The Peer-to-Peer Economy: Death Blow to the State

Liberty.me ^ | May 5, 2014 | Jeffrey Tucker

[all the best]

This morning I saw a lovely stained glass window, pulled out my smartphone, snapped a photo, and shot it around to friends. It’s so automatic now that I don’t even think about it. It’s like a motor skill.

But wait just a moment. Also this morning, I was at the drugstore and saw a wall of film for sale, the kind you shove into a camera, send off for processing, and get glossies in return. Who does this anymore? Some people apparently.

We are in the transition phase from one type of technology to another, and such stores find it profitable to sell to the full range of users…for now. What’s going and what’s coming is pretty obvious.

It’s the same in music, movies, housing, transportation, lending, publishing, and a host of other areas. We are in a period of massive transition from one set of tools to another. The old world survives but a new one is being born by virtue of our technological preferences.

What is the consistent theme that is driving this? Let’s think about this.

In the past, to make a video for public release, I had to have connections, capital, and deals with third parties. There was no choice. I can open my laptop or smartphone and go to work, posting the results in minutes for whole world to see. I’m the producer working directly for consumers. Or I can be a consumer of other people’s direct production for me.

It’s the same with publishing. I can write a book and make it available directly, peer-to-peer. or download and reads books others have written directly from the author. I can do the same with housing when I travel: I can contact the owner and make a deal without having to rely on an intermediary. .

[all the best]

The P2P (peer-to-peer) economy is the next stage in the great march of history away from despotism toward freedom. It’s all happened without much mainstream attention and virtually no public consciousness. The emergence of it has been spread out over some 15 years, too slow to notice with full awareness and too fast to fully dissect and understand. It is now a fixture and a foreshadowing of a world to come.

[Dr. Sivana]

This fellow wrote an entire article on the topic without even mentioning 3D printing, which will greatly accelerate and expand what he describes.

[Paladin2]

Hence the gov’t wanting to “regulate” the i’net. Now more than ever.

[Dr. Pritchett]

....please be sure to pay your taxes according to the honor system... It’s really the only fair way to pay for this great system the govt set up for you.

/s

[saganite]

I think he’s talking about content, not production but your point is well taken.