Category: Overthrowing The Network State

  • OTNS: Is Praxis a bunch of fascists dressed as libertarians?

    In this episode of OTNS, we spoke to Ali Breland, a journalist at Mother Jones who has written on crypto and politics, about his recent publication about the links between Praxis and far right figures. We spoke about his experience of going to a Praxis sponsored party in NYC, his interviews with ex-employees about the fascist sympathies of the…

  • OTNS: Prophets are dangerous and Capital doesn’t care about your feelings

    In this episode we spoke to Wassim Alsindi, founder of MIT’s blockchain journal and the 0xSalon  research collective based in Trust in Berlin. During the discussion we spoke about the concepts explored in his pieces Prophet Motives & Knightwork States and Necroprimitivism Rising. Wassim makes interesting connections between, the Crusades, the zero-sum mentality of network states, and capitalism’s capturing of…

  • OTNS: Transitioning ReFi DAO to a Coordi-Nation

    In this episode we spoke to Monty Merlin Bryant, a co-founder of ReFi DAO and environmentalist to discuss the movement behind ReFi or Regenerative Finance. ICYMI, ReFi DAO had previously started to declare itself a network state but has since learning more about coordi-nations, have shifted course towards our conceptual framework instead. We discuss what that process has…

  • OTNS: Scaling Collective Action for Millions of People

    In this episode we spoke to co-founder of DAO Stack now working on Common, Matan Field who joined us at Zuzalu. During the discussion we talk about the need for scaling collective action, using fractal organization, and moving beyond economically based interdependence. Check out a previous episode to learn more about our framework for out network state alternative, …

  • OTNS: Is Code still Law? (Interview with Lawrence Lessig)

    In this episode we had the pleasure of speaking to Lawrence Lessig, the legal scholar known for coining the term “code is law” which if you’ve been in crypto, you’ll know that this phrase has been very influential on the space. During the discussion we talk about the original design of the internet, how it…

  • OTNS: Cosmo-Localism, Beyonders, and the Medieval Parallels to Digital Nomadism

    In this episode we continue Phase 2 of OTNS with Michel Bauwens, founder of the P2P Foundation. We discuss his concept of cosmo-localism which advocates for everything heavy to be local, and everything light to be global, how many medieval institutions were cosmo-local, and the implications of the rise of knowledge workers detached from physical…

  • OTNS: The Rise of Coordi-Nations (Phase 2 has begun)

    Last month Primavera and I spent about two weeks at Zuzalu in Montenegro with a team of people from Blockchaingov and elsewhere to concretely define our network state alternative of Coordi-Nations. We had five days of all day intensive workshops and three days of public presentations where we shared our findings to the attendees of Zuzalu. Right…

  • OTNS: DAOs and Decentralized Mafias

    Primavera and I have been at Zuzalu and took the opportunity to speak with Ameen Soleimani (@ameensol) about his role in Ethereum history and the creation of Moloch DAO and Privacy Pools. We also discussed the geopolitical implications of crypto technology and how it relates to thinking about network states. Overthrowing the Network State (OTNS) is…

  • OTNS: Network States is what you get when you have VC-brain

    In this episode Primavera (@yaoeo), Tara Merk (@mpg_dd), and I speak to Jahed Monand (@againstutopia), co-founder and partner of Cerulean Ventures, co-host of The Ownership Economy podcast (@ownereconomy), and left wing anarchist. During the discussion we speak about Jahed’s interactions with Balaji, the violence inherent to borders, and the real problem with heavily regulated industries…

  • The First Communist Network State is Already Here: Working Class Sovereignty

    A few weeks ago, I visited Granada, Spain, to meet with my friend and comrade Giulio Quarta from the Crypto Commons Association before heading off to another city to meet more friends. On my last day there we decided to rent a car and take a day trip to Marinaleda, a village in the Andalusian…

