Just had (one of) the most powerful and impactful conversations of my life with @balajis
We discuss crypto, decentralization, China, woke culture, and how to build a city:
(thread)
We discuss crypto, decentralization, China, woke culture, and how to build a city:
(thread)
The primitives that a crypto address can give a user are comparable to the explosion of capabilities that mobile and the internet gave you.
In 2013, Balaji predicted that tensions and an eventual backlash were brewing against SV.
The signs were there. No-one caught it; except for Balaji. He called it 'Silicon Valley's Ultimate Exit'
(cont.)
The signs were there. No-one caught it; except for Balaji. He called it 'Silicon Valley's Ultimate Exit'
(cont.)
East coast and traditional institutions slowly turned on SV, which saw a rapidly emerging demographic who formed America’s wave of ‘new money.’
The two cultures were poised for a clash.
The two cultures were poised for a clash.
Balaji foresaw two outcomes in the ensuing conflict.
1. Google, Facebook, and Amazon become surveillance machines
2. Crypto aligns individuals against surveillance states behind free speech, markets, privacy, and transparent contracts via blockchain
1. Google, Facebook, and Amazon become surveillance machines
2. Crypto aligns individuals against surveillance states behind free speech, markets, privacy, and transparent contracts via blockchain
Crypto is the 'predator' to the 'alien' of wokeness - latent software in our minds, downloaded in our most impressionable years at university institutions and activated by a broadcast of sufficient social volume and appeal.
The benefits of a crypto reform are obvious. Public blockchains are massively multiclient databases, where every user is a root user.
(cont.)
(cont.)
Developers, investors, and influencers benefit the most.
Everybody can capture more of the value they create - “Basically what crypto is, is digital property rights.”
Everybody can capture more of the value they create - “Basically what crypto is, is digital property rights.”
The introduction of digital property rights will lead to an unlock on the scale of China's economic supernova under Deng Xiaoping in the late twentieth century.
These digital rights are seizure-resistant, whether you choose to monetize, or move from one platform to another.
Big tech will make this transition naturally - external disruptors like @Bitclout_ will force their hand
Big tech will make this transition naturally - external disruptors like @Bitclout_ will force their hand
Building startups leads to building decentralized network states aka building crypto cities.
We can build these network states through Crowdchoice and crypto-voting
(cont.)
We can build these network states through Crowdchoice and crypto-voting
(cont.)
Crowdchoice is the concept of a sovereign collective - a group of people unified by collective ideology that is not restrained by geography.
(cont.)
(cont.)
Beyond ballot voting, you can vote with your feet and your wallet. You can include social features so that people can vote as a group, or block voting.
(cont.)
(cont.)
cloud communities can collectively bargain with existing governments, and crowdfund territory in the real world.
Digital currencies (crypto) are part of a fundamental shift in human organization - from shared geography, to shared ideas.
With the internet as main governance mechanism, even those physical communities could be increasingly decentralized.
With the internet as main governance mechanism, even those physical communities could be increasingly decentralized.
Our past is our future. Every ideology has always been out there.
Concepts like democracy or libertarianism have been around millennia, the only thing that has changed is the technological capabilities that unlock their manifestation.
Concepts like democracy or libertarianism have been around millennia, the only thing that has changed is the technological capabilities that unlock their manifestation.
"'Balaji was right' might be the most terrifying phrase in the English language" - @Conaw
Reply to this thread with your favorite moment from our conversation. Would love to read the responses.
Reply to this thread with your favorite moment from our conversation. Would love to read the responses.
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thequestpod.substack.com/p/balaji-srini…
thequestpod.substack.com/p/balaji-srini…
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