vitalik on degen communism
vitalik buterin on degen communism via michel bauwens tweet [https://x.com/mbauwens/status/1775227354064859200?s=20]:
A concept you should know about: * Degen Communism Vitalik Buterin writes: “the core idea of degen communism: a political ideology that openly embraces chaos, but tweaks key rules and incentives to create a background pressure where the consequences of chaos are aligned with the common good.” https://vitalik.eth.limo/general/2024/04/01/dc.html…?
notes/quotes from link:
Degen communism: the only correct political ideology – april 1 2024
..all of our political ideologies are outdated, and are increasingly failing us…The problem is that this is a fundamentally reactionary mentality, and it fails for the exact same reasons why all other reactionary mentalities fail.
..what is the forward-looking ideology that solves these problems? Degen communism.
What does the internet of the 2020s – ..the real internet as it exists today – fundamentally want? The answer is, it wants chaos. It does not want gentle debates between professionals who “disagree on policy but agree on civics”. It wants decisive action and risk, in all its glory. Not a world with genteel respect for principles, where even the loser peacefully accepts defeat because they understand that even if they lose one day they may still win the next, but a world with great warriors who are willing to bet their entire life savings and reputation on one single move that reflects their deepest conviction on what things need to be done. And it wants a world where the brave have the freedom to take such risks.
oi.. why can’t we let go of thinking everything can change but money ness.. we keep clinging to any form of m\a\p
At the same time, the general welfare of humanity demands a greater focus on the common good. ..most proponents of the common good associate the common good with extreme notions of “social stability”, which are often an excuse for keeping old extractive elites entrenched, and in any case are lame and incompatible with the trends of the 21st century. Like the occasional forest fire and its positive effects on antifragility of natural ecosystems, chaos is the mother of revitalization and renewal.
This brings me to the core idea of degen communism: a political ideology that openly embraces chaos, but tweaks key rules and incentives to create a background pressure where the consequences of chaos are aligned with the common good.
so.. not chaos.. not diff..
Degen communist ideas can be adopted by any type of entity with a network effect: crypto projects, social media sites, virtual game environments and governments. Many of the core ideas are common across all of these categories.
The world of cryptocurrencies is one of the sectors of society that embraces the “degen” the most. It has ups and downs that are unseen in almost any other market. Sometimes, the unpredictable chaos also does good: many memecoins have donated significant amounts to charity.
oi oi oi.. all just same song of people telling other people what to do
The two main forms of chaos in the broader world are social media and markets. Rather than trying to defang both, we should embrace both (especially markets), and try to tilt them toward more often serving the common good. Politics is inherently a more slow-moving domain, so the proposals will seem 10x milder. However, the increased scale of their impact more than makes up for it.
oi.. not common.. not good.. if any form of m\a\p.. 10-day-care-center\ness et al.. cancerous distractions
*This status quo is the exact opposite of degen, and the opposite of communist.
*actually not.. as you’re describing it.. rather.. same song
A degen communist would embrace *dynamism and change, especially when it seems like such dynamism and change might benefit the global poor more than anyone else. Degen communists would greatly expand safe and legal pathways for people to visit and live where they want to visit and live, trusting in liberalized housing construction, plus governments made wealthy by taxes from such construction, to build needed infrastructure for them. **Restrictions would be focused on keeping out particularly risky or bad actors, rather than keeping out almost everyone..t A “proof of stake” scheme could be adopted where someone can put down funds (or the right to make future invitations) at stake on a claim that a given person will not break any rules, which would then give that person an automatic right to enter. Security can be improved while total freedom of movement is increased.
*have seen none to date.. nothing legit diff.. including this dc
**oi.. not diff.. need to try gershenfeld something else law.. also doesn’t fit with last line of article.. on creating something for everyone
These two sets of tools together allow decisions to be made quickly, at large scale..t, and in a way that favors quality in a dynamic way that allows experts to quickly rise and fall with each individual topic or decision.
makes no diff how fast/large.. if still any form of m\a\p.. decision making is unmooring us law.. we need to try curiosity over decision making
In all of these possible implementations, the core theme of degen communism is the same. *Do not try to enforce stasis. Instead, embrace the **chaos of markets and other fast-paced human activity. At the same time, however, tweak rules in such a way that the upsides get funneled into supporting public goods (including quality of the governance itself), and the downsides get capped or even outright ***removed for the people who are not able to handle it. This can be a way forward for everyone..t in the 21st century.
*any form of m\a\p does that.. need to let go of measuring things if want legit diff..
**not a legit chaos (to freedom) .. going faster doesn’t = chaos.. just = faster
***then how is it for everyone?.. if a system where some ‘can’t handle it’?.. oi.. and from above on keeping out ‘bad actors’
________
________
vitalik on network sovereignties
________
________
_______
________
________
be you. 