Written by Daii
The shock that "The Stage" brought to me was no less than that of "To Live." One could even say that "The Stage" was a condensed version of "To Live"—within the small theater, the concepts of "survival" and "unability to survive" were simultaneously hurled at the audience, knife-points facing each other, without mercy.
In (To Live), Fugui's family struggled under the oppression of the times, their fate like fallen leaves, manipulated at will by invisible hands; but in (Stage), that hand is no longer hidden, but holding a cold golden pistol, hanging "life" and "death", "acting" and "not acting" on the trigger, forcing people to answer.
This hand belonged to Marshal Hong, who had just arrived in the city. He demanded that the classic play (Farewell My Concubine) be altered. The troupe was immediately faced with a dilemma: if they didn't change, they would be facing a gun; if they did, how could they face their ancestors and their conscience?
Just when everyone was pushed into a desperate situation, cannon fire rang out, Marshal Lu entered the city, and Marshal Hong fell. What a thrilling ending.
However, once you see the entire play to its end, you'll understand: Green Marshal is no "savior." While he doesn't alter the play, he's even more ruthless. He forces the troupe's male dan to succumb to his desires. Ultimately, the male dan drowns himself, his silent death concluding a struggle that can never be concluded.
The sound of water was like a cold mirror, reflecting the same outcome for both "changing the play" and "not changing the play": in the face of absolute violence, artists are nothing but targets, and even surviving is a luxury.
This is the naked law of the jungle:
The strong use guns as teeth and cannons as claws, ready to tear apart any fate that they don't like at any time; while the weak can only choose between the muzzle of a gun and their conscience - but they are destined to lose on both ends.
When power is easily shifted and always concentrated in one corner, no matter how magnificent the stage or how long the opera, it is nothing more than a backdrop for the frolicking of wild beasts. The story of Marshal Hong and Marshal Lu, though seemingly absurd, is a true drama repeated over and over again in human history.
I wrote this article not to tell a story, but to ask a question:
Why has the "law of the jungle" not been clarified to this day, but has instead repeatedly been disguised as "realistic" and "rational" in public discussions, and has even become the standard by which some people judge right and wrong?
You will gain three things from this article:
A perspective mirror: see how the gun is held and how people are trained to accept it;
A historical map: Understanding how humanity has gradually broken the closed loop of the jungle through "power fragmentation," "rule of law," and "technological diffusion";
A realistic path: How can ordinary people today use tools such as blockchain to dig a hidden escape route for themselves and others?
Next, let us analyze the oldest and most stubborn logic in human history - the law of the jungle.
1. The law of the jungle: the psychological code behind the law of the jungle
What really drives the law of the jungle is never the guns themselves, but the fire in people's hearts that desires both security and dominance.
If this fire lacks external constraints, it will be like weeds in a drought, which can spread all over the prairie at the slightest spark. However, history and psychology have already revealed the skeleton of this law for us.
1.1 First, there is the "sweetness of obedience."
In 1963, Yale University psychologist Stanley Milgram conducted a famous experiment. He had ordinary people play the role of "teachers" and administer electric shocks to "students" under authority. The results were astonishing: 65% of the participants, even knowing their students screamed in pain, continued to increase the voltage to maximum (Simply Psychology). Milgram concluded that people are not inherently cruel, but rather that, in the face of authority, they subconsciously "outsource responsibility"—the phrase "I'm just following orders" is enough to silence their conscience.
1.2 Next, there is the "intoxication of position".
In 1971, Stanford University psychologist Philip Zimbardo constructed a "fake prison" in his basement. He randomly assigned a group of students to be "guards" and "prisoners." Within six days, the previously mild-mannered youths began humiliating and torturing their peers, forcing the experiment to be abandoned. Zimbardo said, "With a new uniform and a pair of sunglasses, you and I could become the very people we hate." (Wikipedia)
Further down, there is "the corruption of unlimited power."
