Why Musk is Taking That Chain-Saw to Government
Ninja's Rebel Meter: 9.5 out of 10
While we’ve all been distracted and outraged by Trump and his administration, including Musk, many of us have been, more or less, ignorant of a new political paradigm evolving right in front of our noses. It is attracting new people every day. This political variation on nation states, was conceived as early as the 1990s. It is called the Network State.
While it might not be the brain-child of Balaji Srinivasan, (an ex-CTO of Coinbase), he formalized and codified it in 2022, in what I would call a manifesto, at https://thenetworkstate.com .
It is important to note that as the tenets are fleshed out and implemented, the manifesto, in his view, will be continuously improved and updated. It could be a difficult system to understand and grasp if you are not well versed in information technology, the internet, cryptocurrency, and digital security. As an IT professional for many years, I am hard pressed to understand certain elements in any detail, even where I might understand them conceptually.
Such a system will not necessarily succeed if only because there is at least one wild card in the mix: the effect of human nature on any political system humans devise. We can be certain of one thing though: Trump, who by all accounts, cannot read or write above a grade school level, will certainly never be able to understand it at even the most basic level required for his position. He may even protest against it. We won’t know unless, or until he publicly acknowledges that he is aware of it. You may observe, however, that his bold attempts at imperialism and expansionism (or actions recommended to him by those advisors he listens to), suspiciously lay the groundwork for network states. The dismantling of current government institutions may usher it in sooner than any techbro’s wildest dreams. If Trump is a tool for Mr. Putin, a traditional imperialist, he may also be a tool for the wealthy tech class that wants to turn the world into network states.
Here is the definition of the Network State as provided by Srinivasan:
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.
I would paraphrase the definition like this for the uninitiated:
A network state is a membership based, exclusive online community. With enough capital supplied by this community, it will buy up plots of land and procure resources as negotiated with entrepreneurs, businessmen, and contractors. As electronic and physical infrastructure is developed, as the necessary capital and a governance structure is established, the leaders of these lands will apply for diplomatic recognition from the nation states they occupy. The objective is for the state to have virtual and physical world sovereignty.
The network state is defined, in summary, by the following properties and characteristics:
It is a digital-first organization and technology focused
It has a cryptocurrency based parallel financial system along side traditional financial systems
The network state is virtual and online. Underlying this is the notion that minds make countries. Its citizens are connected via Discord or Signal, a gated, or some other, as yet not created, social networking tool. It has been characterized as “a chat-group with a shared bank account”
As a network gated community, it is a closed society with events and physical meetups. “…gated by web3 login limited to citizens.” - https://thenetworkstate.com/on-network-states
It is intended to be international with a local feel
A network state can crowdsource territory such that the money raised can be used to buy and build on physical land within physical nation states anywhere in the world
It will eventually be sovereign with its own government structure and laws and law enforcement mechanisms. As a political entity, it is intended to be diplomatically recognized by nation states and other network states
It is a decentralized autonomous organisation (DAO) with a decentralized physical infrastructure (DePin) to run its functionality
It is open source and peer to peer
States are currently founded, funded, and promoted by the tech sector/class. These founders are considered the de facto leaders of their network state
It has for the most part a libertarian ideology
It is exclusive. Typically, one has to apply for membership
It is voluntary. People do not join based on force or propaganda. People do not have to stay
They are a network of people with like values and culture (as opposed to just people of the same faith, language, ethnicity or “racial” background)
Its digital infrastructure is based on Web3 / on-chain technology
It uses/will use mixed reality modes for communication (Virtual Reality (VR), Augmented Reality (AR)) technologies.
It is hard to say if this new system will stand the test of time, human nature, and sustainability. This new political system is entirely dependant on ongoing system resilience, system robustness and the availability of resources. It depends on the continuous improvement of the electronic systems and infrastructures they are built upon. It assumes that that the system is always on. It assumes that the system has continuous update-in-real-time processes. Bugs are at threat. Hackers are a threat. It must be supported by a never-ending supply of the physical components and physical resources (energy) to sustain it. It assumes an upward trajectory of technical progress that may or may not reflect future reality. I doubt that it will be inclusive of all peoples. If enfranchisement is limited to only wealthy participants and founders who control access and privileges, then most of the world’s communities will likely be left out of its benefits.
Now that you know something about it, (if you didn’t before), what do you think are the benefits and drawbacks of a network state?
Sources
https://basics.ensdao.org/about-ens
Some Existing Network States
https://neighborhoodsf.com/Neighborhood+Notes/The+Neighborhood
(One of the questions on its application form is interesting:
