Ask HN: Are governments obsolete?
Another way of putting this is "can we go back to City States already?" Alexander the Great proved that the time had come when only units larger than cities could survive. We've been stuck with nations ever since. China and Russia are making the case that military aggression is not behind us yet.
But also relevant is this: infrastructure needs are growing, not declining. You may if you wish argue that 3D printing, mesh networks and personal nuclear reactors (or solar cell arrays) plus cheap water filtration are gonna change that real soon, making taxes obsolete; but so far the historical trend is strongly demonstrating ever-greater needs for public infrastructure. The fact that a few companies actually have private and rather monopolistic control over many of the most modern components of that vital public infrastructure is an argument for close regulation of them by government of one kind or another, surely.
Pure Libertarianism works best if you can make everything you need from wood, using sharpened stones. By the time a society can create Bronze, it's not viable.
That's an interesting split regarding the trajectory of public infrastructure given technical advancements. My concern is that the U.S. government no longer has the runway to fund public infrastructure projects. Corporations, today more than ever, have become the new governments.
Besides the net neutrality reality, I reflected on a random scattering of realities:
Apple gets to decide how much tax they pay and to whom they pay it.
Facebook can control who gets elected, how happy your kids are, and how many friends wish you happy birthday. It'll take credit for some of this work depending on which way the wind is blowing.
Twitter decides who Trump decides to punch or blow up.
Google unleashes new species of mosquitoes.
Auto manufacturers tend to lobby CARB more than the other way around with regards to auto emissions.
Meanwhile the U.S. government is spending $67,000,000,000 building a wall that I wouldn't call public infrastructure.
How long will it be until a Stripe-like service gives you citizenship or removes your citizenship from a government? Machine learning-based immigration, the President will personally build the model :(
From what I see in the "First World" governments have been incrementally converted into plutocracies. Trans-national corporations and their executives dictate the actions and decisions of the government of the day. Elections for the most part are well orchestrated illusions perpetuated by the media, which of course is a key component of the corporate megalomania.
I found https://shift.newco.co/your-financial-shock-wealth-4845e6dc1... a very interesting analysis of how the masses subtly and most effectively become enslaved without raising much protest.
Unfortunately, those who fail to learn from history repeat its past errors. One example comes to mind: The Roman Empire with its edict of "Bread and Circuses" -- well that too fell ... hard.
lol