Prologue: The Liberators Who Never Left
The year was 1945. The war was over. Europe lay in ruins, its cities bombed to skeletal remains, its people starving. From the west came the Americans, not as conquerors, but as liberators. They brought food, medicine, and the promise of a new world order. In Asia, too, they arrived as saviors, helping push back imperial Japan and supporting independence movements in India and the Pacific. The Marshall Plan rebuilt Europe’s factories. The Bretton Woods agreement stabilized global finance. The world breathed again.
But the Americans did not truly leave.
They left their soldiers, yes, most of them. But they left something far more enduring: the dollar, the microchip, and the illusion of choice. By the time the last GI boarded a ship home, a new empire was already taking shape. It would not rule through governors and viceroys, but through banking systems, silicon, and server farms. It would not demand tribute in gold, but in data, dependence, and deference. This was not the colonialism of the past. This was something subtler, more insidious. This was neo-colonialism, American style.
And no one saw the chains being forged.
Chapter 1: The Dollar’s Iron Grip
The first chain was invisible: money.
In 1944, as the war still raged, 44 nations gathered in Bretton Woods, New Hampshire, to design a new financial order. The British pushed for their pound. The Americans insisted on the dollar. The Americans won. The dollar became the world’s reserve currency, the lifeblood of global trade. Oil, gold, grain, everything would be bought and sold in dollars. If you wanted to trade, you needed greenbacks.
At first, it seemed like a fair deal. The dollar was stable. The American economy was booming. But then came the petrodollar system. In the 1970s, the US struck a deal with Saudi Arabia: sell oil in dollars, and we’ll protect your kingdom. One by one, every oil-producing nation fell in line. If you wanted fuel, you needed dollars. If you wanted dollars, you needed to play by America’s rules.
India learned this the hard way. In 1991, with its economy in freefall, New Delhi turned to the IMF for a bailout. The price? Structural adjustment. Open your markets. Deregulate your industries. Let American corporations in. India complied. Its sovereignty eroded, one loan condition at a time.
Europe, too, found itself trapped. When the US sanctioned Iran in 2012, it didn’t just cut off American banks, it threatened any bank, anywhere, that dared to trade with Tehran. Even European firms, operating under EU law, folded. The message was clear: The dollar was not just currency. It was a weapon.
And then came SWIFT, the global messaging system that moves money between banks. Headquartered in Belgium, but controlled by the US. When Washington decided to cut Russia off in 2022, SWIFT obeyed. European companies, suddenly unable to pay for Russian gas, watched their energy bills skyrocket. The EU had rules. The US had leverage.
Chapter 2: The Silicon Noose
The second chain was technology.
In the 1990s, the internet arrived like a revolution. It was open. It was free. It was American. By the time the world realized what was happening, the giants had already risen: Google, Apple, Microsoft, Amazon, Facebook. They didn’t just build platforms, they built empires.
Take Ireland. In 2020, the European Union’s highest court struck down the Privacy Shield, a deal that allowed data to flow between the EU and the US. The reason? American surveillance laws, FISA 702, the CLOUD Act, gave the US government backdoor access to European data. The Irish Data Protection Commission ordered Meta (then Facebook) to stop sending European user data to America. Meta warned that without a new deal, it might have to shut down Facebook and Instagram in Europe.
Think about that. A private company, headquartered in California, was telling an entire continent: Comply with our government’s spying, or lose your social media.
Europe had laws, GDPR, the world’s strictest data protection regime. But what good were laws when the infrastructure itself was owned by America? German hospitals using US cloud services discovered that patient records could be seized by US intelligence. French officials pushing for a "sovereign cloud" found that their only options were AWS, Azure, or Google Cloud, all subject to US jurisdiction.
India faced the same dilemma. In 2020, the Modi government banned TikTok, WeChat, and 200 other Chinese apps, citing national security. But what replaced them? YouTube, WhatsApp, Instagram, all American, all extracting data, all answerable to US courts. When India passed its Digital Personal Data Protection Act in 2023, mandating that citizen data stay within the country, it ran into a problem: 60% of India’s government data was still hosted on AWS and Google Cloud.
