The blockchain is believed to be a highly powerful and innovative technology with a strong potential to improve nearly every field of society.
With its maximum transparency, failsafe security and decentralized ecosystem the Blockchain promises a very bright future. In fact, it would not be an exaggeration to say that in the long run, the Blockchain can even have a strong impact on the culture. In this blog we will discuss various ways in which Blockchain can affect the society and culture for good or for bad:
Reducing Money Crimes
In many cases, the money crimes are made possible due to the presence of many intermediaries in the system. Not only controlling a system or transactions with multiple intermediaries is difficult but it also augments the chances of corruption with one corrupt intermediary convincing or compelling others too to support his corrupt practices.
However, the Blockchain’s smart contracts will eliminate the role of intermediaries and human intervention as smart contacts are self-regulatory and don’t depend on any human effort. As soon as the conditions are met the deliverables are delivered to the respective beneficiary automatically. Thus it can also help in maintaining the law and order and reduce the workload of the legal system.
Can eliminate the jobs of intermediaries
While the Blockchain will help in creating a trustless ecosystem and enhance the overall transparency, it will also eliminate the role of intermediaries. Many of the workers are employed as intermediaries and it is very much possible that with the widespread popularity of Blockchain technology they can lose their jobs. More importantly, they will also lose many opportunities to get another job based on their presentation skills as most of the companies will prefer Blockchain instead of paying a recurrent salary to an intermediary.
It can result in huge layoffs and can force many people to lose the chances of continuing their career or getting respect as an earning member of a family and a society. It can also result in social chaos as many intermediaries who can afford a high life today will be forced to change their lifestyle when they are unemployed and they can react sharply to such situations. Some may even start exercising unethical ways to maintain the same lifestyle.
Can bring back trust
Trust is one of the major elements of any culture as it helps in biding a society and allows them to emerge as a distinct culture. However, during the last several decades the incidents of fraud and corruption have escalated to such a scale that trusting the people has become very difficult even if you are already acquainted with them. This is not a healthy sign for any culture to say the least. The decentralized algorithm-based trustless ecosystem of Blockchain further strengthens the fact that we as human beings have lost trust in one another. Moreover, like many people, entrepreneurs, as well as the general public, is supporting the Blockchain revolution it brings out another fact that we would trust a non-living technology and self-regulated cryptographic algorithms rather than our own creed, i.e., human beings.
However, the situation is not totally disappointing as he Blockchain’s decentralized technology, when applied on a wide scale and in diverse sectors, will help in reducing the cases of corruption, thefts, and discrepancies. All such negative instances play a great role in reducing the trust level in the society. Thus, we have a strong reason to believe that by reducing such negative instances the Blockchain can also help in preventing the loss of trust in the society.
Self-dependent society without Government control
In the present scenario the Government tries to have maximum control over the people and many governments even infringe upon the private life of its citizens. It is no secret that many governments monitor their citizens’ private life by spying on their email IDs, social media profiles and other online activities. It is possible because all these platforms and services are controlled by centralized authorize.
However, the essentially decentralized ecosystem of Blockchain will eliminate the central authorities that will prevent the government from having control over their citizens. It will result in a self-dependent society where every citizen will have a right to take public decisions.
While it might seem to be a positive change to many people, it will have some major challenges too. Without a centralized authority control the law and order the chaos can prevail. The people will refuse to cooperate with the government and democracy can lose its meaning. However, if this situation is efficiently managed then we can expect some positive changes. Again, the key question arises: how can a situation be managed when there is no central authority manages it?
No more exploitation of underprivileged classes
Another major aspect that affects a culture is access to the assets of value. Exploitation by employers is one of the major reasons behind poverty. A large number of laborers are denied the wages that they deserve. Likewise, many landlords refuse to pay timely wages to farmers. There are many other instances where the people at the lower rung of the society are exploited by their employers that worsen their conditions. As a result, many of them choose unethical ways to get money like theft, kidnapping, and other crimes. It distorts cultural beauty and results in a beastly attitude.
However, with the help of Blockchain technology such workers and the underprivileged society cannot be exploited as the smart contracts will automatically transfer their funds on a timely basis. Besides as each transaction will be time-stamped there is no way the employers can underpay them or rob them of their wages.
The question is that with so many established brands and start-ups using Blockchain technology as a strong tool for their business growth, can we believe that someone will create a Blockchain for underprivileged people?
Conclusion
The blockchain is an innovative technology that is experiencing a high popularity due to its decentralized ecosystem and transparency. There are many ways in which Blockchain technology can affect the functionality of diverse sectors. Once it is widely implemented the Blockchain can even have a strong impact on the culture by changing the way the people work and act. In this blog, we have mentioned different ways in which Blockchain can affect the culture.
Author Bio
Alisha is a Director (Operations) who also possesses excellent writing skills and regularly writes on diverse niches like history, travel, wildlife, lifestyle and technology. She is equally acquainted with producing high-quality digital marketing content that attracts the visitors and keeps them engaged.
