A few final words

Projects that make use of speculation are often heralded (or at times accused) of trying to predict the future. This was definitely not my intent. There are many possible futures, and the one we end up with is fully dependent on the decisions we make. This is the true value of exercises such as these. To stimulate discussion, challenge assumptions, and motivate stakeholders to more clearly describe (and ideally agree on) a future that is not only possible—but preferable.

In doing so, we will all have to ask hard questions about who this future should be preferable for. There are many ways that technologies such as Web Monetization can scale, but only some of these will result in a world we are happy to live in.

Remember to imagine and craft the worlds you cannot live without, just as you dismantle the ones you cannot live within. — Ruha Benjamin