Patri Friedman

Saturday

10 Nov 2018
Beyond democracy: could seasteads and cryptocurrencies replace the nation state?
Beyond democracy: could seasteads and cryptocurrencies replace the nation state?
Beyond democracy: could seasteads and cryptocurrencies replace the nation state?

For the past 20 years I’ve been working to enable start-up societies: permanent autonomous zones on land or at sea intended to accelerate economic development and to serve as laboratories for voluntary political experiments. For just as long (in fact since I first read The Sovereign Individual), I’ve been interested in the potential of digital cash, which is finally arriving in the form of bitcoin and the emerging cryptocurrency industry. Start-up societies and cryptocurrencies have many parallels. Both grew from individualist movements seeking ways to take their philosophy from online message boards to the real world. Both seek to decentralise power in order to disrupt traditional institutions seen as having been captured by selfish elites.

Beyond democracy: could seasteads and cryptocurrencies replace the nation state?
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