In 1887, British historian Lord Acton wrote to Bishop Creighton, composing the now-repeated maxim of countless political scholars: "Power tends to corrupt and absolute power corrupts absolutely." (oll.libertyfund.org) This maxim has endured for centuries precisely because countless cases have proven its cruelty:
From 1937 to 1945, Nazi Germany burned over 16,000 works of modern art, including original works by Picasso, Kandinsky, and others, labelling them “degenerate art.” This act wiped out an entire generation of European modern art.
On August 12, 1952, the Soviet regime secretly executed 13 Jewish writers in a single night, a move known as the "Night of the Murdered Poets." In the face of totalitarianism, their writings were no match for even a piece of paper.
The perpetrator is not necessarily a demon, but is placed in an environment where "doing evil has no consequences" and thus slides step by step into the abyss.
1.4 Finally, there is the “contagion of fear”.
During the 1994 Rwandan genocide, radio station RTLM broadcast inciteful content continuously, driving the nation to violence in just 100 days, resulting in an estimated 800,000 deaths. Research has found that people living within 300 meters of the first killer are significantly more likely to participate in violence. Fear and conformity, like a virus, spread rapidly through social networks along geographical pathways (lse.ac.uk).
Putting these experiments together with the historical puzzle, we see a profound picture of human nature:
Obedience relieves individuals of responsibility – “I’m just following orders”;
Position makes individuals intoxicated with power – “I am the enforcer of the rules”;
Unrestrained power keeps the cost to zero forever—"I won't be held accountable";
Fear and conformity spread evil into collective behavior - "If I don't take action, I might be the next one."
When these four factors are simultaneously in place, the law of the jungle closes its loop: the cost of violence is zero, while the rewards of evil soar. Marshal Hong and Marshal Lu are but microcosms of the thousands of hands that have wielded guns throughout history; the male dan figures are the victims repeatedly projected by every sweep of power.
If you want to crack this formula, you must install a safety valve in any link of "obedience-position-consequences-fear": make obedience have boundaries, make positions supervised, make consequences real, and let fear no longer monopolize information.
You may have already figured it out: the solution lies in the two familiar words: "democracy" and "rule of law."
In today's context, we might as well return to the 24 words long enshrined in the core socialist values: "prosperity, democracy, civility, harmony; freedom, equality, justice, the rule of law; patriotism, dedication, integrity, and friendliness." These words are not rhetoric; they are a precise response to history and human nature.
But we must understand: democracy and the rule of law are not fruits that grow naturally, nor are they "automatic upgrade packages" from places of power. Their seeds are born in the real soil of "power being broken down time and again."
2. Power Fragmentation: A Potential Opportunity for Democracy and the Rule of Law
To break the closed loop of "obedience-position-consequence-fear," the first step is to dismantle the central node that hangs high. As long as violence and information are monopolized, civilization cannot take root.
Throughout history, every sustainable process of democracy and the rule of law almost always germinates at the moment when power is "forced to disperse" - just like a river forks, so that the water flow no longer surges and causes disasters.
Ancient Greece: The Granular Revolution from City-State to Citizen
In the 6th century BC, Athens deliberately reduced its city size to a walkable size, fragmenting political power into extremely small units: 6,000 jurors were appointed by lot, and 500 citizens took turns deliberating. By the 4th century BC, approximately half of the Greek city-states had implemented some form of democracy (Wikipedia). Within this highly decentralized structure, no single individual or family had a complete monopoly on governance. For the first time, law was brought to the forefront of public debate, becoming a matter for all.
Britain: Nobles force the throne, royal power hangs in the balance
In 1215, King John of England imposed heavy taxes and imposed excessive tariffs on landowners, sparking a united rebellion among the nobility. Twenty-five rebellious barons, armed with spears, surrounded Runnymede and forced the enactment of the Magna Carta—a document that constrained royal power and emphasized "judgment according to law" (Encyclopedia Britannica). It was not perfect, nor truly democratic, but it established for the first time that even the king was bound by written rules. This historical moment brought law from the royal seat to the negotiating table.
