For many of us, Steemit has already changed so much - the way we navigate the web, the way we think about money, and for a fortunate committed few, it's even changed their professions. However, the change that I expect from this model goes even deeper. It's possible that Steemit, and descendent technologies, may play a part in creating a voluntary world, a stateless world, in which everyone who takes money from someone, or puts someone in a cage without their consent, or orders such acts, will be seen and treated as a criminal. There are several ways in which Steemit can aid this cause. Let's start with the most important - the conversation.
It changes the way we talk
The problem with voluntaryist argumentation
Many of you might have noticed, and even been a party to, hard-line conversations about anarchy, in which the voluntaryist proceeds to take the words of the other party, and question them about some perceived inconsistency in their beliefs, attempting to lead them through a Socratic dialogue, in order to bring them to accept the truth - that the other party is wrong - very, very wrong. You also might have noticed (as I eventually noticed, after years of banging my head on walls) that this technique almost never works.
Of course, the reason that it doesn't work, is because people have a need to feel that they're being understood, that their concerns are heard, that their thoughts are valid. In brief, they need to feel like people. If you don't treat someone like a person - unless you're talking to an exceptionally patient person - you're unlikely to receive a personable response.
An oasis
The comment section on YouTube is a running joke. Facebook discussions descend into dirtslinging, strawmen and threats. You may wade through many racist and sexist comments before you find something that is truly valuable information, and even then it may be tainted with aggression. In contrast, Steemit's comments sections seem like a desert oasis - all but filled with calm discussion, respect, insight, or at the very least, positivity. Surely, this is a place where one can have a constructive conversation about controversial topics.
The incentive to be good
I have noticed over these few short months, the way that Steemit has changed the way that I interact with people, especially online - on Steemit and other social networks. I've found myself a few times, even as I'm about to make a statement which is mildly passive-aggressive, thinking "Hold on - is this something I would write if my reputation were on the line? If not, maybe I shouldn't write it." Even when I'm going to give someone some piercing criticism, which, if presented in the wrong way, may seem a condemnation, I can find ways to demonstrate empathy, such as compliments or other niceties.
It may sound like an unfortunate description of humanity (or of myself) to say it, but when our bank balances and reputations are on the line in every moment, we can find ways to communicate more kindly, and therefore, more fluidly, with the people we interact with.
Commitment and consistency
In Cialdini's famous and excellent book, Influence: The psychology of persuasion he describes how, when people make a commitment to something, they are more likely to see it as part of their identity, and strive to live up to that identity.
When people are kind to each other, respectful, and even open-minded on Steemit, it's not just that they're pretending to be nice. By acting nicer, they become nicer. By acting more open-minded, they become more open-minded.
The quality of our ideas
If the ideas of voluntaryism are as good as we believe they are, then surely a place like Steemit, where people are strongly encouraged to be respectful, considerate, empathetic and even open-minded, would be an ideal place to discuss them. If it turns out that our ideas are not as good as we think they are, then it gives us the perfect medium to discover something even better. That is beautiful.
Tax-free and shameless
In many developed countries, taxes are generally seen as legitimate and necessary, and people claim to be proud of paying their taxes - sometimes because they truly believe it, and sometimes because they don't want to face the fact that they have been forced into an elaborate con, from which they have no apparent escape.
But what if they did have an escape? What if, instead of being paid as an employee, having their income taxes automatically deducted from their pay, they were paid directly. What if thousands or millions of people were making income, or making a living, this way, and decided to openly flout the tax authority, publicly, knowing that it wouldn't have the resources to pursue any more than a small fraction of the cases?
Obviously, that would damage the appearance of legitimacy of the state, and also the perception of omniscience and omnipotence that its proponents tend to ascribe to it.
Development of cryptoanarchic solutions
"Unlike the communities traditionally associated with the word 'anarchy', in a crypto-anarchy the government is not temporarily destroyed but permanently forbidden and permanently unnecessary. It’s a community where the threat of violence is impotent because violence is impossible, and violence is impossible because its participants cannot be linked to their true names or physical locations."
- Wei Dai
We all know that Steemit/Steem is much more accessible than virtually any other cryptocurrency, being based around a style of platform which more than one billion people are already familiar with. That's pretty cool, and that means that more money will flow into cryptocurrency, meaning more attention, and thus even more development for similar technologies.
More development in cryptocurrency means more methods to control money, and other forms of information, publicly, privately, or anonymously, without governments being able to do anything about it.
Conclusion
Steemit is an important step, a continuation of the snowball effect of cryptocurrency, leading us to a voluntary, cryptoanarchic future, full of wonders we have not yet imagined, and degrees of freedom as yet unforeseeable. Boldly we take our pens, pads, keyboards and wallets, building a highway to a world where concepts are our language and our tools, but never our weapons, where the purity of ideas is worth fighting for, but never worth fighting with.
About me
My name is Kurt Robinson. I grew up in Australia, but now I live in Guadalajara, Jalisco. I write interesting things about voluntaryism, futurism, science fiction, travelling Latin America, and psychedelics. Remember to press follow so you can stay up to date with all the cool shit I post, and follow our podcast where we talk about crazy ideas for open-minded people, here: @paradise-paradox, and like us on Facebook here - The Paradise Paradox
Some other cool posts
Here are some other posts of mine to check out:
Freedom seekers' song: "Freedom on the beach (To Acapulco Part 2)"
Everyone deserves truth; everyone deserves compassion
Impossible! A conversation with a statist about starting a business
Well said. I'd never heard of voluntaryism before seeing the word in a handful of Steemit posts, but I can respect rational discourse and well-reasoned ideas, which are to be had in abundance on Steemit. I have been a bit surprised by how civil people are on here compared to other social media platforms. Sure, you still see the occasional troll from time to time, but they seem to be a small minority. I think you've found the right place to make your voice heard and engage in frank discussions of whatever might be on your mind. Steem on!
Change the way people talk, and you will start to change their minds. Change enough minds, and you'll eventually change the world.
I bet some famous guy said that. It sounds like a famous quote.
Sounds like it. I think the more famous version goes something like: ideas become words, words become actions, actions become habits, habits become destiny. Your version is kind of the reverse... but still just as true.
I like my version better, it scans better and it gets to the point quicker. :P
ha ha :)
You have described a utopian world. It sounds absolutely amazing. I feel like society as a whole right now is in such disarray. Do you think it is too far gone or do you think it is something we can come back from and become the world you describe?
The general trend of humanity is to become more humane. A few hundred years ago, it was normal for governments or other organisations of cruel people to talk about torture. Now they have to hide it, using terms like "enhanced interrogation techniques". In some cases, they don't want to even say the word "war". That's because too many people know that these things probably aren't the best way to make a better world.
It certainly seems like it's in disarray. We're always subject to perceptual biases, due to many influences - particularly that of the media. Of course it depends where you live, but personally, I can't remember the last time I saw people fighting. The closest thing in recent memory was seeing a few people arguing about a minor crash on the side of the road, and I live in Mexico, which is supposed to be a very violent place. Can you remember when you last saw people being violent? We can't always trust what we assume about the world, because it may be based on incorrect or incomplete information.
Certain information indicates that the world is becoming more peaceful, though the trend might be too slow for any of us to notice it immediately.
Thank you for that thorough reply. I agree 100% that it is massively distorted by media. I live in Texas so I also haven't seen a lot of real time/place fighting, nor would I expect to with where I live. I was more referring to the riots that happen after what a lot of inner city residents perceive to be an unlawful police/citizen fatality. While that doesn't happen a great deal I do see it echoed and resonated on mainstream media as well as social media, giving the illusion that the entire country in in civil unrest. Maybe that's all it is... mostly an illusion.
I can never be sure, but that's what it seems to be. There was one particular "riot" which the media was reporting on, and despite our best efforts, we couldn't find more than a few snippets of footage of actual people rioting. There was plenty of footage of police officers, some footage of journalists running around, but approximately zero rioters. Of course many people were convinced there was indeed a riot, despite what their eyes were telling them. Makes you wonder, doesn't it?
It sure does, no doubt. On a side note, if you're referring to the Milwaukee riot, I did see a YouTube video about 30 minutes long that appeared to be footage taken from an actual rioter. It didn't appear to be edited but rather one long take. Media wouldn't play it though because it shows someone standing just yards away from the burning store, shows another couple of people knocking over and destroying the street light, and then people randomly attacking white people that drove by. The commentator recording even said " better no white person come down here" and yelling " they white.. get them" and so on. Forgive me if you were talking about a different riot on the news but the Milwaukee one was the only I've seen with such raw footage that convinced me it was legit. Mainstream media is desperate to portray BLM as a peaceful group any chance they can so they would never air what I saw. Not that I'm necessarily equating the BLM movement as a whole with the riot acts but it is pretty sketchy that media doesn't play available footage.
