In this blog, I'd like to explore the possibilities inherent within the cryptospace for the reconstitution of our communities--whether we can engineer the systems governing our money to bring people closer together physically, emotionally, philosophically, monetarily, and materially. Can can thoughtfully architected software plant the seed of hope of a better future?
But before we can do the planting, we must first prepare the soil.
From The Flicker of Museu Valencià d'Etnologia via
the Wikipedia article on Tillage
We already know the story. We know the dangers of the climate crisis, industrial agriculture and meat production, the drift towards techno-fascism amidst political gridlock, ideological division and confusion, bioengineering, depression, obesity, the diffusion of propaganda and misinformation through social media, corporate and governmental surveillance, the constitution of society on the basis of non-renewable energy sources, the growing gap between the rich and poor, the de-skilling of society, the proliferation of bullshit jobs, the loneliness of the digital world, and societal intellectual regression through mass entertainment. This knowledge permeates our culture. Everyone knows it at least intuitively--yet nothing changes.
Our traditional means of solving social problems them don't work.
In fact, our traditional means for solving problems are the problems. As governments and corporations bloat to evermore dizzying extremes, so do their detrimental impacts on the rest of society. The larger the mess they make, the larger the response necessary to fix it (which never, really, happens) and so on. It's at the point where those with power are only willing to look at solutions that require massive organization with billions of dollars to invest, and society--that is, people's day-to-day lives and arrangements--gets majorly disrupted at every turn.
Every new solution is new and untested, blindly adopted and invested into in huge sums, society is reconstituted...and we live in the resulting confusion. Blockchain technology and cryptocurrency can very easily slide into this same pattern of behavior, and is probably already doing so, as major players have been picking up on its possibilities and benefits.
But before we plant this seed, we should be sure it's the one we want to reap.
How will society be reconstituted by this new technology? Will it be just another way to ensure you don't know your neighbor? Another way to ensure that your local coffee shop today is a Starbucks tomorrow? Another way the Winklevoss twins will make another billion? Another way to sell people on the need to hoard resources over others so they can live the #lambo life?
Money, and the rules governing it, are one of the most important and enduring methods for organizing society. If we took the time, could we create the kinds of digital currencies, rules, and organizations that promote togetherness, peaceful interaction, self-ownership, leisure, fairness, community, good work, neighborliness, intellectual vigor, physical and emotional health, small-scale production, truth-telling, sharing, and sustainability?
When one considers all the ways money touches our lives, is perhaps decentralized monetary control and anonymous transactions only part-way solution to a better society?
