elite are surrounded by, and dependent upon, the monied elite who now wield an intolerable level of political influence?
The only realistic option is increased pressure — a level of pressure that exceeds that of the monied elite and corporate special interests, and causes our elected representatives to heed the public’s demands out of a new self-interest — self-preservation.
Absent dramatically increased engagement and pressure from the public, those in power will not create systemic change to a system that they built or inherited, and now operate and control. They will not voluntarily relinquish power and control.
The only viable answer is — that we the people must take back that power and control. And we must do that peacefully and methodically.
We shouldn’t do it by rioting, destroying property, burning our own cities, or attacking our Capitol. This is our country. We shouldn’t destroy it in the name of progress. That’s not progress. That’s an emotional venting, that evidences hopelessness and despair, along with a lack of creativity, leadership, and vision. It’s a thoughtless approach that harms all of us.
And we shouldn’t allow others to destroy our country, whether it be those at the top or those at the bottom, while we remain silent and disengaged.
We can and we must be the change we want to see. And we should create that change intelligently and resourcefully.
We have the power. And that power is in our numbers. United we are an irresistible force. Divided we are subject to all manner of abuse, neglect, and even enslavement. Never forget that.
We have no choice but to act. Inaction is a luxury we can no longer afford. We can’t afford to leave our fellow citizens, many of which are growing increasingly hopeless, frustrated, and impatient, with no alternative but to resort to more destructive and historical mechanisms of revolutionary change.
Change doesn’t have to come “through the barrel of a gun”, as Mao Tse Tung once famously said. Today, it can come from a keystroke.
We can’t remain paralyzed by indecision and inaction. We must act now — before more radical elements, led by less thoughtful or more devious leadership, resort to more forceful and destructive tactics.
Instead of allowing our current state of division and dysfunction to reach a boiling point (as it did in the George Floyd riots and on January 6), we need to create the change we want to see, by harnessing technology to create that change.
And that process can and should begin with a DAO.
We the people should form a DAO that agrees on certain fundamental principles, reduce those agreed-upon principles to a list of actionable demands, and then present those demands to our elected representatives.
Nothing will change unless we unite and take action to demand change.
The traditional, legally proscribed, mechanism for creating such change is to exercise our rights under the First Amendment to peacefully assemble and protest. A massive march on Washington, DC. would be an example of how that mechanism might be employed.
To avoid the obvious risks associated with large physical gatherings, I’m proposing that we first organize, agree upon, and present our demands in writing. That writing can be in the form of a DAO, representing the consensus views of millions of Americans.
Believe it or not, that should be enough to create positive and historically significant change. Nothing is more frightening to the political elite than a highly organized, united, and motivated public. They so rarely see it.
Why is that? Because they do everything they can, with an assist from the media elite, to keep us hopelessly divided. Just seeing the Left and the Right come together, en mass, will act as an unprecedented “wake-up call” for “those at the top”. And if they’re smart — they’ll change.
They’ll have no choice but to agree to the DAO’s reasonable demands — demands that will be supported by an overwhelming majority of the public. What the DAO would be demanding would not be unreasonable. A denial of these demands (demands supported by a majority of the American public), would be unreasonable.
And if virtual demands don’t create the required change, if they're not “smart”, then the participants in a unified DAO can agree to physically march on Washington. Again peacefully.
If the DOA’s demands are not met by a specified date, members could agree to organize and march on Washington D.C. on another specified date. A “Unity March” that would reassert the DAO’s demands for immediate and systemic change.
A Unity March, organized by those who are part of the DAO community, would send an even more powerful and urgent message. And the political elite will surely “fold”.
A people’s protest, where millions on the Left and millions on the Right come together peacefully to take back their government — by demanding specific, consensus-driven, change, would act as an unprecedented and powerful catalyst for change. Much of the essential change we require.
And it could be done peacefully — by focusing exclusively on the issues that unite us — leaving for another day the issues that divide us.
To make this work, the DAO would need to focus exclusively on actionable items that an overwhelming majority of Americans agree upon. No issues that lack a majority of public support, or act as a lightning rod for division, would make the list.
Paying homage to the original 13 states, Unity DAO should focus exclusively on thirteen (13) core issues that have overwhelming public support. Members would vote to determine those issues, and the precise language of their demands. All decisions would be consensus-based, and each item would require a supermajority to ensure the broadest possible support.
A list of demands might include the below 13 items, or anything else members can agree upon as a group.
Issues to consider might include, but would not be limited to:
A New Definition of Equality
Campaign Finance Reform
Lobbying Transparency
Term Limits
An End to Gerrymandering
Universal Healthcare
Secure Elections
Criminal Justice Reform
Free Education
Vocational Training
Universal Background Checks
Immigration Reform
Universal Basic Income
It’s possible to build an overwhelming majority consensus around all of these issues.
Imagine it. Millions of Americans — a cross-section of the American public. A group that is as diverse as America itself. A group that includes the Left, the Right, the Center, and everything in between. Millions of Americans united around thirteen (13) core principles, and a very specific set of demands. Demands that Congress can immediately act upon.
Issues can be put forward and voted upon, not only by all DAO participants but later by all members of Congress.
This is all it would take. No riots. No bloodshed. No destruction of property. No storming the Capitol.
Just a show of unprecedented commitment and resolve. An unwavering commitment to change. And an unrelenting resolve to demand change, and not take “no” for an answer.
If you have a desire for positive and peaceful change, systemic change that can unite the country, then you need to be part of the solution. You need to be the change you want to see — by creating or participating in a movement that creates that change.
