A brief history of governance

I often have to hear that anarchy would imply the rule of the strongest and is therefore not sustainable. But what people miss is the human capacity for organisation, and especially the impact of technology.

Here I will look at the evolution of governance from the animals (no technology) to the modern age humans.

Animals:
Animals have no or very limited capabilities to communicate. Under these conditions game theory states that the rule of the strongest is an attractor solution.

In fact the reality is more complex mainly due to sexual reproduction, letting females cooperate/tolerate each others while males compete under the law of the strongest.

But even this is still to simplistic as there are few animals where males band together (typically of shared ancestry) or mixed gender groups with a hierarchical structure. These animals are often the ones that have more capacity to communicate.

So we find that even for animals the situation is very complex and for of the simple argument of rule of the strongest, even though there are some undeniable tendencies.

source

All the following categories will be related to humans, highlighting the impact of various technologies

Speech:
The fundamental difference between humans and animals is the development of complex communication techniques. Speech allows more efficient organisation of individuals, given they are able to meet in person.

Individuals may plot against an unwanted leader, that otherwise may be able to fend off all individual attacks. Speech allows them to attack in coordination and dethrone tyrannical leaders. Under these conditions game theory no longer supports the rule of the strongest as a stable solution. A leader requires sufficient consent from the followers (or has to make it impossible for them to talk to or trust each other).

Writing:
Writing removes the local properties of speech in time and space. It allows communication over larger distances. But writing initially was expensive and only available to the privileged. It allowed few people to vastly extend their power, while the subjects did not have access to the same technology and could not organise efficiently against the leader.

Writing thus was the main reason for the development of monarchical medieval and classical rule. The king would write to the lords, these to their counts and these would then communicate to the peasants in speech. These on the other hand had no possibility to communicate beyond their village.

Writing massively increased the authoritarian rule over people. It is no longer rule of the strongest, but establishes the rule of an elite.

The Printing Press:
As time progresses writing become cheaper and cheaper until there were the first mass media. While communication was still difficult peer to peer, large private organisation were able to gain a big reach. It is no accident that around these times we see monarchy in a struggle and the appearance of the first republics.

The Radio:
Finally there is the possibility for rather simple and global communication. It is still not peer-to-peer, but the entry barrier is far reduced. People are able to receive more varied opinions, even though that still requires technical knowledge. The tight rulership of past times is no longer sustainable. Either transition into a modern liberal democracy or into a dictatorship based on tighter control and intimidation of the subjects.

The Internet:
Finally we have free and global peer-to-peer communications. Governments can no longer restrict the flow of information and people have the ability to organise globally. The internet is in the process of disrupting our democracies and dictatorships but this process is not completed yet.

When people can organise, it becomes difficult to rule them. What has been saving governments is the fact that people can now communicate, but not trust each other without a personal connection. So while technology, since the stone age, has allowed us to communicate more efficiently, we still only trust people we personally know. This remains a fundamental barrier.

It is not clear at all what the game theoretical stable solutions are given the internet and we may never know because we are already in the next age

Open Blockchains:
Open Blockchains, for the first time in human history, allow for an establishment of a trusted relationship to an anonymous stranger that we do not have to meet in person. This revolutionises global organisation and one can not overestimate the importance. The development is probably as impactful as the invention of writing.

Governance structures will have to evolve significant and rulership over people will become extremely difficult as the ability to organise against a tyrant can no longer be prevented without massive intimidation and a total surveillance state.

The idea that the rule of the strongest is a natural consequence of non-governance under these conditions is completely ridiculous, seeing that it is not even a perfect description for animals.