India to face record heatwave in 2025
Temperatures reach 132°F (50°C) in some areas. More than 20 million people die from the heat. As power grids fail under the strain, thousands of people desperately plunge into lakes and streams, where they are cooked alive.
For the first time, the world unanimously acknowledged that climate change is real.
This catastrophic event marks the beginning of Kim Stanley Robinson’s novel The Ministry of the Future, which, in my opinion, is one of the most important books of our time.
And this applies to cryptocurrency.
Fast pitch
The story centers on the Ministry of the Future, a UN organization created to coordinate international efforts to combat climate change. (The “Ministry” comes from “department,” and “Future” comes from “protecting the rights of future generations.”)
At the center of the novel is Mary Murphy, the head of the department, who navigates the complex and often dangerous landscape of climate policy. Through her eyes, we see that making meaningful change is a high-stakes proposition: her life is constantly threatened by shadowy forces, while her department actually has very little funding or leverage.
But the book masterfully weaves together the stories of different characters (it reminded me of the great novel by Max Brooks) World War Z), each of which plays an important role in the fight against climate change.
- In response to a devastating heat wave in India, a team of pilots is undertaking a controversial solar geoengineering project. For months, they spray aerosols into the stratosphere, reflecting the sun’s rays back into space to temporarily cool the planet. No one is sure if it will work; the world is furious.
- A group of scientists undertake a daring and risky mission to drill beneath the ice caps of Antarctica. Their goal is to inject cold water into the base of the ice, stabilizing the ice sheet and preventing it from sliding into the ocean. No one is sure it will work; people are dying.
- Some people form eco-terrorist groups, believing that extreme action is needed to speed up climate change. They conduct covert operations to sabotage major polluters and even eliminate CEOs of major oil companies by literally killing them while they sleep.
- The novel also tells the story of refugees who have been displaced by extreme weather events and rising sea levels. These stories bring a personal and emotional dimension to the story, showing us the human side of climate change.
- Finally, a group of financial experts at the Ministry are working on economic incentives to combat climate change. They are ultimately developing a new global cryptocurrency called “Carbon Coin” that tokenizes carbon credits as an incentive to reduce carbon emissions.
It would be an exaggeration to say that the book is about cryptocurrency: the carbon coin is just one of many solutions. But the resistance Mary Murphy faces when trying to sell central banks on the carbon coin will sound familiar to anyone who has followed the excruciatingly slow pace of cryptocurrency regulation.
In this sense, the book All about cryptography.
Single world global money
As I explained in my TED talk, I believe cryptocurrency will eventually lead us to single world global money.
The benefits would be enormous: It would make it easier and faster to send money anywhere, streamlining international trade. It would eliminate the need for currency exchange. It would reduce transaction fees. And it would not tie the world to the political stability (or instability) of the US dollar.
We live in a global economy. We must have a global currency.
(To be clear, countries can still have their own currencies, but they will be unified into a world currency. The US dollar can still exist, it will just be exchangeable for this new world currency.)
Like climate change, modernizing the global financial system can seem like a task too big to handle. When you’re up against the world’s most powerful banks and financial institutions, how can we hope to change the system? They own the money.!
So, The Ministry of the Future provides a plan for how this might happen:
Global cooperation: Like combating climate change, redistributing the world’s money will require international partnership and coordination. There’s no doubt that cryptocurrency is already a global movement, but it may take a global financial catastrophe (like the heat wave in the novel) to trigger coordinated action.
Technological innovation: Blockchain and crypto technologies will offer new solutions to long-standing problems like financial inclusion (which affects entire countries, not just individuals) and loss of trust in central banks (due to printing money every time there is a crisis). We will need more of these innovations.
Economic incentives: In the novel, new carbon coins are minted when carbon emission reduction targets are met, creating financial rewards for companies and countries. The tokens are backed by a consortium of central banks, showing how cryptocurrency-based global money could integrate with existing systems.
Resistance from Man: Both climate action and cryptocurrency face strong opposition from the powers that be. In my opinion, much of the resistance we see around crypto legislation in Congress is due to intense lobbying by established players. But resistance can be overcome!
Incredible potential: A single global money could change the world, just as climate solutions in the novel change various aspects of society. When we start spending this new unit of money, we will begin to understand – Really understand that we live in a global economy.
And it will change the world.
Optimistic forecast
Believe it or not, The Ministry of the Future is a deeply optimistic work.
It may not sound exactly like that, but the main message is that we work together, we can solve problems. Even the most difficult problems!
People know how to solve problems. That’s our thing.
Solving our global financial problems — by moving from a U.S.-dominated currency to a global cryptocurrency — won’t happen overnight. It will require a coordinated effort of smart, diverse solutions.
It will be difficult and messy. Many solutions will not work. And entrenched financial players will fight us at every turn.
The good news is that every time we invest a little bit of our wealth into cryptocurrency – as part of our monthly investment plan – we can not only outperform traditional investors, we can begin to pave the way for this future of money. We are literally investing in this new system.
Little by little, month by month, we are getting closer to the goal. Because we live in a global financial system and are slowly building the infrastructure for a global currency.
And this is a real service to the future.
Image sources: Hachette Book Group, OpenAI, Wikimedia Commons.
