Wokeism, communism and crypto
Arguments in the Network State setting off some hot takes
As I enter my third week reading Balaji Srinivasan’s Network State, I need pause and dwell on these ideas for a day or so. The learning density per unit time is phenomenal. One of the things that stood out was how wokeism, communism and crypto have balancing roles to play in our soceities over the next decade.
Wokeism, also known as social justice activism, is a movement that aims to address issues of inequality and oppression, particularly in regards to race, gender, and sexuality. On one hand, wokeism is a necessary and important movement that seeks to right historical wrongs and create a more just and equitable society. While it brings attention to marginalized groups and their experiences and encourages individuals to be more aware of their own privilege and to actively work to dismantle systems of oppression, it can also be overly divisive, pitting different groups against each other and creating a culture of cancel culture and political correctness. Some argue that wokeism can be overly simplistic in its understanding of complex social issues, and that it can lead to a lack of nuance and critical thinking.
Communism, on the other hand, is an economic and political ideology that aims to create a classless society in which the means of production are collectively owned and controlled. While it aims to eliminate poverty and create a more equal distribution of wealth and eliminates exploitation of workers by letting them have a say in how the economy is run, it can also lead to authoritarian governments and widespread human rights abuses. Not to mention the lack of incentives and competition in a communist system can lead to economic inefficiency and a lack of innovation.
Balaji goes on to argue that there is a repositioning of woke capital that is happening, and that if the 2000s was the global war on terror, and the 2010s was the shift to wokeness, the next decade will be the rise of crypto-capitalism. Cryptocurrency can help balance the argument of wokeism and communism by providing a different perspective on economic systems and individual sovereignty. From the perspective of crypto-capitalism, individuals have the power to be financially sovereign by using decentralized digital currencies and blockchain technology to transact without the need for intermediaries such as banks or governments. This can potentially lead to a reduction in poverty and financial exploitation. Additionally, crypto-capitalism emphasizes the importance of individual responsibility and self-sovereignty, rather than relying on centralized authority.
Crypto has to overcome its own challenges such as high volatility and lack of regulation.
My main takeaway being the balance of economic systems and individual sovereignty is a grey area, and our pursuit of finding a potentially a middle ground between the ideologies of wokeism and communism aka “decentralized center” is just beginning and will have a major say in the 2020s. It is important to approach these ideologies with a critical and nuanced perspective. According to Balaji, crypto-capitalsim might just be that. Which movement will be the next ideology to rise?
