Preface:
This post is a response/review of an article written by Balaji S. Srinivasan entitled “How to Start a New Country”. I recommend starting there before continuing. Balaji has a way bigger and better understanding of these concepts. I’m just here to throw in my two cents!
The Ultimate Goal:
Based on what Balaji is suggesting and proposing, recognition by and membership into the United Nations should be the ultimate goal of a network state. The case has already been made on how relatively simple it would be to amass the required number of citizens in a social network-type platform as well as a common means of exchange through cryptocurrency.
“Still, once we remember that Facebook has 3B users, Twitter has 300M, and many individual influencers have more than 1M followers, it starts to be not too crazy to imagine we can build a 1-10M person social network with a genuine sense of national consciousness, an integrated cryptocurrency, and a plan to crowdfund many pieces of territory around the world.”
However, the question still remains:
“Could a sufficiently robust cloud country with, say, 1-10M committed digital citizens, provable cryptocurrency reserves, and physical holdings all over the earth similarly achieve societal recognition from the United Nations?”
Maybe if we reframe the question, we can start to look for a solution, or at least a next step.
How could a sufficiently robust cloud country with, say, 1-10M committed digital citizens, provable cryptocurrency reserves, and physical holdings all over the earth similarly achieve societal recognition from the United Nations?
The Framework of a Solution:
The answer to the above question lies within the charter of the United Nations:
Article 1
The Purposes of the United Nations are:
- To maintain international peace and security, and to that end: to take effective collective measures for the prevention and removal of threats to the peace, and for the suppression of acts of aggression or other breaches of the peace, and to bring about by peaceful means, and in conformity with the principles of justice and international law, adjustment or settlement of international disputes or situations which might lead to a breach of the peace;
- To develop friendly relations among nations based on respect for the principle of equal rights and self-determination of peoples, and to take other appropriate measures to strengthen universal peace;
- To achieve international co-operation in solving international problems of an economic, social, cultural, or humanitarian character, and in promoting and encouraging respect for human rights and for fundamental freedoms for all without distinction as to race, sex, language, or religion; and
- To be a centre for harmonizing the actions of nations in the attainment of these common ends.
While these are all great purposes and each worthy of consideration, Purpose 3 offers the most opportunity for a network state to make both an impact on the global populous and an entrance into the international community. A network state has the ability to solve “international problems of an economic, social, cultural, or humanitarian character, and in promoting and encouraging respect for human rights and for fundamental freedoms for all without distinction as to race, sex, language, or religion”. But the question still remains: How?
Next Steps:
The network state has to provide and promote value for its citizens and that value, in turn, should work toward solving a least one, if not the multiple problems listed above. Seeing that a network state, as defined by Balaji, is centralized on an integrated cryptocurrency, the economic problems of the international community should be the primary focus. Lifting the world out of poverty and want will allow basic needs to be met and, in turn, allow for conversations to begin in the other areas of “social, cultural, or humanitarian character”. It would be comparable to meeting Maslow’s hierarchy of needs for the digital age.
But I still haven’t answered the “how” and to do that we must turn to the lesson from the COVID-19 pandemic. For all the misfortunes the pandemic has created, one silver lining is the ability for a large amount of the workforce to be employed remotely. While this trend may wax and wane over the next few years, it is here to stay and will dramatically change the way in which we are both employed and conduct business.
The first step in creating value for the citizens of a network state is to create “real-world” job opportunities in a virtual world environment. I’m not talking about monetizing blogs or selling on eBay (though these component would and should arise within the network state). I mean “real-world” work: telehealth, digital contracts, food production and distribution, education, and on and on and on. The network state has to establish a digital economy on the level we read about in books like Ready Player One where millions of people “log in” as a means to make a living and support their family and community.
On the Horizon:
Balaji is beginning this process with his work at 1729.com. He is creating value and solving economic problems by paying out projects in Bitcoin to those who contribute to the solution. I think he is on the right path and am interested to see where he takes 1729. I believe as he grows his tribe and develops out his mission, others will follow suit and contribute in meaningful ways. And, at some point, when his tribe has contributed to those purposes laid out by the United Nations, they should stand and be recognized as a worthy candidate for membership.