Fuck democracy (the crypto-currency serial)/ 01)

Photomontage : Jeremy Strong, actor in the tv series "Succession", centered on the Roy family, dysfunctional owners of the multaination Waymar RoyCo, world-wide conglomrate of media and entertainement - inspired by Robert Murdoch's media empire (on the left) and the founder of Ethereum, Vitalik Buterin (on the right))

Having recently created an enterprise, World Liberty Financial, to speculate on the rise of cryptocurrencies, Donald Trump has just signed a decree for the creation of a national reserve for bitcoin and other digital currencies. The stakes are much more political than economic. For the foundational project of cybercurrency promoters is to escape from the "dictatorship" of state control on the value of currencies by institutions responsible for its regulation. The ideological trend is now to the "Soverein Individual" who can no longer be bothered with the stupidities of ageing democracies with their notions of wealth redistribution. Some of the "crypto-bros" are already preparing that non-equalitarian, yet hyper-connected, world by planning fabulous "cities of the future" where the "cognitive elite" can rule in complete tranquility: "free zones" that can serve as the laboratory for a new, "libertarian" fascism. For les humanités, using sources rarely mentioned in the French press, Maria Damcheva begins a fascinating series on cryptocurrencies.

At the crossoads - 1st episode 

It's one of the favorite expressions of Elon Musk, "the world's richest man: « At the Crossroads » he announced to the staff at X (formerly Twitter) when he took over the premises and fired those who were attempting to maintain a minimum of civility on the social network. He used the same expression when he began the purge of federal government agencies, attacking even the Departments, such as the one of Education Donald Trump no longer wants to hear about.  

The chaos unleashed by these measures is huge. It is also intentional. Awe tetanizes minds or re-directs them toward secondary issues. It serves as a wonderful cover for the underlying project which rests on a decidedly antidemocratic visio of the future: that in which the Sovereign Individual, freed from the constraints imposed by national governements, in a world reconfigured to its own benefit by a "cognitive elite". In that world, the creation and redistribution of wealth will occur in a radically different manner, in a wolrd from which democracies will have been eliminated.

This is the very vision that motivated the initial creation of cybercurrency : to escape the "dictatorial" state control of currencies by the institutions responsible for its regulation. « Bitcoin began as a revolutionary technology designed to circumvent government tyranny. 16 years later, we’ve built an entire parallel financial system » we see declared on the website of Praxis Society, a libertarian organization of cryptocurrency investors. (1)

In this regard, in 2018, signatorees to the Declaration of Monetary Independence declared themselves ready to "devote their lives to building networks and systems that will re-establish the integrity of value and will directly challenge the authority of those who seek to destroy value." (HERE). Meaning, in libertarian language : freeing themselves from States establishing the rules on currency value - one of the fundamental principles on which rest market confidence and that of individuals receiving their monthly paycheck and using it for their different needs. « Unite or Die » they say. Outside the inquisitive eye of goverments, they mean.

Quietly - or through the spectacular investment of millions in electoral campaigns in the United States - the "cryptos-bros" have earned front row seat at the State level as well as at the federal government. Elon Musk is only their most outstanding manifestion. We will get back in more detail to some other of the "big players" in the second episode of this series.

But for now, let's step back a bit from the loudest breaking news for a sidelong glance on one of the aspects of this major upheaval, begun several years ago already.

« 10 Beautiful Freedom Cities » 

Let's first return to a more recent past for a concrete example of one of the aspects of this nightmare presented as a dream out of Disneyland.

The Jetson family's flying car, cartoon by William Hanna and Joseph Barbera (1962).

The series features a current Amrican family, projected into what was the future at the time of the series' creation. George Jetson is a happy man. He lives with his family in a large and ultraa modern apartment with a view on the sky and has a quiet job under Mr. Espaciton who does ride him a bit hard. George and his wife, Jane have two children who are very different: Judy, the fashion conscious teen who falls for every good looking boy she meets, and Elroy, a gifted six year-old. For housekkeping purposes they can depend on serviceable Rosie the robot and for distraction, there is alsways Astro, the somewhat clumsy dog. Later, they will be joined by Orbite and small white and violet alien, always jolly and who changes color dependent on his mood. (Sens Critique).

March 3rd 2023 - Campaigning for the 2024 presidential election, Donald Trump delivers one of his usual speeches, rambling from one topic to another - at least, in appearance. That day, he mentions flying cars, like those of the Jetson family from the cartoon, birth premiums to encourage Americans to create a bunch of beautiful all white babies and the construction of 10 fabulous "Freedom Cities") that will bear concrete witness to the return of the pioneering spirit of the first settlers, thanks to the great Donald in person.

