... Hurried to the refreshment of a shower that would have to serve in the place of sleep

"anyone with an imagination is bound to be afraid".

"we're hundreds of years before the time when non resistance can touch us as a reality" referencing the German invasion of Belgium. Taking a back office war post was considered weak and lazy - would the same be the case now?

Smart contracts will negate need for middle-men - how is smart contract policed, need wrap around behind this. Lawyers who are coders!

Smart contracts are perfectly trustworthy - assuming you trust the coder who wrote them. Do we need a society for smart contract coders, akin to law society i.e. what recourse is there against rogue coders

Interesting that the author Considers religion as one of the greatest metaphorical walls - e.g. Sunni and Shia, protestant and Catholic in N Ireland.

There is no Secular politics in the middle east which arguably prevents development as Islam can be a traditional religion.