The Revolution Will Be Decentralized

By Joan Westenberg

The reality is that these trends aren’t merely parallel — they’re symbiotic. Each creates conditions that accelerate the other, forming a plutocratic power cycle. Digital monopolies generate unprecedented wealth, which translates into unprecedented political influence. This influence prevents effective regulation of digital monopolies, allowing further concentration of both economic and political power.

Digital Distributism updates this framework for the internet age, recognizing that digital infrastructure is now as fundamental to human flourishing as land was in the agricultural era. It offers a comprehensive alternative to digital feudalism by reimagining how we structure and govern the technologies that increasingly mediate human existence.

The implementation of Digital Distributism rests on three foundational pillars: infrastructure commons, data sovereignty, and algorithmic democracy. Each pillar requires specific technical and organizational structures to function effectively.

The infrastructure commons approach begins with core internet protocols and extends to application-layer services. Email provides the archetypal model: SMTP, POP3, and IMAP protocols enable communication across providers while allowing user choice and control. 

Goes on to mention ActivityPub, Mastodon, Pixelfed, Warpcast / Farcaster, Bluesky / ATProtocol, IETF, Matrix, Solid, IPFS, PeerTube

The key: separating three elements that are often conflated: technical architecture, governance, and ownership. Technical architecture can be centralized for efficiency where appropriate. Governance must be distributed to preserve freedom and prevent abuse. Ownership must be widely held to ensure democratic accountability and prevent the concentration of power.

To paraphrase Chesterton: The digital distributist road has not been tried and found wanting. It has been found difficult and left untried.