One laughs - a bit. About the flying cars, of course, and the pileups one can imagine above our heads. Yet, there truly exists a compagny by the name of jetson.com at work on such a project (HERE). We don't hear much about birth premiums these days, attention having shifted over to the perspective of enforced births, with school libraries instructed to rid themselves of their copies of Canadian Margaret Atwood's red hot The Handmaid's Tale.

Butt as for those fabulus cities of the future, their promoters are already hard at work. According to Mark Lutter and Nick Allen in their article "Building Freedom Cities" published on December 6 2024 in the City Journal (HERE), they have every quality imaginable: olocated in bucolic environments but close to wealthy cities and an airport, they will attract individuals fired by an entrepreneurial spirit that woul make Emmanuel Macron slaver. They will be attracted by the ideology of the "Soverign Individual" who has no time to waste on the stupidities of ageing democracies with their notions of welath redistribution. They will have crossed the bridge; they will live in the hyper-connected world where everything is paid, or will be paid, in crypto-currency.

The world belongs to these candidates to the "cognitive elige" and interesting building sites have already been identified. Presidio National Park, for example, at the gates of San Francisco. One cannot hope to find a more ideal spot: next to a capital of high-tech, a city with an urban density comparable to that of Paris, Presidio would add some 120 000 inhabitants in a dream of a bucolic environment.« Further, given the city’s existing talent density, a Presidio featuring a liberalized biotechnology regime would quickly become a world innovation leader in this sector. America deserves a Bay Area that can compete; turning Presidio into a Freedom City could be an important step in that direction », specify Mark Lutter et Nick Allen in their article calling for this manner of "revitalizing" the United States.  

But Presidio is not the only national park whetting appetites. There are some ten others located in the South of the Southwest of the country, close to important cities equipped with an airport...

Suddenly, one beings to understand the "logic" behind the massive firings of forest rangers. Because those federally-owned lands are not only replete with forestry, oil and mineral riches to be exploired, they also offer the possibility of setting these "beautiful Freedom Cities" in environements offering the best of both the techno and the weekend hiker experiences. (As for grizzlies and other nuisances, the President's son could maybe arrange culling expeditions with his buddies?)

All this becomes possible undeer a regime busily dismantling itself - and mainly, busy at dismantling the democracy of which it considered itself the avant-garde. "Freedom Cities" being only one piece of the puzzle...

Screen grab from the Praxis society website

« Better Living Through Crypto »

For these cities of the wonderful future will integrate themselves naturally in the "sovereign network" already existing online. As we learn on the website of the "Praxis Nation" : « "Sovereign Networks are aligned online communities with a capacity for collective action that crowdfunds territory around the world and eventually gains diplomatic recognition from pre-existing states. (...) Early Sovereign Networks won’t require full diplomatic recognition to thrive. Instead, they will create real value through their crypto-native economic infrastructure, earning respect and legitimacy by solving problems that traditional Nation States struggle to address – whether in financial access, public services, property rights, or governance innovation. This incremental approach is aligned with the historical evolution of crypto itself: from a fringe technology to an asset class respected by institutional investors.» ("Network State : the Crypto’s End Game., HERE).

Truth or Consequences 

Americans love novelties and games. New cities also, even if this means renaming one in order to win a contest. This was the case of the city of Hot Springs in New Mexico who won the contest for the broadcasting of the program Truth or Consequences (HERE). New Mexico thus has a city with that name and one cn already imagine the games and fabulous prizes that will accompnay the naming of the Freedom Cities.

Yes but, you might object, what about the rest of the country and the inhabitants in towns and countrysides outside the circuit of the Elect? Obviously, there qill be need to insure a minimum of services, if only to maintain order among those "cognitively inferior" beings whose proensity to resentment and agiation is well known. And since therewill also be the need for a certain number of them to produce (white) babies, maintain the roads in shape for those members of the "elite" not using flying cars, and other subsidiary but necessary functions - sewage systems, fire control...one will maintain a governement the likes of which anti-tax activist Nordquist said in 2001 : « I don't wish to abolish government. I simply want to reduce to the size where I can drag it into the bathroom and drown it in the bathtub. » (HERE)

One unnderstands that "wealth redistribution" in this context will not really on the agenda. To each according to his crypt-currency portfolio, in short. There will still be need for a nuclear arsenal and dissuasive means against the vulgarians wishing to take on the Freedom Cities and other fabulous riches in the world capital of cryptocurrency Donald Trump has been touting for the past few days.

We will get back to it in the next episode which will cover some other members of this "cotnitive "elite" that Elon Musk's pranks tend to keep in the shadows. Not that this is necessarily unpleasant for them.

