@VitalikButerin: Network states aren't colonialist, exit is safer than takeover

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@VitalikButerin
@VitalikButerin

IMO people who called network states "colonialist" are wrong and misguided. We've seen a lot of large-scale colonialist evil the past few years. Almost none has come from network state exit libertarians, while a lot has come from people who decided libertarianism is outdated now "If you disagree with how things are run, go start a new thing" really is a very "robust-to-error" position to take. The potential negative consequences of what you do are localized, and are inherently bounded. Even though with the internet you can act globally you're taking a large handicap on network effects. AI doom will NOT come from an island or a boat in international waters. And much of what we're recently seen is some former libertarians realizing "why oppose the government when you can just take it over", which has MUCH LARGER downsides. I think we should update on this, and be kinder to the "exit" position going forward. Caveat: I think there is evil that has recently come from libertarians, notably from political lobbying, both for "bad deregulation" (eg. I oppose deregulating AGI/ASI) and for "deregulation no matter the side effects of how you achieve the outcome". But the people doing these things are specifically not the "exit" faction.

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Network states aren't colonialist, exit is safer than takeover

AI summary of the linked article

Vitalik Buterin argues that people who call network states "colonialist" are wrong, and that the exit approach is safer than attempts to take over existing governments. He says almost none of the large-scale colonialist harm in recent years has come from network state exit libertarians, while much has come from former libertarians who decided to seize government control. He calls "if you disagree with how things are run, go start a new thing" a robust-to-error position, since its potential negative consequences are localized and bounded. He says the community should update its view and be kinder to the exit position, while noting that libertarian lobbying for harmful deregulation, such as opposing the deregulation of AGI/ASI, is a separate problem.

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