The irony was bitter. India had fought for independence from the British. Now, its digital future was being dictated from Silicon Valley and Langley.
Chapter 3: The Illusion of Choice
The most brilliant trick of neo-colonialism is making dependence feel like freedom.
Europe thought it had a choice, until it didn’t. When the US pressured allies to ban Huawei from 5G networks, Germany and the UK complied, despite no evidence of spying. The cost? Billions in delays, years of lost progress. When the US restricted semiconductor exports to China, European chipmakers like ASML found themselves caught in the crossfire, their sales to China suddenly illegal under US law.
India, meanwhile, had built a $200 billion IT services industry, only to see its lifeblood, H-1B visas for skilled workers, cut off by Trump in 2020. Thousands of Indian engineers, the backbone of global tech support, were suddenly stranded. The message was clear: America’s needs came first.
And then there were the app stores. Apple and Google take 30% of every transaction on their platforms. When India’s startups tried to build alternatives, they were blocked, outpriced, or bought out. The US didn’t need to send in the Marines. It had App Store policies.
Chapter 4: The Rebellion Begins
But empires, even digital ones, provoke resistance.
In Brussels, a quiet revolution was brewing. The Digital Markets Act (2022) forced Apple to allow sideloading, letting users install apps without the App Store’s 30% cut. The Digital Services Act (2024) demanded transparency from Facebook and Google, threatening fines of up to 6% of global revenue for violations. France launched SecNumCloud, a certification for "trusted" cloud providers, no US companies allowed. But when French agencies went looking for a sovereign cloud, they found that the only "European" options were often just AWS and Azure with a local logo slapped on.
India, too, fought back. The Unified Payments Interface (UPI), a homegrown payments system, saved $1 billion a year in Visa and Mastercard fees. The Public Tech Platform for Frictionless Credit used open-source code to let small businesses access loans, without Wall Street middlemen. And when the US threatened sanctions over India’s purchase of Russian oil, New Delhi started trading in rupees.
But the deepest resistance was happening in the code itself.
Chapter 5: The Open-Source Uprising
If the problem was proprietary control, the solution was open rebellion.
In Munich, the city government ditched Microsoft Windows for Linux, saving millions in licensing fees. In Kerala, schools switched to free, open-source software, teaching students that technology didn’t have to come from California. In Brussels, policymakers whispered about RISC-V, an open-source chip design that could break Intel and ARM’s monopoly.
And then there was cryptocurrency. Not the speculative trading, the idea. A currency without banks. A payment system without SWIFT. When the US froze Russia’s dollar reserves in 2022, the message was received loud and clear: If your money is in dollars, it’s not really yours. The European Central Bank accelerated its digital euro. India’s central bank tested the e-rupee. Even the IMF, that bastion of dollar dominance, began exploring central bank digital currencies.
But the real revolution was in open-source everything:
- Software: Linux, Signal, Nextcloud, tools that no government could shut down.
- Hardware: RISC-V chips, designed in the open, manufactured anywhere.
- Finance: Decentralized exchanges, peer-to-peer lending, no Wall Street required.
- Knowledge: Wikipedia, Sci-Hub, open-access science, breaking the grip of Elsevier and Springer, who charge $10 billion a year for research funded by public money.
The goal was clear: Build a parallel system. One that couldn’t be sanctioned. One that couldn’t be switched off.
The Bitcoin Revolution: A Weapon Against Financial Colonialism
As the Bitcoin network grew, there arose a need for more efficient ways to trade digital assets. This led to the development of altcoins and tokens, often built on existing blockchain platforms such as Ethereum. Ethereum introduced than the concept of 'smart contracts,' self-executing contracts with the terms directly written into code, which laid the foundation for the rise of decentralized applications (dApps).
Peer-to-peer trading was further facilitated by platforms that allowed users to trade directly with one another without the intervention of centralized exchanges or even without access to the Internet. These platforms provided an alternative means of trading, which was especially important in regions where access to traditional financial services was limited.
The shift to Web 3.0 and the Meta-economy
The evolution of Bitcoin and blockchain technology laid the groundwork for Web 3.0, the next generation of the internet. Unlike Web 2.0, where central platforms such as Google and Facebook control user data, Web 3.0 enables users to own and control their own data.
