Daniel Suarez

author

• Daemon and Freedom Tm
• Kill Decision (2012)

interview from 2011 -

• Historically a society abandons or perverts the Rule Of Law when the sovereign authority finds itself under threat, but I would argue that in many nations government itself is no longer the supreme political authority, but merely an agent of the real authority - which is the multinational corporate ecosystem. And it is that system which is under threat. How? In a word: efficiency... There are numerous single points of failure in our infrastructure that no one in power wants to admit to, and no one wants to pay to fix.
• I do see a way out short of Collapse, but entrenched interests will not willingly make the leap to a less efficient, more resilient society... Instead, the lead must be taken by populist effort -- not mere protest, but building and experimenting with new economies (New Economy), digital currencies, augmented reality, and open-source mesh networks to weave a new economic and social fabric that doesn't topple so much as circumvent (Route Around) self-appointed gatekeepers, lobbyists, and legacy power-centers. Such a system would be launched first in embryonic form, initially attracting adherents as they fall out of the existing economy, but then catching on as a critical mass joined the new system. One might imagine a transitional phase where people keep one foot in the old economy and one in the new, providing a chance for a smoother transition. Think how many skilled unemployed people there are in the world who would desire a fresh start in a world where their debt -- the original sin of free markets -- is washed away. Critically, the construction and maintenance of network nodes must be a responsibility of individual communities.