There are entrenched power structures which have god-power weapons. At what point is outright democracy somewhat of a charade that we play to make ourselves feel good. We’re never going to vote those weapons into the hands of people who the existing controllers deem inappropriate. So is democracy really just a 2 tiered system that never touches real power, just abstract power? And who ends up checking the real power?

Open protocols and all that are cool but there will always be a gun to your head, so to speak. Where do we draw the line on who’s holding that gun and what recourse does society really have against those peoples transgressions?