According to a report from Cryptoslate, the latest episode of the Bankless Podcast discussed the potential advantages of authoritarian regimes over liberalacies in the 21st century. In this episode, hosts Ryan Sean Adams and Hoffman delve into whether authoritarianism can outperform liberal democracy in competition and how blockchain technology play a role in this. The program also features insights from economist Noah Smith and co of Ethereum, Vitalik Buterin.
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– The efficiency of authoritarian regimes poses a major threat to democracy
– Counterarguments the greater efficiency of authoritarian regimes
– How blockchain can save democracy
Noah Smith that while liberal democracy was hailed as the best social model at the end of the 20 century, and democratic countries could aggregate messages from the public through markets, elections, and discourse. However, with the development of the internet, this advantage has been significantly reduced authoritarian states can now use internet data to measure public sentiment and allocate resources more effectively while swiftly to unrest. This is evident from China’s rapid policy shift after its “Blank Movement” in 2022.
Additionally, with the emergence of the internet, misinformation has easier to spread. This complicates governance in liberal democracies as politicians need to spend time countering false narratives and fundraising. This undermines effective governance as observed in Taiwan’s environment characterized by rampant online armies, biased mainstream media positions, and dissemination of false information key opinion leaders (KOLs).
Vitalik Buterin further extends this topic likening the overall landscape of internet and information to Thomas Hobbes’ description of ” war among all”. In such an environment where everyone fights for control over information, stability only be achieved through strong control and monopolization. His analogy aims to emphasize that authoritarian may utilize their ability to aggregate vast amounts o
