Large empires start small, but at every stage they are a magnet for talent and ambition.
The well aligned city on a hill is the project any wealthy landowner could start today
So much human capital today is crushed by the weight of Maslow's Pyramid
Black swan farming not limited to finance.
Applies to cultural, artistic, scientific and moral achievement as well.
Someone who improves societal health of the citadel does not capture that value financially, but by making the community more attractive they build wealth for all
Replying to @wolftivy@spearofsolomonand@_StevenFan
Character is the result of repeated decisions
Culture is embodied models of how to live well distributed enough to form standards and be common knowledge.
I'd short the passport price of any city with highest bidder citizenship.
This 2013 post just bubbled up via someone tweeting it. I’d forgotten I’d written it. Weird how often this has been happening lately. My map of what I’ve written is slowly fragmenting. Quite a nice post. https://ribbonfarm.com/2013/12/09/our-diurnal-civilization/…
The night is dark and full of terrors
But my hope is that the next dark age (more experimental localized governance - city states, citadels) will be different from past ones, because much wealth created within the walls will be non-rival technology.
Borders, boundaries, and the enclosed sovereign subcultures that comes with them, are necessary for solving any complex problem.
Building a flourishing community and navigating human conflict is a complex problem.
We need smarter cells.
I buy the story that we're in decline
The cryptokid-defend your bitcoin from AOC-galt's gulch-citadel is def in the same family, but likely different motivational structure.
I want to free •some people• from constraints, so they can experiment and share the results more broadly
Promethia
Make it a private city with fees paid by citizens (which doesn't have to conflicts with dividend payouts) and you'll get a citadel.
https://degaia.co/defining-the-citadel/…