The Netherlands: A Decentralized Experiment in the Federal Republic
In 1581, the seven provinces of the Netherlands united to break away from Habsburg rule and establish one of the world's earliest republics. Unlike the centralized power of the British monarchy, it delegated foreign affairs and defense to a collegial council, while each province maintained a high degree of autonomy over taxation, the church, and personal freedom. Under this system, Amsterdam merchants were free to print newspapers, open trading houses, and raise capital. By the 17th century, the Dutch merchant fleet accounted for one-third of the world's total, and financial markets and news systems emerged amidst multi-center competition (gale.com).
Britain (again): Parliament chains the crown
After the Glorious Revolution of 1688, William III ascended the throne. However, to receive military funds, he had to submit annual accounts to Parliament. Consequently, the 1689 Bill of Rights established that "no taxation shall be laid, nor any standing army maintained, without the consent of Parliament" (Wikipedia). From then on, fiscal sovereignty returned to the people, with Parliament passing budgets and deliberating laws. For the first time, royal power was burdened with "budgetary shackles."
These historical fragments, though seemingly independent at first glance, actually resonate with a common melody:
Only when power is broken up do rules have a chance to rise to prominence; only when the center is weakened do law and rationality have room to breathe.
Democracy and the rule of law are never gifts from above, but rather byproducts of the repeated struggles and constraints among countless power nodes. Just as the balance of a forest depends not on the mercy of wild animals but on the checks and balances between species, so too does the balance of power depend on the mercy of wild animals.
It is for this reason that, when power fragmentation gradually becomes a reality, human society is able to move from "whoever has the bigger fist has the final say" to "whoever is right will be heard."
What followed was an explosion of human creativity: institutions brought about expectations of security, security fostered trust, and trust unleashed imagination – the scientific and technological revolution was quietly ignited, and democracy, the rule of law, and innovation, together, formed a double-helix upward path of civilization.
3. The "Two-Way Journey" of Science and Technology and Democracy and the Rule of Law
When Gutenberg's printing press roared to life in Mainz in 1450, the smell of ink and the clatter of type quietly transformed the distribution of power. For the next six hundred years, technology and institutions were like a pair of intertwined DNA spirals: whenever one mutated, the other co-evolved in tandem. Thus, humanity gradually moved from "rule by the gun" to "rule by the written word."
3.1 Technology Expands Democracy
After humans emerged from primitive tribes, "centralized power" was once seen as synonymous with efficiency. Technology, in turn, was often primarily utilized by those in power. However, as the barriers to information dissemination, communication, and public expression continued to decline, technology ceased to simply serve the "golden spear and scepter" and began to quietly expand the boundaries of ordinary people's rights.
3.1.1 The Printing Press: Transforming Literacy from Rationalized to Affordable
Only twenty years after the Gutenberg Bible was published, the price of Bibles in Germany plummeted from 50 gold coins for a handwritten parchment copy to less than 3 silver coins, a drop of more than 90% in cost (Wikipedia).
The bar for literacy subsequently dropped: France’s literacy rate rose from 6% in 1450 to 29% in 1600 (Our World in Data).
Only when ordinary craftsmen could translate books and write petitions could Luther's Ninety-Five Theses spread across the Rhine within six months, forcing the Imperial Diet to openly discuss "freedom of religion" for the first time. Technology transformed "dictation by priests" into "reading books for everyone," bringing the authority of the Church into the public square.
3.1.2 Telegram: Compressing “next-day supervision” into “same-day supervision”
In 1844, Morse code connected Washington and Baltimore. Within a decade, the United States had laid over 50,000 kilometers of telegraph lines. The New York Herald pioneered the use of telegraph to send transcripts of congressional debates, which were then printed that same night.
