When ancaps, agorists, and other forms of stateless, small "L" libertarians talk about the best tools in the fight against the state, technology has always taken center stage. From 3D printing, Bitcoin (and other forms of crypto-currency), Tor, Liberty.Me, The Pirate Bay, and tools meant to render it useless for the Leviathan to keep track of our identity and location, technology has helped the average individual find new ways of declaring their independence from a system that routinely embeds its teeth into the moral fabric of individuality and the will to live.
The question that I hear many liberty lovers ask nowadays is, "What is going to be next technological frontier in the fight against the statist mindset of Washington?". I have asked this question many times over the past few months, and after some considerable and objective thinking, I believe I have found the answer: virtual reality. Over the past year to year-and-a-half, VR tech has exploded in the agora. Since the successful Kickstarter for the Oculus Rift, individuals from the roads of video gaming, tech analysis, and simple common interest have become intrigued by devices that can give us the ability to exit our day-to-day lives and jump into worlds that some once thought could only manifest within the bounds of imagination. With the HTC Vive gaining popularity among PC enthusiasts, and Sony set to release the Playstation VR (aka Morpheus) this October, modern VR is preparing to make huge leaps in our modern world.
So, the question remains: how can VR be considered a valuable asset in our fight against the State? There are two elements that I wish to briefly focus on with all of you right now: connection and innovation.
1) Connection
Division. We all know how much the state feeds upon its existence. In his famous work, "The Creature from Jekyll Island", author G. Edward Griffin outlines the methodology of the Rothschilds, who, understanding the philosophy of conflict and its influence in maintaining an almost constant state of division, would routinely fund both sides of a conflict in order to foster control among those below them. Today, the state continues to uphold this ideal on what it deems to be the lesser masses. Whether its class against class, race against race, or voter against voter, the more division that we voluntarily maintain, the most excuses we give to the control freaks in Washington to maintain us like dogs on a leash. How can VR seek to reverse this trend and encourage us to embrace goodwill toward others? Well, while we may not have the answer to that now, we have already begun to see the precursors of success from the predecessor of VR, though it has become better known in our society as Pokemon GO. A mobile game that has taken complete control of the world's psyche, Pokemon GO is what's known as augmented reality, or, to put simply, a form of play in which individuals interact with digital concepts within the real world. Within less than a month, Pokemon GO took full control of our time. It became so popular, that Jeffrey Tucker, who is arguably the most influential libertarian when it comes to explaining how technology can help us break the shackles of the State, wrote an article detailing how Pokemon GO broke free from the binds of darkness and gifted us with an almost unlimited sense of joy. Beyond that, it also successfully helped get kids outside to play, interact, and exercise, something that the state has been unsuccessful with at doing for the past...30 years now.
You might be wondering why I bring up GO. As I mentioned, it's not VR, so why is it important? Well, consider this: if a game about catching virtual creatures on a phone could capture the attention and bring all a little closer, imagine what VR could do for the advancements of such ideas? In fact, for a moment, take this into perspective: In Japan, IBM is currently overseeing the development of a full, functioning virtual replica of the game world from a popular piece of Japanese animation known as Sword Art Online. IBM is funneling millions into the idea, and has literally gone as far as to replicate the VR headgear from the show from the project. You can an example from the project below:
Though the project is still in its prototype phase, it's clear that market forces are already beginning to nurture this technology in a way that, if successful, may very well be the key to completely eliminating the imaginary walls known as borders from our minds and bring us closer in a way that was thought impossible years ago.
(Note: if you would like to read more about this project and watch videos on it, follow this link: https://developer.ibm.com/dwblog/sword-art-online-vrmmo/).
2) Innovation
The revolutions that new technologies can bring are limitless, and when placed in the hands of those who seek to free humanity from the clutches of human regulation, those with the mindset of an agorist know how to breed new forms of liberation. Remember when 3-D printing started to take hold in the thoughts of those with an eye for creation? As they spent their time pondering about the trinkets that they come bring to life with such machines, it didn't take long for a young and rebellious law student to consider the applications of such technology to the natural right of self-defense. That young man was named Cody Wilson, and his innovative approach to 3-D printing led to the creation of Defense Distributed, a start-up that within just a few short months of research, successfully printed a lower-end receiver that would allow anyone to craft a completely untraceable AR-15 from the comfort of their own home.
Innovation is the life-blood of technology. Without it, our species would be unable to evolve, regardless as to whether that evolution stems from a societal, economic or individual standpoint. So how does VR fit into this in the long-term? It's difficult to say. The issue with any up-and-coming technology is that there are so many variables to its supposed success or failure, that unless you're deep into the field of tech analysis, predictions are lofty endeavors for the average individual to take. There is, however, one aspect of our world that I would like to theorize about: business.
The more I think about it, the more I realize that the current paradigm that so many adhere to in the world of business is utterly mundane. Though advancements in technology have helped radically transform the way individuals conduct their business (i.e. the PC, cell phones), the patterns by which they conduct these actions have largely remained the same for decades. Tell me if this sounds familiar: an individual gets up, eats, drives to work, deals with traffic, gets to work, conducts business, and then goes home. How in the world has out species dealt with this depravity for so long, and how could VR possibility remedy it? I've thought about it, and I've manifested this model in my mind:
1) With VR, individuals no longer have to reallocate resources on the process of getting to and from work. One can simply sit at home, put on the headset next to them, recline in a chair and instantly find themselves sitting in the middle of a meeting that they can actively participate in.
2) For those with families, VR gives people more time with their loved ones, which, analyzing things from a long-term model, helps strengthen bonds between parents and children and gives more focus on fixing problems which, if played out correctly, can help stabilize relationships.
3) Eliminates the stresses that normally come from the demanding environments that offices can give.
Again this, this is a theoretical model, but I think it does, to a certain degree, give an idea as to how VR has the potential to change the change the way we conduct our lives with the world in which we live.
If you never had an interest in VR prior to this article, I hope I gave you a jump start to a possible interest within the field. As we continue our fight to tame the Leviathan's shadow over our rights, let's continue to remind ourselves that the advances in the market for technology can and will provide with new and unique ways for declaring our sovereignty from that no longer listens to our cries for consent.