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Cyphernomicon 16.7

Crypto Anarchy:
The Nature of Anarchies


   16.7.1. Anarchy doesn't mean chaos and killing
           - As J. Bruce Dawson put it in a review of Linux in the
              September, 1994 "Byte," "It's anarchy at its best."
           + Ironically, crypto anarchy does admit the possibility (and
              hence probablility) of more contract killings as an
              ultimate enforcement mechanism for contracts otherwise
              unenforceable.
             - which is what is occurring in drug and other crime
                situaions: the parties cannot go to the police or courts
                for righting of wrongs, so they need to have the ultimate
                threat of death to enforce deals. It makes good sense
                from a reputation/game theory point of view.
   16.7.2. Leftists can be anarchists, too
           - In fact, this tends to be the popular interpretation of
              anarchy. (Besides the bomb-throwing, anti-Tsar anarchists
              of the 19th century, and the bomb-throwing anarchists of
              the U.S. early this century.)
           + "Temporary Autonomous Zones" (TAZ)
             - Hakim Bey (pseudonym for    )
             - Mondo 2000, books, (check with Dave Mandl, who helps to
                publish them)
   16.7.3. Anarchic development
           + Markets and emergent behaviors vs. planned development
             - principles of locality come into play (the local players
                know what they want and how much they'll pay for it)
             - central planners have "top-down" outlooks
             - Kevin Kelley's "Out of Control" (1994). Also, David
                Friedman's "Technologies of Freedom."
           - An example I heard about recently was Carroll College, in
              Wisconsin. Instead of building pathways and sidewalks
              across the newly-constructed grounds, the ground was left
              bare. After some time, the "emergent pathways" chosen by
              students and faculty were then turned into paved pathways,
              neatly solving the problem of people not using the
              "planned" pathways. I submit that much of life works this
              way. So does the Net (the "information footpaths"?).
           - anarchies are much more common than most people
              think...personal relationships, choices in life, etc.
   16.7.4. The world financial system is a good example: beyond the
            reach of any single government, even the U.S. New World
            Order, money moves and flows as doubts and concerns appear.
            Statist governments are powerless to stop the devaluation of
            their currencies as investors move their assets (even slight
            moves can have large marginal effects).
           - "anarchy" is not a term most would apply, but it's an
              anarchy in the sense of there being no rulers ("an  arch"),
              no central command structure.
 

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