Comment
Author: Admin | 2025-04-28
Let’s try alternatives,” said Friedman, during a recent interview with Reason. Friedman added that these alternatives could represent a “tweak” of current democratic models, or could represent a total departure from democracy. The point, in Friedman’s formulation, is to give people options. Yet despite its supposed ideal of challenging governance norms and escaping modern bureaucratic structures, the Network State movement is, ironically, being funded by the very companies and people responsible for propping up and profiting off of the U.S. government. Pronomos Capital is generously supported by tech billionaire Peter Thiel, who—in addition to funding many of Pronomos’s projects—also financially seeded Friedman’s Seasteading Institute, which is devoted to similar endeavors. Thiel continues to make much of his fortune through his company Palantir, a defense contractor that works with the highest levels of the U.S. government and was initially financed by the CIA. A number of Thiel associates are also deeply intertwined with the Network State movement. Joe Lonsdale, Palantir’s co-founder, has also provided funding for Pronomos, is listed as a “supporter” of the related Charter Cities Institute, and recently appeared on Srinivasan’s Network State podcast to promote the ideology. Michael Gibson, the former vice president of grants at the Thiel Foundation, also currently serves as an advisor at Pronomos. Crypto’s ‘End Game’ The Network State movement is intrinsically tied to cryptocurrency, and it requires a certain understanding of where the crypto industry has been and where it wants to go to fully grasp what this belief system is all about. In 2021, the crypto industry saw a sudden glowup, enjoying increased adoption, celebrity endorsements, and a broader acceptance by the mainstream media. Then the FTX debacle happened, thrusting the crypto economy into turmoil and turning public sentiment against it. As mainstream interest in crypto has waned, its true believers have
Add Comment