A "free city" on the Praxis website.

Breaking News : « Freedom Cities » - more than ever on the front burner

On Friday March 7 2025, Wired, the American monthly devoted to emerging technologies, published an article by Caroline Haskins and Vittoria Elliott informing us that lobbyists under the name of the "Start-up Nation Coalition", and others, were holding regular meetings with members of the Trump administration for the construction of unregulated cities (HERE). These cities - sort of "free zones" - would be exempted from federal regulations ...despite occupying territory located within the United States and even on lands owned by this same government.

« The purpose of these cities is to have spaces where clinical anti-ageing tests could take place, the start-ups of nuclear reactors and the construction of buildings could take place without needing to objetain prior authorizations from agencies such as the Food and Drug Administration, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission and the Environmental Protection Agency. » (Wired)

Such a zone exists since 2020 on the Hondurian island of Roatan. It attracts « workers in technological sectors and start-ups by promising low income taxes, little regulation and a pragmatic governement that considers its citizens like customers. Among the financers are found Pronomos Capital, a venture capital group supported Peter Thiel, Marc Andreessen, and Coinbase.  It should be noted that the current governement of Honduras considers Propspera as illegal. Its promoters are suing the Honduran governement in an ongoing trial.

According to the lobbyist, Trey Goff, cabinet chief at Prospera, contacts at the White House take the projects inside the United States « very seriously. They intend to keep all the promises...made during the electoral campaign. » (2) Several locations are under discussion - including the now-famous Presidio near San Francisco - and concrete proposals are under discussion concerning their set-up. "The use of federal lands is a matter of consensus since this "would allow to reduce the development costs of the cities at the onset."

Journalist Gil Duran of The Nerd Reich, quoted in theWired article, declares: « These will be cities without democracy...These will be cities with no workers' rights. These will be cities where the owners of the city, the companies, the bilionnaires will have all the power and all the others will have none. That is what makes these sovereign entities so attractive ...in fact, they will be anti-freedom cities."

Maria Damcheva

NOTES

(1). Praxis, a company founded by Dryden Brown and Charlie Callinan, with David Weinreb, founder of the Howard Hughes Corporation, describes itself as a “native Internet nation”. In December 2023, the New York Times revealed that Brown had raised $19.2 million for Praxis. Praxis's main backer is Paradigm Operations, which has invested in FTX, Coinbase and Citadel. Other investors include Pronomos Capital, backed by Peter Thiel and initially led by Patri Friedman, grandson of economist Milton Friedman, founder of the Chicago School, as well as venture capitalists Balaji Srinivasan and Joe Lonsdale, co-founder of Palantir, both associated with Peter Thiel. Praxis has also received investments from Alameda Research, backed by Sam Bankman-Fried, Apollo Projects, launched by Sam Altman, and Winklevoss Capital Management, the family office of the Winklevoss twins. An internal Praxis guide consulted by the New York Timesdenounces the “enemies of vitality” and extols the “traditional, European/Western standards of beauty, on which the civilized world, in its best moments, has always found success”. On X, Dryden Brown writes (5/02/2025): "From the beginning, Praxis has existed to fight for the soul of the West. The heroic spirit that animated our Roman, Hellenic and Nordic ancestors will return with fury, accelerated by the union of the peoples of the West in a new network of belief and action. Sensing this, many journalists, billionaires and bureaucrats have tried to bring us down with slander, lies, deprivation of resources and much more. They have learned one thing: whatever they do, whatever they say, it won't matter. We will keep coming. We are willing to accept any personal cost, any setback, in order to ultimately achieve victory.“ Dryden Brown aims to ”create his own laws, not pay taxes and eliminate the poor and the unwanted". Among the bedside books of this charming young man are those of Ayn Rand, a figure of radical anti-communism considered the theorist of individualist capitalism, the books of the fascist writer Julius Evola, the memoirs of Albert Speer, Adolf Hitler's architect, and Imperium, a book by Francis Parker Yockey published in 1948 that calls for the establishment of a neo-Nazi empire in Europe.

(2). Read in the New York Times: “Trump Signs Order to Create ‘Cryptocurrency Reserve.’ The first of its kind, the reserve will be fed by a stockpile of bitcoin that the government already owns and is valued at billions of dollars”, article by David Yaffe-Bellany published on March 6, 2025(HERE),

---

Because you're worth it, les humanités is not the same old thing. If some articles are long, it is because they answer to a need for in-depth information, the guarantee of a living democracy. We have chosen a completely free site, without advertising, which depends only on the commitment of our readers. Donations (tax-deductible) or subscriptions HERE

And to receive our newsletter: https://www.leshumanites-media.com/info-lettre