We’re now at a critical juncture in Britain.

After the historical impact of Brexit and a global pandemic, the growing distrust between young people and the government is not just exasperated by a ‘cost of living crisis’– it’s also being fuelled by a housing crisis, the worst job market in years, and rampant corruption in government. Intergenerational injustice is becoming increasingly obvious as inequality in our society spirals out of control. The consensus amongst young people is that this ‘stagnation nation’ is extremely undesirable to live in.

A Stuck Duck’s Reality

What’s not to hate?

• Last year, knife crime in London surged by over 20% 🔪

• A range of sectors have gone on strike in recent months, the worst it’s been in 11 years ❌

• The Head of Britain’s police chiefs says the force is ‘institutionally racist’ 🚨 and

• The British people will carry the heaviest tax burden since World War 2, emphasised by  the recent ‘side-hustle tax’. Comments across social platforms share bewilderment as to why surveillance and reinforcement of taxes are on normal citizens and not, more appropriately, on MPs in power 💰

Many believe Britain has been avoiding its problems for way too long, and either we stay stuck in a very long game of ‘Duck, Duck, Goose’ (and risk being a Duck forever in a big international playground), or we find the hand that can help Britain move again.

There’s an imbalance of priorities and a disconnect between what Britain could be, and what– in reality– it presently is. We mustn't forget that in 2020, a 23-year old Marcus Rashford, a Manchester United footballer wrote an open letter to MPs imploring them to reverse the decision (to end free school meals) and help feed the 1.3 million families whose children risked going hungry as a result of it.

This is Britain. Footballers feed the poor.

This is Britain. Number 10 Downing Street has more salacious scandals and drama than Eastenders.

This is Britain. Citizens find the government untrustworthy, deceitful, and traitorous.

Britain is a sitting duck, and its focus remains fragmented during a time of exponential and rapid advancement in science and technology where artificial intelligence just keeps getting smarter with our homes and cars, but our social networks are suffering.

Our nation has become too polarised and institutions too extractive. Our social fabric has been stripped into dysfunction, and our political institutions have traded greed for our hierarchy of needs.

Will the acceleration of technological innovation be the hand that gets Britain unstuck?

Becoming a Techno-Golden Goose

The UK government identified research and innovation as key to its plan to ‘unite and level up’ and ‘build back better’ following COVID-19, and we’ve seen Prime Minister Rishi Sunak fervently signpost to make UK a global crypto hub. As for artificial intelligence (AI), the UK’s first minister for AI said there would be no UK law on AI in fear that “heavy handed regulation could curb industry growth”.

This stance embodies a facet of my proposed 'Techno-golden Goose' ideology—a belief in leveraging technological advancements and innovation as drivers of progress and socioeconomic revitalisation that can pull a stagnant nation from paralysis and into a nation of innovative effectiveness.

The government's strategic focus on fostering a conducive environment for technological innovation understands that harnessing the power of emerging technologies is pivotal in steering Britain towards a more prosperous future. With the rise of extreme movements like effective accelerationism (e/acc), and with the ingrained information ecosystems we’re so used to e.g. social media, many fear our realities eventually becoming just digital simulations. Meanwhile, we’re creating those very distorted simulations ourselves on our own devices, at our own demise because technological progress is happening so fast with minimal policies guiding us on how we can best leverage it for our well-being.

So, how can we make better policies aligned with fast-approaching technological breakthroughs to fix a nation stuck in archaic mentalities?

If Britain is to move from a Stuck Duck to a Techno-golden Goose, we have to ‘move intentionally and fix broken things’ in our society, instead of the well-known approach of tech giants like Facebook who just ‘move fast and break things’. Britain has too many things broken already. Let’s start with our trust issues.

‘Moving intentionally’ means involving strategic utilisation of technology to bolster trust and transparency within governance structures. By doing so, Britain can move towards major institutional changes, both economically and politically.

This transformative avenue lies in integrating blockchain technology into Britain’s economic affairs and governance completely. Imagine a system where:

1. Economic transactions and governmental spending are recorded on an immutable, decentralised ledger accessible to the public, detailing every allocation, expenditure, and revenue stream. These would involve contracts automating budget allocations, streamlining tax collections, and ensuring compliance with fiscal regulations. But most importantly, it would empower a culture of transparency and accountability at every level of governance where citizens can track and verify governmental activities. It would bridge the trust deficit between the government and its people, and it would be fundamental in reshaping how young people perceive those in power in modern day Britain.

2. MPs’ governance regarding constituencies will behave as micro-network states, adopting on-chain civic voting semi-inspired by Balaji’s Network State. This approach will change Britain’s democratic participation and decision-making entirely, removing barriers for in-person ballot voting. This will enable citizens to prioritise and collectively address local concerns transparently and collaboratively with their MPs, encouraging a highly aligned online community with a capacity for collective action. Treating each constituency as a micro-network state will allow for a more cohesive and focused impact networks in Britain, and it can reshape governance dynamics robustly for a more engaged citizenry and can exalt Britain towards a techno-golden future.

3. Universal Basic Assets (UBA) can be implemented to solve specific issues like Britain’s housing crisis through the integration of self-executing code (smart contracts) embedded within a secure and transparent Land Registry. Tokenisation mechanisms powered by non-fungible tokens can effectively distribute assets to eligible individuals without the intervention of intermediaries (bad landlords) or the risk of human error (overburdened councils). By automating and ensuring tamper-proof asset distribution, UBA not only democratises access to housing, but also establishes a fair and efficient mechanism that serves as a safeguard against the exploitative practices of certain sectors in Britain, while considering our hierarchy of needs.

The Way of the Techno-golden Goose

Britain finds itself teetering between stagnation and progress, stuck in a repetitive game in which the country is entrapped, unable to break free from its own limitations.

The concept of the 'Techno-golden Goose’ leverages advancements in technology, specifically blockchain and decentralised systems to redefine governance at its core, fixing first the most important area of deficit in our country: trust. It doesn't prioritise rapid nor complex progress at the expense of stability, but instead calls for intentional movement, utilising technology to mend societal fractures, restore faith in leadership, and reshape the democratic landscape of Britain.

Blockchain integration facilitates transparent governance, empowers citizen oversight, and redefines democratic participation through trusted decision-making networks, fostering a sense of collective responsibility and champions the nation towards ending– perhaps even winning the game– to eventually become a Techno-golden Goose.