New Chance for Liberty in the 21st Century

While there have been many attempts throughout the ages to change the face of society, some successful, others not, there seems to exist a logical progression of mankind as a whole. We constantly go through cycles of governmental behavior. These repeatedly rotate between more liberal and conservative ideals. However, the extremes of these phases seem to alter and there is a justifiable reason behind this. Spread throughout these phases are various technological advances which we as a whole have achieved. Each advance brings with it advantages to whichever phase of governance the time period finds itself, allowing for that phase to withstand until the next revolutionary advancement which will bring upon a new phase of governance.

As time progresses, and with the universal truth that technology grows at an exponential rate, these phases between governance become smaller and smaller. With the advent of the internet and its ability to instantaneously connect people with one another across the globe we have bared witness to communities of people physically separated by thousands of miles but able to socialize and convey ideas as if they stood in the same room. The ability to do nearly anything via the internet has shrunken the global stage to be nearly non-existent.

With all this in mind it is only but a matter of time until we see government disabled by the masses. The socialist movements of the late 1800s and twentieth century failed in large part due to the inability of the average person to communicate and express their ideas, limiting the involvement and effect of social movements. Now there is an unprecedented ability for various groups to unite across international boundaries and ensure their members can quickly and efficiently correspond.

The internet is the first haven where standard government laws can be ignored with little to no risk of prosecution. Copyright and usage laws are different in nearly every country, but the language of binary fails to comprehend these terms. Both national and international agencies are unable to regulate the exchange and usage of people globally and will never be able to. Governments pay petty salaries to programmers and are on the defensive against hackers, ensuring they only get second-rate employees to create defenses against any possible attacks by the cyber world. The masses already have the means; recently we've even seen internet access become entirely free of charge, something which not even the groundbreaking telephone as accomplished.

Entire economies now depend on a handful of corporations to tally and keep track of economic progresses and financial statistics on networked mainframes. Soon the most crippling attack may not come from a biological or nuclear bomb, but a virus, effectively disabling entire countries in a matter of moments. With the number of attacks and the constant increase in computer users it's only a matter of time until nations are defined by what group runs your server and military expenses are used to upgrade software security. This climate will create an anarchism styled world. Wars will cease to involve bloodshed and casualties will be counted by the number of hard drives rendered inoperable.

With such a climate developing government will finally be obsolete and a thing of the past. The cycle of government will continue as it always has, of course the level of technology will have reduced the cycle to be barely noticeable. It is foreseeable that the liberal and conservative measures will still be a factor, although instead of heads of state creating laws it would be more of a showdown between various groups of programmers and hackers. Who knows, perhaps the greatest totalitarian threat will be groups attempting to charge individuals a fee for software security, a web address, or e-mail account; with the liberal elements fighting to champion free code and resources.

As the future progresses mankind only stands to realize its full potential and enjoy constantly increasing freedoms, provided technology continues to grow. The day of every man being free will soon be fully accomplished.