Web 3.0 uses decentralized networks, blockchain technology, and peer-to-peer interactions to create a more open and transparent internet. Users can participate in decentralized finance (DeFi), digital marketplaces, and other applications that provide them with direct control and ownership of their digital assets.
This shift has led to the emergence of the 'meta-economy,' a digital economy in which value is created, traded, and managed within virtual environments. In this economy, users can engage in virtual worlds, digital marketplaces, and other online ecosystems that enable economic activity without the involvement of traditional financial institutions.
The meta-economy, combined with peer-to-peer systems, can stimulate local economies by enabling direct trade and value exchange within communities. It provides independent alternatives to the influence of large tech companies, reducing dependency on centralized platforms for economic activity. Additionally, it can promote local innovation and entrepreneurship, as individuals and small businesses gain direct access to markets and resources that were previously out of reach.
Economic implications
The rise of Bitcoin, blockchain technology, and Web 3.0 has far-reaching implications for the global economy. It has changed the way we think about money, ownership, and value exchange. Through the decentralization of financial systems, individuals worldwide can access financial services even in regions where traditional banks are absent.
Moreover, the emergence of decentralized applications and the meta-economy has created new opportunities for economic activity within virtual environments. Users can participate in digital marketplaces, virtual worlds, and other online ecosystems that generate economic value without the intervention of traditional financial institutions.
While these developments are promising, they also bring challenges, such as regulating decentralized networks, protecting user rights, and integrating new technologies into existing economic structures. Nonetheless, they mark a significant shift in the way we think about and participate in the global economy.
Chapter 6: The Fight Ahead
The story isn’t over.
Europe’s sovereign cloud is still mostly running on American servers. India’s digital public infrastructure is open-source, but its data centers? Still in the hands of AWS and Google. The dollar remains king. The Silicon Valley giants are lobbying, litigating, and delaying every attempt at regulation.
But the cracks are showing.
When the US cut off Huawei from global chip supplies, China didn’t collapse, it doubled down on domestic production. When Europe’s GAIA-X cloud project launched, critics called it a Trojan horse for AWS. But the fact that it exists at all is a sign: The world is looking for an exit.
The question is no longer if the American digital empire will fall, but when, and what will replace it.
Will it be a fragmented internet, with each region locked behind its own Great Firewall? Or will it be something new, a truly open, decentralized web, where sovereignty isn’t just a legal concept, but a technical reality?
The tools are there:
- Open-source software to replace Windows and iOS.
- RISC-V chips to break Intel’s monopoly.
- Public, permissionless blockchains to replace SWIFT.
- Community-owned mesh networks to bypass Comcast and Verizon.
The choice is stark: Stay chained to the empire, or build something free.
The Builders of the New World: OS-SCi, MonFlo, and AnalyseCentre
While governments and corporations fight over the old system, a new generation of builders is creating the tools for a post-colonial digital future.
OS-SCi: The Open-Source University for a Sovereign Digital Future
While traditional education funnels students into jobs at Google, Meta, or Wall Street banks, OS-SCi is rewiring the system. Based in the Netherlands but operating globally, OS-SCi isn’t just another coding bootcamp, it’s a radical rethinking of tech education. Its mission? To train the builders of a decentralized world.
At the heart of OS-SCi is a modular, open-source curriculum, think of it as Lego blocks for learning. Students don’t just memorize syntax; they master the fundamentals: Logics, Security, Open-Source Development, and Decentralized Systems. Whether it’s Linux, Rust, Python, or blockchain, the focus is on understanding the code that runs the world, and how to take control of it.
But OS-SCi doesn’t work alone. It’s partnering with universities across Europe, India, and beyond, helping them adopt its open-source programs, either in part or as a full alternative to proprietary tech education. In India, universities are integrating OS-SCi’s Ubuntu Touch and Odoo development tracks to train the next generation of open-source entrepreneurs. In Europe, institutions are using its Software Security and Cloud Sovereignty modules to teach students how to build systems that can’t be hijacked by Big Tech. And in Africa and Southeast Asia, OS-SCi’s low-cost, high-impact courses are giving students skills that big corporations can’t monopolize.
