The obvious answer is because it makes them look good. Martin Gurri, author of The Revolt of the Public, has a lot to say in this interview: The highest calling of true elites is to translate the flux of reality into a coherent story. To most Americans, who believe reality must be approached “scientifically,” thisContinue reading “Why do countries modify the truth?”
Category Archives: politics
Vitalik on Balajis
Vitalik Buterin has weighed in on Balajis’ Network States concept. I like that Vitalik shares why he thinks Balajis is taking this stance. (I’m making an assumption that given his role in the crypto space, Vitalik knows Balajis well enough that he’s not mind reading). Vitalik thinks that: To show that network states are theContinue reading “Vitalik on Balajis”
Quote of the Day
Our entire antiquated process of adversarially writing high-stakes laws on paper at the last minute, deploying them in production to hundreds of millions of people without any testing, and then getting them interpreted in unpredictable ways by regulators and solicitors will be seen as a bizarre relic of an older time. Paper laws will goContinue reading “Quote of the Day”
Political predictions
These predictions come from an interview with Martin Gurri, author of The Revolt of the Public. Gurri is a former CIA analyst who predicted the effects of social media on politics. He predicts: Authority shifts to local decisionmakers. Because motives are clear at the local level. Bureaucracies get dismantled, improving service. Government adopts some ofContinue reading “Political predictions”
How to build a country on the blockchain
Balaji Srinivasan’s new book, The Network State, is out. He believes future countries can be built in the cloud. Land can be crowdsourced later: This book introduces the concept of the network state: a country you can start from your computer, a state that recruits like a startup, a nation built from the internet ratherContinue reading “How to build a country on the blockchain”
Does your status explain the world?
One filter for understanding humans: Some people really want to prevent other people from gaining status. From Tyler Cowen at marginalrevolution: I have a simple model of how some people — but by no means all — process political issues. Occasionally the real force behind a political ideology is the subconsciously held desire that aContinue reading “Does your status explain the world?”
Who should you vote for?
You could follow the news. Or you could just fill out the questionnaire at isidewith. It’s one of the most comprehensive sites I’ve seen for figuring out political alignment in your local district.
Basement Whatever 