I'm still confused on what Ethereum really is and how likely it will succeed.
A giant digital scroll in the sky is meaningless, but Ethereum lets you write actual programs as entries in the scroll that define what new entries actually mean. The DAO defines entries that mean "I'm funding the DAO", "I'm voting for a DAO proposal", and "I'm withdrawing my remaining funds from the DAO". Since these entries can't be modified, any app can evaluate the scroll and display conclusions about what has happened in history.
Since Ethereum is Turing-complete, any interaction between people can be defined as entries in the scroll. Ethereum is the raw material for social coordination. Instead of dreaming of ways the world should work, you can build new ways and see if people want to use them. It's incredibly exciting, and I hope more people join us in building social software that users control.
How much adoption would it require? It seems incredibly ambitious which is great but what can _we do_ to make it more likely to succeed? What does the next 3-5 years look like?
Is it meant to be a new form of government at a state level? Or more oriented to small scale like a company?
I don't think it's really about replacing governments or companies. I view this technology as a way to empower individuals. Think of how marketplaces like eBay, Uber and Airbnb have empowered individuals to trade without an employer. Imagine those without the monopolist middlemen taking a cut and kicking people they don't like out of the market. Imagine open, efficient marketplaces for every kind of trade that free more and more people from the soft feudalism of corporate employment. Imagine new kinds of incentive systems to get more good outcomes and fewer bad ones.
Our economy is our collective nervous system, and we can now program the whole thing without permission. If you want to see this technology to succeed, you can help build products that use it or be an early adopter whose feedback helps guide products in the right direction. We'd love to have you in r/Ethereum.
i.e. they're not using it as it is