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Decentralized modes of living have historically allowed the West to continue its expansion across the globe.
From feudalism to the Industrial Revolution, and now Bitcoin (BTC) — the new feudalism — decentralization has been the key mechanism of this expansion.
Summary
- History repeats in decentralization: From medieval feudalism to Bitcoin, Western expansion and resilience have thrived when power was distributed rather than centralized.
- Feudalism’s lesson: Local autonomy in the 10th–13th centuries created the first middle class, boosted literacy, and helped the West endure plagues and crises.
- Innovation through fragmentation: The Renaissance, Industrial Revolution, and even wartime science flourished when governance, economies, and ideas were decentralized.
- Centralization’s dangers: Empires and economies that concentrated power often stagnated or collapsed, a fate the West historically avoided by dispersing authority.
- Bitcoin as the new frontier: Like past decentralizing forces, Bitcoin bypasses central banks and offers the West a potential lifeline against financial elite dominance.
970–1270: The Feudal Revolution
Western Civilization’s first expansion took place between 970 and 1270 with the advent of the feudal system. For the time period, feudalism was decentralized, insofar as it allowed a minority of men to serve as soldiers and clergy, while peasants tilled the soil. This gave way to increased local autonomy in governance and the economy.
Under feudalism, power became distributed amongst local lords, knights, and manors, who could adapt the economy and governance based on local conditions. The decentralization of the economy in the 12th century resulted in the rise of the bourgeoisie — the middle class of the time — and broke the rigid agrarian-based living of the day.
The resulting emergence of commerce, towns, and a middle class created a social and economic revolution that drove literacy rates and introduced new ideas and morality. Feudalism led the West into a new period of expansion and allowed the civilization to survive plagues and religious controversies. Feudalism’s decentralized foundations made the West more resilient and set up future decentralized reorganizations.
Decentralized feudalism prevented the concentration of power that could have stifled innovation, allowing the West to adapt and grow through economic diversification rather than succumbing to centralized decay, as seen in other civilizations like that of the Romans. Feudalism decentralized the modes of living. Lords now held sway over their own dominion, without a central state.
1300–1600: Late Middle Ages and Renaissance
After the medieval crisis, the West once again reformed its institutions, leading it into a new period of expansion. The feudal hierarchy had weakened as economic crises enveloped the globe. Growing independence in urban centers allowed them to become trading hubs and rely increasingly on self-governance, especially in Italy and Flanders.
The Protestant movements divided the once monolithic Church and the monarchies of the feudal era. These decentralized forces gave rise to intellectual diversity, new governance models, and economic innovation, such as the seeds of capitalism.
The decentralization of religious and political authority allowed new ideas to flourish. The West was once more able to avoid the fates of Mesopotamian or Roman, which crumbled under centralized control.
The decentralization of time allowed the West to weather crises, including religious wars and economic shifts. Expansion would begin again, leading into the modern age.
1750–1850: Industrial Revolution
The Industrial Revolution saw rapid expansion in Western civilization owing to technological and economic innovations. The centralized mercantilist economies gave rise to more decentralized market-driven arrangements. Commercial capitalism entailed individuals and private enterprises seeking profit via trade and innovation, and not state-controlled monopolies.
Financial systems became decentralized through deposit banking. Capital flow was less encumbered. Bankers magicked money through loans and bookkeeping, lessening the importance of centralized reserves. This further economic decentralization fueled industrial growth, urbanization, and advancements in technology, allowing the West to rebuild after the economic chaos of the Napoleonic Wars and the restrictive mercantilist system.
Decentralized economic systems prevented the West from being locked into inefficient, state-controlled economies, which could have led to stagnation. Instead, the flexibility of markets and private initiative drove progress, ensuring the West’s continued expansion and resilience.
1914–1945: Decentralization in the modern age
Scientific and military pursuits became more decentralized during World War I and World War II. A diverse and mildly coordinated group of scientists, engineers, and military units from multiple nations combined on the war effort. The work of scientists resulted in new technologies, such as radar and atomic bombs, while laying the ground for what would later become the internet.
The centralized regimes of the time — Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union — were no match for the decentralized West. The West’s decentralization allowed it to defeat the centralized systems of fascism and communism.
2009-?: The age of Bitcoin
The period from 1945 to 2008 saw the fall of European dominance, with the United States and the Soviet Union becoming the two dominant powers on Earth through the Cold War. This period saw rapid technological advancements, decolonization, and increasing global interdependence.
During this period, the Anglo-American banking establishment’s power grew, leading to increased centralization across the Western world.
Bitcoin is hope
Bitcoin has the potential to decentralize power, finance, and society writ large. Centralized institutions are surely going to resist this decentralized innovation, and in doing so, they risk undermining the future of Western civilization altogether.
Financial elites have played an outsized role in the post-World War II period, empowered by their centralized control of credit and currency. Bitcoin challenges this paradigm. It bypasses traditional banking intermediaries and state-controlled monetary systems.
Bitcoin is a jailbreak from the financial order’s dominant institutions, such as the Federal Reserve or the Bank of England. The original crypto asset diffuses power, giving the declining West a shimmer of hope. It also allows individuals to steer around centralized banking systems.
Bitcoin can decentralize the financial system, ensuring a more equitable and cooperative global system given by technological and intellectual progress, and ensuring the survival of Western civilization.
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Kadan Stadelmann.author-card__name
Kadan Stadelmann is a blockchain developer, operations security expert, and Komodo Platform’s chief technology officer. His experience ranges from working in operations security in the government sector and launching technology startups to application development and cryptography. Kadan started his journey into blockchain technology in 2011 and joined the Komodo team in 2016.
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