Research shows that between 1870 and 1890, every 10% increase in telegraph coverage was associated with an average 2.3% decrease in absentee voting by state legislators (NBER). This was the first time technology connected the people's representatives with the people's eyes in real time, allowing voter oversight to be reported in the newspaper the next day, eliminating the need for weeks to delay voter oversight and ensuring immediate accountability.
3.1.3 Internet and social platforms: Upgrading from a “magnifying glass” to a “microscope”
In 1997, the average global user spent only 30 minutes online per week; by 2024, this figure had climbed to 6 hours and 40 minutes per day, with the total number of internet users exceeding 5.35 billion, representing nearly 70% of the global population (DataReportal). The UK's e-Petition platform, launched just over a decade ago, has already facilitated 62 issues entering mandatory parliamentary debate (publications.parliament.uk).
During the 2020 US presidential debate, fact-checking organizations issued 187 real-time corrections within 90 minutes, with an average delay of just 42 seconds (Poynter). Technological transparency has leapt from a "newspaper magnifying glass" to a "second-by-second microscope," shortening the half-life of public lies to the shortest possible time.
In fact, every leap in technology not only changes the way we obtain information, but also changes our possibility of participating in decision-making - from "being able to listen" to "being able to speak", and from "being able to speak" to "being able to change".
3.2 Good democracy can give rise to good rule of law
Technology can amplify voices, but only democracy can channel them into the channels for rule-making, and the rule of law is responsible for solidifying these voices into "institutional codes" that everyone can check, sue, and enforce.
Only when both "who can write the rules" and "the rules truly work" hold true can technology avoid becoming a new tool for monopoly. This isn't just abstract reasoning; three historical references suffice to illustrate:
A. 1689 (Bill of Rights): Representation before the rule of law
After the Glorious Revolution overthrew James II, William III needed Parliament's approval before he could levy taxes or maintain his army. This structure was enshrined in the Bill of Rights, which also enshrined core principles such as "freedom of speech" and "a permanent parliament" (parliament.uk). First came "representative mandate," then came "limits on royal power." Without the former, bills were just paper; without the latter, representation was mere talk.
B. Data Resonance: Democracy Index ≈ Rule of Law Index
The World Justice Project (WJP) 2024 (Rule of Law Index) ranks Denmark, Norway and Finland in the top three (World Justice Project).
The Economist's Democracy Index also ranks these three countries among the top five in the world (Denmark 9.80, Norway 9.81, Finland 9.58) (d1qqtien6gys07.cloudfront.net).
On the contrary, Venezuela, Cambodia and Afghanistan, which ranked last, all had democracy scores below 3 points.
The two indices have a correlation coefficient of 0.86 across 142 countries, indicating that they fluctuate almost synchronously. This shows that democracy is the source of institutions, and the rule of law is their form.
C. "Take action against the boss": The sword of the rule of law must be sheathed in democracy
Following his defeat in the 2022 election, Jair Bolsonaro was placed under investigation by the Supreme Electoral Tribunal and the Federal Police on multiple fronts, including suspicions of plotting a coup, falsifying vaccination records, and inciting violent protests. He testified in court several times between 2023 and 2024, and his loss of political power allowed the full advancement of the judicial process.
Benjamin Netanyahu's trial in an Israeli district court on three corruption charges (bribery, fraud, and breach of trust) began in 2022. The case is ongoing, and Netanyahu first appeared in court for cross-examination in December 2024. The election proceeded as planned, with opposition parties holding seats, ensuring the trial's independence.
Time magazine reviewed 15 similar cases around the world and found a common pattern: Only in regimes where votes are truly flowing and the opposition is active does the judiciary dare to "touch the boss." Conversely, in systems characterized by a "strongman plus a rubber-stamp parliament"—such as Venezuela and Myanmar—so-called "judicial accountability" is often a mere illusion on paper.
