2020: A Year In Focus: How Five Decades of Plutocratic Politics Left Us Unprepared

by Walter Engelbrecht

The year 2020 won't soon be forgotten. It seemed like the end of the world. However, the Pandemic and the ensuing political, social, economic, environmental and scientific discord that seemingly erupted out of nowhere in 2020 had begun, in fact, much, much earlier - with its roots in the late 1960s and early 1970s. Nearly five decades before COVID, the Civil Rights Act was passed, Americans landed on the Moon, Consumer Rights, Environmental Rights and the 2nd Women's Rights Movements were taking society by storm, and the first ARPANET (today's Internet) link came online. It was the apotheosis of American optimism. It seemed as though a new enlightened age was being ushered in - a true 'Age of Aquarius'. Little did we know that the seeds of democratic and capitalist peril were slowly being sown by Plutocrats that sought to roll back the wave of progressive optimism and achievement that had capped three decades of post WWII prosperity.

2020 brought us to a crossroads. Do we keep electing leaders beholden to the Plutocrats and forfeit democracy for rule by the wealthy and Capitalism for all for Winner takes all? Or as our lives increasingly merge into a rapidly expanding digital realm that will someday dwarf the physical world do we evolve new forms of how best to govern ourselves, organize our economies, provide for social equality and protect the environment?

Does Blockchain technology hold the key to breaking the Plutocracy's hold on campaign funding and negating the Supreme Court's Citizens United decision? Could a Federal DAO really replace the body of Congress and protect Democracy from Plutocracy? Is a version of the Dual Movement, the balance between today's winner-takes-all Capitalism and societal needs, really a built-in fundamental building block of Web 3.0 and the Metaverse? Can a Blockchain ballot mitigate voter fraud and prevent another 'Steal the Vote' type insurrection? If in the digital economy we really are the 'product' can NFTs compensate us for our musings, doodles, and selfies while helping share in the tremendous wealth that will surely be created as the digital economy overtakes the physical one?

This book, part COVID diary, part 50-year history of Plutocratic politics and Capitalism, and part technology futurism describes where we were, where we were headed, where we actually arrived, and two possible future paths we as a society can pursue, one dystopian and one full of possibility. We're on the verge of resuming the past Age of Aquarius. We the people can save Democracy and restore Capitalism for all. Here's how...

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: B09YR8DSTP
• ISBN13: 9798811650408
• Release Date: April 2022
• Publisher: Independently Published
• Length: 620 Pages
• Weight: 2.33 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.3" x 7.0" x 10.0"