The pacific is the fantasy of of mobility and kind of dreamy island escape. It's also a technological experimentation, which is what block chain is doing right now in the pacific. And then shortly after, we're seeing very similar projects and sort of entry into the pacific space during that time period.
Paris Marx is joined by Olivier Jutel to discuss blockchain’s pivot to humanitarianism, the questionable people behind the technology, and how their projects in the Pacific have benefited capitalist and imperial power.
Olivier Jutel is a lecturer at the University of Otago. Follow Olivier on Twitter at @OJutel.
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Tech Won’t Save Us offers a critical perspective on tech, its worldview, and wider society with the goal of inspiring people to demand better tech and a better world. Follow the podcast (@techwontsaveus) and host Paris Marx (@parismarx) on Twitter, and support the show on Patreon.
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Also mentioned in this episode:
- Paris’ first book “Road to Nowhere” comes out in July 2022.
- Olivier wrote a paper about blockchain imperialism in the Pacific and it was covered by Motherboard.
- BCCI was an international bank established in 1972 that was shut down in 1991 for hiding money laundering and other financial crimes.
- Hernando De Soto is a Latin American economist who advised Peruvian dictator Alberto Fujimori and advocates neoliberal policies like land title programs. He now pushes for it to be done through blockchains, and wrote an op-ed with Phil Gramm.
- Brock Pierce is a co-founder of Tether and tried to turn Puerto Rico into a crypto paradise.
- Hillary Clinton described the freedom to connect doctrine.
- Geoffrey Bond sold Vanuatu citizenship and was connected to Sebastian Greenwood, who was part of the OneCoin Ponzi scheme.
- Binance is under investigation, if not pushed out of, multiple countries.
- Fiji is facing major opposition to land reform plans.
- Books mentioned: David Gerard’s “Attack of the 50 Foot Blockchain” and “Libra Shrugged,” Fred Turner’s “From Counterculture to Cyberculture,” Michael Hardt and Antonio Negri’s “Empire,” Herbert Schiller’s “Communication and Cultural Domination,” Armand Mattelart’s “The Invention of Communication,” Lilli Irani’s “Chasing Innovation,” and Teresia Teaiwa in “Anglo-American Imperialism and the Pacific.”
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