@jennane Right, they always have their agenda. Negative, I was referring to a different riot, in Baltimore. I have a friend in Milwaukee, so based on his words, I was pretty sure that there was something going down there.
lol
Great post.
Great post Churdtzu. thanks for sharing this information. I agree!
'preciate it!
Yes, Steemit is a great platform to promote the development of anarchistic behavior based in respecting others and nonaggression. But some people on the platform aren't at that level of consciousness yet. Steemit has a lot less of it than Youtube, foresure!
I had someone come onto my content, not even address it specifically to learn about it or make valid objections, they just started to call it nonsense, and then progressed to senselessly insult me. When I flagged their harassment, they trolled it up some more and kept projecting their innocence and justification as if I am the one with the issues... It's amazing how self-deluded some people are. They have deep issues.
"please P.M the drug combinations you are doing to write these"
"Now you are flagging my comments @krnel?
Started getting sour I see.
You are just full of it. I seriously believe you need mental supervision."
The guy will probably be stalking my "Replies" and come here to trash me some more, like he did on @dantheman 's comments:
"Your posts are insane :)
Please. stop crying."
I'm just making the point that Steemit overall is great, but there are some people who really nee d to grow up and face the mirror, because they are bullies and they don't care how they treat others.
Take care. Peace.
Good points. I am not so sure about the flouting part, though, especially when everyone's wallets are easily associated with them.
I'm not sure about it either; it's a bit speculative. To some extent, it depends how many people are involved with Steemit or a similar platform, and therefore, how invisible they feel while doing it.
A supporting point which I didn't mention in the article is that, it's easy enough to discover who (or which Internet connection) is leeching or seeding a torrent, but in many countries, people have no bones about it, even where it's considered illegal. Piracy authorities don't have the resources to investigate everyone, and neither do tax authorities.
An armed society is a polite society.
If you are conversing with someone who has the power to diminish your reputation (a form of being armed) ...then you will be polite.
Haha... yes. Interesting comparison, certainly valid
It's true, a person can condition themselves into anything...I know, I've done it, multiple times. Thank you for the attitude change @churdtzu. I like being a nice person :-)
I like your attitude and your sensible way of approaching others on the topic of voluntaryism. I wish more voluntaryists thought like you.
Thanks @tmendieta. I think a lot more voluntaryists are starting to think this way. It's a slow process, but I think voluntaryists are definitely getting better at marketing the message.
I totally agree with you about the youtube comments section and now it's very rare that I even read any of the comments there as it's just not worth the time. Having just joined here I hope it can have a positve affect for me too. Many thanks.
Thanks @jameshowarrd. Yes, they can be an absolute cesspool. Welcome to Steemit!
Thousand men fear one taxman, because there is no way of knowing who he will chose to make an example of. That's the sad reality I'm afraid. There is too much social inertia and too much of "authority is not to be questioned", even in countries where cheating the state is kind of a national sport - everyone knows we're being conned, and we do cheat state when we feel we can get away with it, but to openly fight the oppression? No, that almost never happens, and when it does the state almost always wins anyway.
But, as you said, there is always hope in escaping by technological means - moving forward faster than the state can, creating new reality faster than the state can absorb/understand/pervert it. The only way out is not left, not right, but up :)
My experience is a little different to yours... I live in Mexico, and people have no problems questioning authority. Even when I speak to a lot of people who work for the state, bureaucrats and policemen, they agree that government isn't the way to do things.
I'm not talking about fighting the state though. I'm talking about something much more beautiful... I'm talking about ignoring it.
I agree that for they're afraid of one taxman, and that's the sad reality - for now. That won't necessarily continue into the future. As I mentioned to @cardsanarchy, it's still rather speculative. But that's the trend I see developing based on the premises that: 1. people like keeping, spending, giving their own money as they choose; and 2. the more anonymous they feel, the more likely they are to ignore laws - especially those that punish victimless crimes. As I mentioned, there really isn't too much difference between sharing movies and evading taxes - providing it is a common practice. The penalties are comparable. Of course, it takes a few brave souls to go first, perhaps even to advertise the fact. Once you are one of thousands or millions, it'll seem a lot more natural. Time will tell.
There are also several technical questions which the tax authorities will have to look at. At the moment, in some jurisdictions, if you hold crypto and don't realise your gains in fiat currency or purchases, you are not taxed on those gains. Now, if I take my SBD and put it into Dash, and cover my tracks a little, nobody will be able to say how much I finally put into fiat currency or spend. So, all I have to say to those tax authorities is, good luck.
Thanks for your comment and have a good one