Preamble
There is a growing feeling that this cannot last.
Worldwide, institutions are in decline.
- Governments spend more and build less each year.
- College degrees, the old means of upward mobility, have gotten more expensive and less effective over the last 5 decades.
- People are lonely, disempowered and frustrated.
- Trust in the government, churches, traditional media, and credentialed experts is plummeting.
- The basic components of modern upward mobility: housing, education and healthcare are inflating beyond the grasp of the average person.
- Chronic illness, drug addiction, and deaths of despair are on the rise.
Innovation requires iteration.
Innovation thrives through iteration and small, constant improvements. History proves that Rome wasn't built in a day, but rather through gradual investments.
This era of rapid innovation means building infrastructure in bits, deploying it in atoms, and designing culture and governance in networks while implementing them in states. Simulate before implementing to minimize waste.
The future is bright: experiments are underway, and new network-based institutions are emerging.
The Network State
We believe networks already have the power.
The power of networks has shifted from land-based territories to attention-driven influence. Traditional media is being supplanted by free speech filtered through online communities. Capturing people's attention can alter their perspectives.
Changing minds within networks can lead to real-life transformations. Shifts in online sentiment often precede national changes. Social media platforms like Twitter and Instagram influence policy decisions and directly affect voter turnout.
We believe that human networks have the potential to create more meaningful outcomes than superficial internet phenomena, such as tweet threads and trends.
In fact, networks are already revolutionizing various aspects of human life. Cryptocurrency holdings amount to $2.57 trillion, with millions of enabled technologies. Over 25% of Fortune 500 companies permit remote work. Additionally, there are more than 100 network societies worldwide, comprising thousands of members with substantial wealth and influence.
We believe networks of humans can create more meaningful things than tweet threads, Instagram trends, and powerpoint slides.
A New Paradigm for Organization of Human Societies
Unlike traditional geographical entities, network-states are non-zero-sum entities. Humans can now occupy multiple digital spaces simultaneously, allowing values to dictate their affiliations rather than physical borders.
As the internet continues to expand and more people connect online, humanity is becoming one vast interconnected network. Network societies and states will emerge as sub-networks, coexisting and overlapping with each other.
Network-states can harmoniously coexist and even complement nation-states, providing new opportunities for collaboration and mutual growth.
Opt-in participation characterizes network-states, allowing individuals to join or exit at any time. This dynamic fosters a market-driven environment where states must continually provide value to their members. The days of stagnant, resource-wasting bureaucracies are numbered as states will be judged solely by their outcomes.
The ability to exit and freely associate creates an innovative alternative to violence, promoting peace and fostering cooperation. Network states embody the essence of freedom and flourishing, offering a promising solution for humanity's future.
Why now?
Innovations that transform the world require assembling evolved building blocks from diverse fields. Bitcoin combined cryptography, macroeconomics, and computer science; Amazon relied on logistics technology, peer review systems, and data networks; Uber leveraged secure devices, financial services, location tech, and rapid feedback. These advancements were only possible online.
As with any new system, it must outperform the old one to succeed. We believe this is not only possible, but inevitable.
Our view is that the Network State represents the crown jewel in human governance's evolution thus far. These emerging network states are young, fragile, and many will fail like internet startups or mining claims in previous ages of exploration. However, those that survive will reshape the world, following a power law-like pattern reminiscent of successful internet ventures and the American west.
Today, early Network States are desperate for explorers, early adopters, and fellow sojourners that hunger for a more open, innovative world.
Enter: you.
The good news: if you use a phone for communication, social media for news, or any form of digital payments, you are already engaging in network infrastructure.
However, there is a gap between being a participant and being a contributor in the same way there is a difference between a non-voting US citizen and being a member of your local city's governance.
The tools of civic engagement are evolving quickly.
The future NEEDS your voice.
We call this evolving from a “citizen” to a “netizen”.
Education: Sophisticated Netizens
| Pillar | Network State Approach | Traditional State Approach |
| Financial Sovereignty | Netizens own and control their assets themselves, permissionlessly. | Citizens are forced to rely on depreciating fiat money, whose value and use is controlled by global banks and invasive governments |
| Data Sovereignty | Netizens own and control their own data, and enforce their right to privacy through cryptography | All citizens’ data lives in the cloud, is legible to the state, is sold to corporations, and is confiscated based on the whims of the powerful. |
| Health Sovereignty | Use information like wearables and blood tests to measure and maintain your personal health, focusing on high-performance, balanced living and longevity | A labyrinth of extraordinarily expensive systems which may save your life in an emergency, but which are not incentivized to keep you healthy |
| Civics / Localism | Each netizen has complete visibility into the civic structure of their network and can propose edits. They are also engaged locally as this provides for their security and quality of life. | |
| Governance | Learn how to be a co-designer, and active contributor to your governance system. | Vote on leaders that are chosen for you, very rarely, who have no accountability to you. |
| Voice | Ideas are evaluated based on merit, in an open setting where any voice can be heard and voted on. | |
| Technology | To change the state you need to be able to build something of value. | To change the state you need a fancy degree, capital, and social approval. |
Coordination: Networking the Network States:
Network State Connect seeks to provide the connective tissue between network-states and network-societies and the on-ramp for new netizens.
The Connective Tissue: A Hub for Founders and Members
The On-Ramp for Netizens
An educational program certifies individuals as sovereign, high-contributing netizens, equipping them with in-depth knowledge from leading experts on essential topics. This certification provides access to a diverse landscape of network states, allowing experimentation until finding the perfect fit (or multiple fits) within the network. Through this process, individuals can maximize their impact and contribution to their chosen network-state community.
Network State Connect accelerates the growth and success of Network States in three key ways:
- Empowering Netizens: Educate individuals on effective decision-making and provide them with the tools necessary to become valuable contributors within their chosen network-state.
- Boosting Connectivity: Foster greater connectivity between network states and between network states and their netizens through knowledge sharing and collaboration.
By educating netizens and connecting network states, Network State Connect aims to:
- Streamline the establishment of network states
- Improve access to education on network involvement
- Simplify evaluation processes for new citizens
Ultimately, our goal is to create a thriving, interconnected ecosystem where individuals can easily find their perfect network-state match and contribute meaningfully to its growth.
Become a netizen and join the frontier of Network States