THE ADVOCATE 701
VOL. 80 PART 5 SEPTEMBER 2022
this mindset is an anachronism, a vestige of the rise of representative
democracy in the last 200 or so years which supposedly confers ‘legitimacy’
on the actions of our rulers. The institutionalists don’t get that blockchain
is a completely trustless system, rendering the trust–distrust spectrum
irrelevant. Trustless doesn’t mean “no-trust”, it means without trust. The
concept doesn’t even exist on the blockchain! The word ‘trust’ is going to be an
empty sonic husk at some point—not even a word, just sound waves devoid
of meaning. People will look back at it and be genuinely bewildered, the
way we look back at dial-up internet, phones with cords or the—
“Oh, thank you for the coffee, Drenica. You can just hand it to me—oh,
OK, I’ll just pick the cup off the ground, there we go—I’m sure that’s a
charming local tradition, not a sign of contempt but a gesture of respect.
Thank you.
“What’s that, Yussef, were you trying to say something? I’m sorry, look at
me, doing all the talking. It’s like we’re watching my wildly popular TED
talk.
“Not believable? You’re right, it is unbelievable. This is all so unbelievable.
You’re welcome.”