Post by @stani • Hey
I have been reading a bit about network states and I feel that the more I read about it, the more I see network states less attractive. For example, with n
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- not living in nations would be ideal, except for the fact that we have to start out living in nations, and in the absence of such stability IRL, some form of dark triad, "barrel of the gun" despotism.
I think the network state is meant to reinforce the design principle of "creating smaller communities, making them somewhat permissionless, and sharing a social contract that define values and ideas". Firstly, the atomicity implied with network unions. Having a clear limit on the lowest building block matches the smaller community constraint, relative to the larger whole. Secondly, the one commandment matches, if nothing else, the permissionless nature of any group to spontaneously form the atomic unit (and implied censorship-resistance between such units). The question about social contracts that define values and ideas is that they must be generalized if they are to be applied to many diverse groups, otherwise it is some centralized group that reinforces their own values and ideas at the cost of the larger population's freedom to do the same. I don't think that "nations" as used in this context mean some "state" or a centralized government covering a region. In fact, I would refer to the "nations" of native Americans as a good example of a group of people with a shared self-governance, values, and without the stipulation of private ownership or domination. To dissolve such an identity to promote a previously global identity seems contradictory.
- "I see more value by trying to fade away of the idea of thinking in living in nations and actually build more communities where people can relate with each other regardless of geographic locations."
Isn't that exactly what a Network State would be?
I've been reading Jason Brennan's book, Against Democracy and beside his arguments for "epistocracy," (rule of the well informed, which is definitely problematic to implement) it becomes clear that one of the biggest issues with living within a state defined by territory is the coercion from those making the rules. Whether the state is governed by democracy or epistocracy matters less than if the people who abide by its rules are united by their values.
If a single group consists of some people who believe we should live simple lives in a forest eschewing any industrial activity and some others who believe we should do everything we can to build habitats and live in space, there will be conflicts.
Currently, sovereign boundaries are still typically modified using military power. If new processes for drawing boundaries could be standardized that did not use military power, (just as cryptocurrency secures itself using mathematics instead of the militaries that support fiat currencies) we would be able to look at a much different world. Not easy though!
- Perhaps the network state vision, if it can attract enough attention, will encourage our current democratic governance mechanisms to be more equitable, transparent,... That alone would be a step forward.
- I’m reading Vitalik’s post and trying to find out how network states take care of their members that need help. Isn’t that one important task of a state? I did not find anything about it yet
- Ok. The community will be regardless of geographical locations. But community members and community resources will still be located within different geographic nations, states in with their own ideas, police, armie, monopoly on violence, laws etc.
What to do when geographic nations begin to interfere in the life of online communities? Community members will be located in different states with different attitudes towards residents. What will we do when the values and ideas of the community come into confrontation with the nations? And geographic nations will decide to have an impact on the community.
- Agreed! I think that communities that have always organized independently because their governments failed at including them will have the most potential, since their culture has been built around principles where the nature of this technology works best. #ETHMexico was an amazing example of the yet to be discovered potential in Latin American communities!!
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