Doug Casey on technology and freedom

Let’s get back to technology for a moment.  Here’s the good news.  Although throughout history technology has always been first in the hands of the State, in the hands of the rulers, it always devolves to the common man, where it’s a genuine liberator. 

For instance, the bad guys got gunpowder first and used it to cement themselves in power starting in the 14th century.  But after a while, the technology drifted down to the peasants.  Gunpowder then allowed the common man to take out an armored mounted knight.  Although gunpowder helped the rulers to start with, it overturned them in the end. 

The same is true of computers. At first, only governments and large corporations could afford computers; they used them to keep track of the plebs.  But now everybody has a computer.  It’s more or less a level playing field, a two-way street.  So don’t worry about technology, because it’s always on the side of the average guy in the long run.  When the Singularity arrives in a generation or so, if Ray Kurzweil is right, the whole nature of life itself—forget about politics—will be utterly changed.

~ Doug Casey, "Doug Casey's Next 5 Shocking Predictions...," International Man, July 22, 2021