Much has been said about the benefits of decentralization: it’s a system that works in the modern world because it prevents a coalescing of power, and thus reduces abuses of power—but, in the wake of COVID-19, it turns out to have a further benefit.
Because in a post-social-distancing world, decentralization is near-perfectly applicable. Right now, if a disease were to hit an essential business, it would shut that business down—and regular ones can’t even open.
Except for obvious exceptions, the businesses that are surviving the pandemic are the ones that can allow remote work, that are capable of being decentralized.
And making sure that there’s no single point of failure is not only smart now, but it’s also smart for the future. There’s no way that the economy is making it out of this downfall without the cooperation of many, many people. The methods and mindset of decentralization are that you can allow such broad cooperation while mitigating the actions of malevolent actors.
In fact, it might just be the best time to put in place systems that allow a diverse and dispersed group to attack the problem from many angles.
Now, that’s not to say that we don’t need leaders: but we do all need a way to solve problems—because the economy is everyone’s responsibility. We can’t just wait for businesses to be allowed to be open again. Quarantines can be maintained without the world economy falling completely apart.
