In some regards, democratization is the panacea it’s often lauded as. In one fell swoop it offers consumers cheap access to premium goods, and satisfies the insatiable appetite of the shareholder. But even a cursory understanding of finance proves that the goal of democratization is naturally impossible. It’s simply not feasible to offer a best-in-class product while simultaneously undercutting the competitive landscape. The money which enables a better product has to come from somewhere—and if consumers are paying less, or not at all for what is more than likely a more expensive offering, it’s clearly not coming from them. This is where the steep cost of democratization can be found.

In order to finance a product that is both better and cheaper democratizers find an alternative and often venture capital backed honey-pot. It’s under these contexts that the strategy of democratization becomes clear. First, create a product that outperforms its competitors. Second, offer unnaturally cheap access to it. Third, use this data to attract venture capital dollars. Fourth, continue to offer a best-in-class precut at an unnaturally low rate until all competition withers away. Fifth, once the competitive landscape is eviscerated, jack up prices—because where are the consumers going to go.

The above framework shows that the end-game of democratization is monopolization. In the initial phases customers may benefit from a temporarily better and cheaper good, but as the democratized product gains more and more market share the tables turn, and consumers quickly see their prices rise and the quality of the good decrease.

This has been going on since the Silicon Valley tech boom and has torn the technology-innovation landscape to shreds. But even though the landscape is damaged, and our villages colonized, not all hope is lost. There is a solution. There is a way to push-back against the encroachment of our tech-finance overlords. It’s called decentralization, and it offers an escape from the democratized junk-heaps that dominate how we interact with the web.