Vitalik Buterin Advocates for Decentralized Technology to Prevent Societal Collapse
Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin published a blog post titled "Balance of Power" warning that concentrated power across governments, corporations, and populist movements poses a threat to civilization. He argues that the rapid technological progress and economies of scale outpace counterbalancing forces, potentially enabling hegemonic control that could undermine democratic institutions and individual liberty.
Buterin describes a "dense jungle" where Big Government, Big Business, and Big Mob reinforce each other to solidify control over policy and markets. To counter this, he endorses libertarian minimal intervention, Hayekian goal-setting rather than prescriptive methods, civil liberalism protections for speech and association, and subsidiarity favoring local decision-making.
He advocates for defensive acceleration—the use of defensive technology to keep pace with offensive capabilities—and stresses the importance of keeping such technology open and accessible to all. His proposed strategy includes mandatory diffusion of technology and adversarial interoperability, which allows new products to connect to existing platforms without permission. Practical examples include alternative social media clients, content-blocking browser extensions, and decentralized crypto platforms.
Buterin highlights Sci-Hub as an example of technological diffusion improving open access to scientific knowledge. He also suggests adopting EU-style carbon border adjustments to tax proprietary restrictions on technology while reducing levies for open-source alternatives.
In the context of Ethereum governance, concerns are raised that 5-10 individuals allegedly exert indirect control over the protocol. Péter Szilágyi is noted for observing a ruling elite influence, while the article critiques Silicon Valley's alignment with government power.
Meanwhile, Ethereum on-chain activity is increasing, with about 2.2 million transactions recorded on December 29. Average transaction fees are approximately 17 cents, aided by the Pectra and Fusaka upgrades, which expanded gas limits and improved validator efficiency.