The essence of the printing press, the telegraph, and the internet is to put the microphone in the hands of more people. But that's not enough—only when these voices can enter legislative channels and be heard in courts can technology be protected from the abuse of power. Whether the benefits of technology will be swallowed up by the surveillance machine ultimately depends on whether democratic authorization is genuine and whether the rule of law is strong enough.
3.3 Legal support for technological innovation
We should not ignore the reflux effect of this chain: the rule of law is not only a cage that constrains technology, it is also an accelerator for promoting innovation.
In 1889, the U.S. Supreme Court established the principle of obviousness for the first time in the Edison Lightbulb case, opening the patent floodgates for subsequent cross-licensing and directly accelerating the wave of electrification.
In 1958, the (National Defense Education Act) allocated funds to train 650,000 engineers, including a $10 million grant that led to the creation of ARPANET, the predecessor of the Internet;
In 2016, the EU General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) included the "right to data portability" in Article 20, giving rise to a wave of innovation and entrepreneurship in areas such as encryption protocols and zero-knowledge proofs.
As long as the rule of law can provide clear property rights, open budgets, and reliable litigation mechanisms, innovators will dare to place their bets in the sun; otherwise, ambiguity and disorder will only alienate technology into a hotbed of monopoly and crime.
3.4 Summary
From the printing press to the blockchain, every technological leap has reduced the "wall costs" of information and capital, forcing power to decentralize and make concessions. And every institutional innovation—from paper petitions to on-chain voting—has in turn paved the way for the spread of technology.
Science and technology, along with democracy and the rule of law, have been intertwined and co-evolved over centuries. As long as this double helix continues to spin, Marshal Hong will find it difficult to easily pull the trigger on his golden pistol.
However, as we have seen, the world has never developed evenly. In some countries, votes and the rule of law are as bright as stars; in other places, the law of the jungle has never really left the scene, waiting only for the wind to turn and then return.
When states themselves become obstacles to the advancement of civilization, traditional governance tools have long been stretched to their limits. Economic sanctions and diplomatic isolation, while powerful, struggle to reach the microscopic level of individual destinies.
But in this evolutionary relay, a new variable quietly appeared:
Blockchain, a virtual replica of the real-world "power fragmentation," may be providing a subtle but firm escape route for those trapped under the powerful.
4. Decentralization: A ray of hope amidst the shadow of power
When traditional finance, media and justice are all firmly controlled by the same iron fist, blockchain is like a silent undercurrent - although the surface of the water is narrow, it can dig a hidden river for the circulation of value between the impenetrable walls of power.
However, we should understand that the source of the power of "blockchain decentralization" is "the fragmentation of power."
4.1 From “Power Fragmentation” to “Decentralization”
When medieval Europe was fragmented into hundreds of principalities, no single center of power could maintain a monopoly on violence and knowledge for long. It was within this fragmented interstices that the movable type printing press emerged, transforming the Latin scriptures of the clergy into affordable paper and transforming the "moat of knowledge" into a public waterway. Over the next four hundred years, history embarked on a trajectory verifiable by data:
In 1600, the French literacy rate rose to 29%, fully triple the rate in 1470;
Two generations later, the Bill of Rights nailed "no taxation without Parliament" into the English king's scepter;
A century later, Britain's industrial patent system and steam engine exploded in parallel, bringing its per capita GDP to 2.4 times the continental average (IMF long-term series).
Every time a single point of power is dismantled, humanity gains another technological bonus. Blockchain is attempting to replicate this physical ladder in the virtual world:
No central ledger: The Bitcoin network has over 23,000 full nodes distributed across 140 countries. Want to "block the chain with one click"? You'd need to unplug tens of thousands of data cables around the world simultaneously.
Permissionless access: Users can bypass foreign exchange controls within their mobile wallet and transfer all their assets across borders with just 24 mnemonic phrases.
Verifiable consensus: Every transfer is recorded on-chain, preventing corruption and misappropriation while allowing global observers to monitor the chain in real time.
