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What do the hill tribes of Southeast Asia, who successfully evaded states for two millennia, have in common with modern cypherpunks with their cryptocurrencies and encryption? Both groups understood something that escapes most of us: liberation doesn't come through political struggle, but through strategic invisibility. When the costs of control become higher than the revenue from it, states make a rational decision – they withdraw. In the article "Running for the (Digital) Hills," I reveal time-tested strategies for escaping state control and show how digital tools amplify the same patterns that have worked for millennia. The hills are calling – whether real or cryptographic.
A state can rationally abandon territories that cost more to control than they generate in revenue. But a state cannot rationally ignore political threats, no matter the cost.
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