BBC examines the Network State
Balaji's dystopian cult grows louder
I'll be a bit quiet for a few days because I'm on deadline for a big piece – and I look forward to sharing it with you.
In the meantime, check out this story from the BBC: "The crypto bros who want to crowdfund a new country.”
Longtime Nerd Reich readers will find some familiar names and ideas. It seems the Network State cultists, who seek to replace democratic governments with corporate tech dictatorships, are getting louder...
Network State Conference in Singapore
In fact, the second annual Network State Conference takes place in Singapore on Sunday. Seemingly normal tech CEOs will share their ideas for creating new forms of government in a post-democracy world where nation-states (like the USA) no longer exist.
They'll be hosted by Balaji Srinivasan, the former Andreessen Horowitz partner and chief technology officer of Coinbase with a terrifying techno-fascist vision for San Francisco. Srinivasan recently announced the creation of the "Network School," a wannabe university that will indoctrinate "students" with his strange and dystopian vision. From TechCrunch:
Srinivasan says his 90-day school will start in late September and will feature lectures on topics like digital nomadism while offering meals designed by longevity-obsessive Bryan Johnson, the entrepreneur who made headlines last year for spending millions on “de-aging” himself. The program, Srinivasan emphasized, is best suited for those who “understand that Bitcoin succeeds the Federal Reserve,” and “that AI can deliver better opinions than any Delaware magistrate” and “that democracy can be rejuvenated with cryptography.”
The 2024 Network State conference is free to attend online. Click here for more information.
