Hi, my name is Stella Achenbach.

I was born in Germany in 1984. Professionally speaking, I am a designer and digital creator, as well as the founder of The ALANA Project. Those of you who follow me on social media know about my creative endeavors and my passion for Web3 and cutting-edge technologies. But some of you might be surprised to hear that I have had a big passion for topics of governance and political philosophy my whole life.

Throughout my high school years, I was very active in school politics, and later on, I was accepted as a doctoral candidate to write in the field of political philosophy. Eventually, I decided not to continue my work on my PhD as it felt to me that I had nothing worthy to contribute or share with the world.

Now, many years later, I realize what brought me to this conclusion: When conducting my research, I looked back in time to find an answer for the future of democracy. I thought by studying the old classics, I would find an answer for a better tomorrow. Of course, I didn’t and ended up not continuing on this path.

Instead, I moved to Peru and continued my work as a designer. After moving, learning a new language, and starting to settle down one day, I was invited to join a Web3-enabled community that was focusing on digital fashion.

For those of you who might not know, Web3 is the next layer of the internet where the participant cannot only read and create but also own their data. While it took me some time to start understanding these new principles, I was more than just intrigued when I finally did understand them. At the same time, a new path opened up for me, seeing that many small communities had started to embrace alternate leadership models and forms of governance.

My question was heard: To design a democratic, sustainable future, we can look into the past but might only find what we are looking for in the future (as in technology and novel models).

David Henry Thoreau, an American naturalist and philosopher, knew this before really knowing it. In his work ‘Civil Disobedience’ he states:

That government is best which governs least.

Later on in the book, he clarifies that he doesn’t wish for ‘no-government’ but instead an ‘at once […] better government.’

Seeing what is happening around the globe and witnessing the dissatisfaction of citizens in various countries around the world today, I feel his words resonate stronger than ever before.

In my opinion, decentralized governance on a democratic level is the answer for our collective future. We have to stop looking back for solutions. Fascism will not be the answer; neither will socialism or any form of extremist politics. What will get us to the next level is democracy but a new way of performing it. A decentralized way supported by blockchain technology and a new mindset in people.

If you are wondering what you can do:

• Stop complaining :). It will not change anything, and furthermore, it is a waste of energy.

• Learn about Web3, and join legit communities that are striving to become decentralized or are decentralized already.

• Among those communities, find the one that aligns with your values most.

• Help your chosen community actively structure and organize itself.

• Bring in YOUR expertise and make your voice heard because, finally, you can!

The only change you are truly in the power of is your own. So, by taking on this revised attitude, I am sure we can move things around on a global scale and thoughtfully transition our current governments/ democracies into renewed models that will truly represent us. I don’t know about you, but I really don’t want to have to live through a Third World War, and neither do I want to kill anyone on commandos given by one central person who thinks a war is a great idea.

So, let’s find a silent form of revolution to replace these corroded structures over a defined period of time and learn together about new ways to implement them!

In collaboration with Neo-Cybernetics, I will be starting to publish a fundamental series on decentralized governance, and I hope you guys will stick around to read and share your feedback with me!

References:

• 1, Henry David Thoreau (2024) Wikipedia. Available at: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Henry_David_Thoreau (Accessed: 11 January 2024).