21 sats \ 7 replies \ @jk_14 29 Dec 2022 \ on: deleted by author bitcoin
No need to wait so long.
"Progress, then, appears to require three things: capital accumulation, technological advancement, and a public ideology to support it." ("Toward a Node World Order")
"Fragmentation means that crypto cannot fulfil the social role of money." (Bank of International Settlements)
That's really obvious: they biggest chance to diminish Bitcoin is to induce fragmentation of idea.
public ideology = Bitcoin Maximalism (regardless if you like it or not)
be proud of being Bitcoin Maxi (that's the way to go)
I think the fact that Bitcoin has inspired so many people to be enthusiastic ambassadors and spread the vision for a new decentralized financial system is incredible. The work that the maxis have done already has definitely catalyzed Bitcoin adoption.
However, I feel like we need to have a more coordinated approach to combat the constant stream of bad press that comes from the various tentacles of the elite. The institutions they have built have influence a vast number of people globally. We cannot simply take over their institutions and expect them to work for us—for Bitcoin. Unless the Bitcoin system benefits them, they're not going to actively promote it, and, most likely, act to work against it.
We Bitcoiners can build more than software—we can build our own institutions. There is a huge potential in creating media, education, community, and general social structure on top of a Bitcoin foundation. Those structures can create virtuous feedback loops that can actively grow a real financial system built on top of Bitcoin. Bringing awareness is step 1. The next steps are building on top of that awareness into a way of life whereby debts and credits in society can be settled on a Bitcoin standard.
Individually, we can do very little to combat against the collective organized force of individuals that make up corporate media, PR firms, multinational corporations, and the state. However, we can work together to create our own institutions and grow our own influence. Something big starts as something small. I'll dive deeper into how I think that we can happen next week (I've just had so much on my plate lately so I haven't been able to write that up fully).
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This goes very much into the network state direction. Are you familiar with Balaji's book?
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I've heard of it, but haven't read it. I know the one-sentence summary Balaji gives:
A network state is a highly aligned online community with a capacity for collective action that crowdfunds territory around the world and eventually gains diplomatic recognition from pre-existing states.
Without reading too much further into the book, I feel bearish on the idea. Statehood is not achieved through diplomacy, but through military. Military gives security, and through security comes diplomatic recognition. Palestine wants to have state recognition, but Israel simply has far more military force to back it up. Even living as a network state, Palestinians would not have freedom to live and prosper because of the overwhelming military might of NATO and Israel. The network state wouldn't solve their problem of statehood because they literally need a military to push back against the other conquering military force.
It sounds a nice Silicon Valley vision for what a state could be, but without a vision for how this state achieves military power to secure its territory and defend against adversaries, I don't see how it could succeed or be differentiated from a normal state.
No nation state would willingly to sacrifice their own territory, resources, or people through a diplomatic process. The elite who run the state are akin to the farmer that runs the farm. There is no farm without a farmer; there is no state without an elite. And the way the elite run their state is through a reliance and monopoly on violent force through the police and military.
Imagine if a few influential individuals came together to fund the creation of such a network state. They managed to find some remote Pacific islands that some oligarch was willing to sell, and they set up their network state with the territory they purchased. Let's say they accidentally stumbled upon some real and valuable natural resources, and were able to utilize the labor of their citizens to convert those raw materials into exports to trade with other nations. What is stopping the United States, Russia, China, or any other state with a modicum of military force from acquiring those territories and those peoples for their own gain? Even having an army doesn't stop the United States from waging their resource wars on less powerful nation states. Without a military, that state has no security.
I know many Bitcoiners are anti-state, anarcho-capitalist, anarcho-syndicalist, etc. However, due to the relationship between the military and state, I don't see how it would be possible to operate a state without a military. The network state feels reminiscent of securing jepgs on the blockchain. A nation of people need a real military force to secure their livelihood from adversaries—it can't just be online.
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The word "territory" in Balaji's one sentence doesn't refer to a territory that you have to defend with a military. It might be as small as a single club, or it might be a special economic zone like Prospera in Honduras. The lack of sovereignty of the physical territory is not a problem, as some recognized entities like the Hospitalier order have no sovereign territory at all. For a network state it is the sovereignty of its digital part that matters. And you don't have to aim for diplomatic recognition at all, it's all in Balaji's words "a toolbox".
The network state is not at all what you think it is. It's much closer to your idea of building our own institutions.
The network state feels reminiscent of securing jepgs on the blockchain.
Indeed, and by the way this is the pursuit of some Bitcoiners as well (example: raretoshi.com). And as soon as your institutions will need gated access, there will be NFTs or dont-call-these-NFTs-although-they-are and they probably will come with jpegs attached because everybody already expects it anyway.
Also, punk6529's JPG thread is helpful to read regardless of whether you agree with him or not.
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we can build our own institutions
Such institutions must be built around the ideology.
Just like in case of synergistic collaboration between the state, multinational corporations, corporate media, and PR firms - for instance: around the ideology of reducing CO2 emission
Ideology is key.
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Very true. The cypherpunks and Bitcoin maxis have laid down the ideological groundwork perfectly for the next era of development. Now it's just up to us to go and build such institutions. We already see the Paxful sponsored Bitcoin Ekasi—a Bitcoin-first education center and community hub in a South African township. It's just the beginning for such institutions, and I hope to see more in the next few years.
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Agree we are early and the light continues to get brighter as more are educated and usage increases.
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