  • OTNS: Critiques and Alternatives from a Former Professional Libertarian

    For this episode of OTNS, Primavera and I spoke to Chris Berg, a cryptoeconomist, co-director at the RMIT Blockchain Hub, and a “former professional libertarian”. During the conversation we spoke about Chris’ revisionist history of blockchains, the shortcomings of TNS from a libertarian point of view, and Balaji’s state envy. Like we mentioned at the beginning of the series,…

  • OTNS: Institutional Design and Recognizing the Value of Politics

    For this episode of OTNS, Primavera and I spoke to Jason Potts (@profjasonpotts), a professor of economics and co-director of blockchain innovation hub of RMIT. This is the first episode in the series where we’re talking to someone who is still a fan of Balaji. During the interview we spoke about his disappointments in the…

  • OTNS: Maximum Freedom in Complex Social Organizations

    For this episode of OTNS, Primavera and I spoke to Eric Alston (@IncompleteRules), a researcher at Block Science  and Scholar-in-Residence at the Leeds School of Business at the University of Colorado Boulder, focused on the study of institutions, namely property, constitutions and blockchains. During the interview we spoke about formal vs inform institutions, organizational complexity, and…

  • OTNS: How to Optimize for Reality

    Michael Zargham (@mZargham), the CEO of Block Science comes back on the show to help us continue to overthrow the ontological framework of network states from the perspective of complex systems engineering. During the discussion we talk about how network states don’t optimize for reality, not confusing the map with the territory, and how an alternative to…

  • Overthrowing The Network State: Dictatorship by Tech CEO with Nathan Schneider

    Nathan Schneider comes back on the show to speak to Primavera and I to continue Overthrowing The Network State. During the conversation we talk about his experience at ETH Denver, the issue with using tech venture capital as a model for governance, and being intentional when exploring new political possibilities.  Mentioned Writing from NathanWeb3 Is the Opportunity We…

  • Overthrowing The Network State: Colonize the Memes, the Narratives, and the Land

    Primavera and Morshed Mannan from Blockchaingov join me to speak to Raymond Craib, a  historian of modern Latin America who recently published the book Adventure Capitalism:  A History of Libertarian Exit, from the Era of Decolonization to the Digital Age. We spoke about the neocolonialism inherent to network states and previous attempts at utopian libertarian exits, the colonization of history,…

  • Overthrowing The Network State: Untangling Balaji’s Helical Theory of History

    For this episode, I’m joined by Kelsie Nabben from Blockchaingov to speak to Quinn DuPont (@quinndupont), a historian of technology who recently gave a talk about his criticisms of TNS at the Commons Stack Unconference. He also recently published an article titled A Progressive Web3: From Social Coproduction to Digital Polycentric Governance. During the episode we interrogate Balaji’s misunderstandings of history…

  • Overthrowing The Network State: Survival of the Richest with Douglas Rushkoff

    For this episode, Primavera and I speak with Douglas Rushkoff (@rushkoff). Named one of the “world’s ten most influential intellectuals” by MIT, Rushkoff is an author and documentarian who studies human autonomy in a digital age. His twenty books include the just-published Survival of the Richest: Escape Fantasies of the Tech Billionaires, which we found to be relevant…

  • Overthrowing The Network State: Forming New Publics and Pluralism with Glen Weyl

    In the second episode of OTNS,  Primavera (@yaoeo) and I are speaking to Glen Weyl (@glenweyl), the founder of RadicalxChange and a co-author of Vitalik Buterin and Puja Ohlhaver’s article on Decentralized Society. During the discussion we spoke about Balaji’s oversimplifications in the book, how TNS was not written for human beings, and Glen’s alternative for a Networked Society differs. Overthrowing…

  • Overthrowing The Network State: An Initial Critique and Alternatives

    NEW SERIES: Overthrowing the Network State in collaboration with Blockchaingov In the first episode of our series ‘Overthrowing The Network State’ (OTNS), we dive into the world of Balaji Srinivasan’s recent book The Network State. The purpose of this series is to critique The Network State while also pulling out the salvageable parts and concepts in discussion with a…

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