The Blockchain Socialist Lunarpunk, Black Markets, and Agorism in the 21st Century
For this interview I spoke to Dr. Paul Dylan-Ennis (@polarpunklabs), professor at University College Dublin, and Rose O'Leary (@lunarmining), previous writer at CoinDesk and now a programmer for DarkFi. They are both also the editors for a new philosophy journal called Agorism in the 21st Century which recently published its first issue. Agorism is a heterodox libertarian political tendency that prioritizes taking part in "counter-economic" activity like grey and black markets for political change described by Samuel Konkin III that has influenced many figures who played crucial roles in the development in cryptocurrency.
The first issue of the journal includes articles written by Harry Halpin, Jaya Klara Brekke, and even Nick Land among others. During the interview we talk about the journal and why they started it, Agorism as a philosophy, and the importance of having spaces for political inquiry without too much concern for the political spectrum. Since Rose is also one of the signers of the multi-sig wallet, we also talked about AssangeDAO, the DAO raising money for freeing Julian Assange, and its current status.
Sources Mentioned
First issue of the journal
Rose's piece on Lunarpunk
My interview with Amir Taaki on DarkFi
My interview with Harry Halpin on NYM
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ICYMI I've written a book about, no surprise, blockchains through a left political framework! The title is Blockchain Radicals: How Capitalism Ruined Crypto and How to Fix It and is being published through Repeater Books, the publishing house started by Mark Fisher who’s work influenced me a lot in my thinking.
The book is officially published and you use this linktree to find where you can purchase the book based on your region / country.