The real magic happens at OS-SCi’s Hackathons. These aren’t your typical coding competitions. They’re battlegrounds for digital sovereignty, where students tackle real-world problems:
- Building open-source alternatives to proprietary software.
- Creating decentralized apps that bypass Big Tech’s walled gardens.
- Designing secure, privacy-first tools that governments can’t backdoor.
The best part? The winners get hired. Not by Silicon Valley giants, but by open-source companies, decentralized startups, and sovereign tech initiatives. Past Hackathon winners have gone on to work at European digital identity projects, Indian fintech rebels, and even MonFlo itself. One team built a decentralized social media platform, and now they’re funded to turn it into a real product. Another developed a self-hosted cloud solution, now used by small businesses avoiding AWS lock-in.
OS-SCi isn’t just teaching code. It’s building an army of engineers who can replace the old system, one open-source project at a time. And with partnerships expanding in Thailand, the Philippines, Indonesia, and Vietnam, that army is growing fast.
This is education as resistance. A place where students don’t just get jobs, they take back the future.
MonFlo: The Bank of the Future, Built for Sovereignty
While traditional banks enforce the rules of the old financial empire, Monflo is rewriting them. Imagine a bank that doesn’t just hold your money, it gives you real control. Monflo is a licensed financial institution with the power to issue IBAN accounts, just like any European bank. But unlike the old guard, Monflo doesn’t lock you into a system where your money is subject to arbitrary freezes, inflation, or geopolitical whims. Instead, it automatically converts euros into e-Euros, a digital, programmable version of the euro that lives on open, decentralized rails. This opens up the possibility for value to be transferred instantly. No more waiting days for cross-border transfers. No more SWIFT fees or middlemen. Just instant, low-cost transactions that work anywhere in the world.
But Monflo doesn’t stop at fiat. It’s also a gateway to the new financial system. Want to buy Bitcoin or Ether? You can do it seamlessly, right from your account. No need for shady exchanges or complicated on-ramps. Monflo bridges the gap between traditional finance and the decentralized future, making it easy to move in and out of crypto without the hassle.
This isn’t just banking. It’s financial sovereignty. A place where your money is yours, not held hostage by bureaucrats, bankers, or border controls. Where you can pay in euros, hold in crypto, or convert to stablecoins with a tap. Where censorship-resistant money isn’t a fantasy, but a feature.
In a world where banks can freeze your accounts (ask the Canadian truckers of 2022) or governments can seize your assets (ask the Russians in 2022), Monflo is building a parallel financial system, one that respects your freedom as much as your funds. It’s not a bank. It’s a declaration of independence.
And then we have AnalyseCentre, fighting the information wars. In an age where algorithms decide what you see, what you believe, and even who you vote for, AnalyseCentre uses open data and AI to expose manipulation, track disinformation, and hold power accountable while promoting social innovation. Through education, consultancy, and innovative projects, it teaches organizations and leaders to use AI responsibly, recognize patterns, solve complex societal problems, and design sustainable strategies aligned with long-term goals. At the same time, AnalyseCentre supports organizations and government ministries in implementing AI to scale societal impact. Additionally, it provides thesis guidance and supports graduation projects on AI, systemic change, and complex problem-solving, applying its expertise to create practical, future-proof solutions.
These aren’t just companies. They’re arsenals in the fight for digital freedom. They’re proving that another world is possible, one where technology serves people, not empires.
Epilogue: The EverythingOpen Manifesto
This is not just a story about technology. It’s a story about power.
The Americans didn’t conquer the world with tanks. They conquered it with default settings. With "I agree" terms and conditions. With the quiet assumption that there was no alternative.
But there is.
Open-source software. Open hardware. Open finance. Open science.
This is how we break the chains.
Not by building walls, but by building bridges, to a world where no single nation controls the code we run, the money we spend, or the knowledge we share.
The first step is to see the chains.
The next is to cut them.
Final Thought: "First they ignore you. Then they laugh at you. Then they fight you. Then you win." , Mahatma Gandhi (who would have hated proprietary software)