I had a great conversation with
of Actionable Truth Media discussing how people are manipulated into supporting fake decentralization or fake solutions to pressing technological troubles. If you enjoyed our conversations you can visit his website at actionabletruth.media or on his own Substack.
The Musk Operation (X)
We briefly touch on how many people are falling into the cult of personality around Elon Musk, ultimately empowering Musk to have more control over their digital lives. Rallying around false saviors has a high opportunity cost in the best case scenario, and makes one complicit in all manner of concerns the worst case.
Web3 Technocracy
While the Odysee team seems to be making an admirable effort taking action against censorship, there is reason to be concerned with the finer details. When one takes a close look at the “web3” ecosystem, many red flags come into view. Regardless of how one feels about the SEC decision, there are good reasons to take a close look at what new direction Odysee is taking.
I’m quite hard on blockchain projects these days, you can see some of that in my earlier mini Q&A with Michael. This conversation was in some ways motivated by my desire to dig deeper into the questions raised at the time.
One of my principle concerns is that the “Decentralized Physical Infrastructure Networks” (DePIN) buzzword is a term to market the “tokenization” of every facet of life. Most concerningly, there seems to be a desire to use so-called “decentralization” (even if in name only) as a means to eschew responsibility and accountability.
Michael raised the concern around Internet shutdowns. In whole or in part, internet shutdowns are a recurring phenomenon as governments seize control during times of unrest. World-wide accessible communication is a vitally important objective for those who care about a free and open Internet. In our conversation Michael explores how an internet shutdown could be used to manufacture consent for various policies such as digital ID. Currently, it seems like the primary use of internet blackouts is to quell dissent.
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