At the heart of every real networked revolution is the idea that the impetus is going to come from a lot of the nodes; they’re not just going to be repeaters. There is, in every phenomenon of this sort, the acceptance of a degree of uncertainty. “Cast your bread upon the waters”, Ecclesiastes says. You can’t stay totally in control. Part of the outcome of the drama is in an individual’s hands, but a lot of the total outcome is going to be the result of emergent phenomena. This is anathema to a person who believes he’s been given a privileged position in history. Anyone, I think, who truly imbibes in the spirit of 5G must accept that he at most can only play his part. He cannot write the script. History has a place for leaders. It has no real place for tyrants.

There’s a deep connection I think, between democracy and the successful operation of a system. There is a tremendous power in the recognition of ordinary worth, which directly arises from the realization that a real power springs from tapping into all things great and small. What this implies is that each, no matter how humble, has the right to act, even in a small way. None of us is insignificant. Even the little should dare to be right at the risk of being wrong. What is not acceptable is to believe that we don’t count as individuals. Our voices may not carry the day, but speak we must.