The fragmentation of power in reality once paved the way for the Industrial Revolution; decentralization in the virtual world may be opening a door to the future of "public chain governance" and "code constitution."
4.2 Three real escape routes
The following three true stories are the best footnotes to how decentralized technology can bring people a glimmer of hope amidst the oppression of reality.
● Venezuela: Using private keys to fight million-fold inflation
Between 2015 and 2020, the purchasing power of the bolivar evaporated by over 99.9999%. During the worst week, buying a pound of bread required three large bundles of banknotes. Amid this "cash abyss," workers in Caracas have learned a new routine: as soon as they receive their paycheck, they immediately open their phones and convert the money into BTC or USDT.
In 2024, NGO statistics showed that local P2P Bitcoin trading volume continued to climb, with weekly peaks ranking among the top three globally. In a country where even the official exchange rate is untrustworthy, a string of 24 mnemonics becomes a "portable bank."
● Nigeria: No banking, funds on the blockchain
After the 2020#EndSARSprotests against police brutality erupted, the government froze the bank accounts of core organizers. Within hours, the Feminist Coalition replaced its fundraising QR code with a Bitcoin address. Within five days, they received approximately $51,000 worth of BTC, which they exchanged for local currency through peer-to-peer (P2P) over-the-counter transactions to purchase medical supplies (The Columnist). While traditional finance was forced to shut down, the on-chain pipeline remained untouched.
● Belarus: Cryptocurrency provides life-saving funds for exiles
The Lukashenko regime's control of banks and severance of charitable accounts has left many families of political prisoners without a livelihood. The exile organization BYSOL has established BTC and USDT wallets in Lithuania and distributed over €600,000 in crypto aid in 2022.
Each payment arrives within an average of 48 hours, and recipients exchange it for rubles via a flash exchange counter (Source: bysol.org). The decentralized ledger ensures transparency and transparency of donations, while making it virtually impossible to freeze them all at once.
These stories are not distant, nor are they isolated. They represent only the tip of the iceberg—in the shadows of countless powerful nations around the world, countless more are using an old phone and a set of mnemonics to wrestle with untouchable power. As on-chain value transfer becomes increasingly accessible, ordinary users can leverage similar low-cost strategies to enhance both their knowledge and their bottom line in their daily lives.
4.3 Summary: Underground rivers may not be omnipotent, but they are widening
The blockchain isn't a magic bullet. It's vulnerable to internet outages, power outages, and being used as a scam or a tool for speculation. Without legal safeguards, the blockchain could become a Ponzi scheme. But this planet already has more than just ground-based base stations.
As of August 2025, SpaceX’s Starlink constellation has deployed 8,075 satellites, representing 65% of the world’s total satellites in orbit (Space.com).
Even if there is an iron curtain on the ground, there is still a star curtain above our heads.
Just as movable type stuffed truth into a backpack and the telegraph wrote parliament into the morning newspaper, blockchain is attempting to package finance, contracts, and governance into a single hash. It may not bring about utopia, but it is driving the success rate of "golden gun dictatorship" to a historic low.
This is the most secretive and determined counterattack against the law of the jungle.
Conclusion
The stage reveals a blood-stained stage for us—the script is turned by gunshot, and the actors leave the stage with their lives. It tells us:
As long as power can sing solo, the voices of the masses will be silent.
The long lens of history tells us:
The reason why the "polyphony" in reality can be played is that power is constantly being divided, enclosed by the rule of law, and promoted by technology.
Today, blockchain is replicating this fragmentation into virtual space, like a silent underground river, running between the iron curtain and the disconnected network, carving out an escape tunnel for those under oppression.
It was far from perfect, but it was enough to make the Golden Pistol hesitate for the first time before pulling the trigger - costs and consequences began to emerge as part of the power calculation.
True civilization is not measured by the splendor of the stage scenery, but by:
Is there any "Green Marshal" who can decide the life or death of others with just a single order?