Daniel Goldman

The Socioeconomics of Mall-Towns

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I’ve been thinking about this town in a mall concept for quite a long time. It’s been years since I first wrote my original article on the idea. At the time, I didn’t know much about blockchain or cryptoassets, but then again, neither did anyone else. In fact, back in 2012, when I first wrote my initial article on a city in a building concept, the grandfather of all cryptocurrencies, Bitcoin, was only 3 years old. Now I have a body of writing on cryptocurrency and blockchain, and how it will impact our future. So I’d like to integrate all of these ideas together into one theoretical project.

Blockchain Use as Citizenship

Those who use various blockchains and cryptoassets are tied together economically and socially. This is true, even with the very limited functionality of current blockchain architectures. As blockchain applications expand, and we begin to really use the technology to manage contractual agreements between individuals and groups, whether it’s through Agora Coin, or some other platform, a blockchain system will end up feeling more and more like a community.

In the future, I predict that pretty much all social programs will be managed by blockchain systems. Universal basic income, if it is implemented in the world, will be implemented through blockchain. The same goes with universal health coverage, social security, and other programs.

But like with current blockchain systems, there are bound to be disagreements, and those disagreements will result in forks or alternative systems, just as we saw Bitcoin give birth to Litecoin, BTC, and others. In a future world managed by blockchain, instead of changing citizenship, a person might simply change which platform they use.

Users might need to keep using the old chain for certain things, like paying certain bills that are attached to the old system, but even then it’s likely that there will be a lot of interchain compatibility. It would be very similar to obtaining new citizenship and maintaining dual citizenship, only much more voluntary. If a person doesn’t like the kind of social programs being managed by one chain, they just stop supporting it. If they don’t like the tax rate (inflation rate), then they would choose not to use the cryptoasset associated with the chain.

And if none of the blockchain systems fit what a person needs, or if they think there’s a better way of doing things, they can create a new system or fork an existing one. Some have even likened the forking of bitcoin and other blockchain systems to civil wars. And in many ways, there’s a lot of overlap, only again, its all voluntary!

One question I have about this future is whether people will identify based on what blockchain system they use. Will people start to say “I’m a Bitcoiner” in the same way that they say “I’m an American?” It’s possible. Already crypto investors seem to identify, to an extent, with which blockchain system they prefer.

Economics

If this technology is integrated into a town in a mall concept, then the answer to my previous question is likely to be “yes,” especially if each town has its own blockchain to manage local operations. This idea brings us to the next issue. How do people start interacting with the local economy?

Trading posts are necessary components of the economics of a Blockchain supported “town in a mall” concept.

Trading posts were iconic in early American history. Dungeons and Dragons players are also probably familiar with the concept. They were part of the American frontier. But modern Americans probably haven’t had much experience with them. The closest analog in modern society would be a consignment or pawn shop.

If a town in a mall utilizes a blockchain and cryptocurrency pair that’s either not that common outside of the mall, or unique to the mall itself, then there must be a way for an individual who wants to shop in the mall to get spendable currency. Therefore every mall should have a trading post, which would function as a currency exchange, a consignment shop, and a pawn shop, all in one. A person could then walk in with either USD or something else of value, and exchange it for either something else of value that the shop happens to have, or exchange it for locally used cryptocurrency.

This trading post operation would also be a great place to create an identity (citizenship) and obtain any necessary hardware. In my discussion on universal basic income and beyond, I talked about the idea of having a tablet system which would integrate with the blockchain and cryptoasset ecosystem in order to allow access to a whole host of features. The trading post is a perfect place to pick up such a device, or register an existing device with the ecosystem.

Beyond Mall-Towns

The integration of blockchain citizenship with the concept of the town in a mall idea essentially turns malls into micronations. Every person who lives in the mall-town will basically be a citizen of the mall-town. These ideas however can be expanded to larger scales. The mall-town idea is great, but I would really eventually love to see entire cities run this way. The mall idea is simply a prototype for self sufficient smart cities, surrounded by agricultural districts, and connected to one another through high speed transportation.

The post The Socioeconomics of Mall-Towns appeared first on Politicoid.

If you Want Businesses to Treat you Well, Pay Them!

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This article is largely a rant about people simultaneously complaining about businesses putting advertisers first, while demanding everything for free. And while I use “you” in the article, I am not necessarily speaking to my readers. In fact, I hope that those who are reading this article, at least on Medium, are paying subscribers. The “you” to whom I refer is anyone who thinks that content on the internet should be free.

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Saving Money using Referral Programs

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One way I try to save money is by relying on referral programs. A lot of them don’t necessarily give you cash, but they can reduce your bill, if you’re using their service, and there are a lot of services that offer this feature.

I try to keep an eye out for various referral programs for the services that I use. Sometimes I choose whether or not go to with a company, depending on whether they have a decent referral program or not. I don’t mind giving friends and family suggestions, letting them know what cell phone company I use, auto-ship services like Butcherbox, and so on. A lot of companies benefit from their customers referring new customers to them. So why not get something back for doing it? Here are a few companies that offer referral services. I use each and every one of them.

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Amateur Radio and The Constitution

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Ignoring for the moment the constitutional issues with the FCC itself, the entity’s regulations on amateur radio (HAM) are, in some cases, horrific violations of the constitution. As some background, I have been interested in amateur radio for a long time, but I recently decided to actually bite the bullet and go for my license. You can find more about that here. I did this for two reasons. First, I like to push myself. But I also did this so that I could be considered part of the class of amateur radio operators. In this way, I can be involved in any lawsuits against the FCC, with respect to protecting the rights of amateur radio operators.

The first matter to address is the need for a license at all. We have a right to utilize any means at our disposal to communicate with one another. Now, one might want to argue that failure to comply with specific guidelines could impose on others trying to also exercise their rights to communicate with others. That’s true. But these kinds of restrictions treat people as potentially harmful, from the get-go.

The right to peaceably assemble is violated by this licensing rule. While we may not be assembling physically, we are assembling through an available means of communication. So long as we are not impeding someone else’s right to assemble in a similar fashion, that should be enough. But even if you have a license, there are a lot of restrictions.

Profane speech may be offensive, but it is still speech. It is very likely conveying an idea, even if that idea is offensive. Therefore it is also protected under the first amendment. However, because of the semi-open nature of amateur radio, operators are not allowed to use any profanity or vulgar speech on the air. Furthermore, because the goal of amateur radio is communication, usually related to the hobby, things like playing music is also prohibited, in general.

Perhaps some of this restriction makes sense, on older methods of communication. But it really makes no sense if we are using DMR, which is a form of digital communication. DMR allows for a more controlled means of communicating with individuals. Because each person using DMR is assigned a unique identifiers and the radios can be set to communicate with specific identifiers or groups of identifiers, unwanted content can be blocked out. Indeed, it would be possible to even have “NSFW” indicators in the ID so that parental controls could be enabled.

Illegal search and seizure is another issue. The FCC does not abide by the Fourth Amendment. It relies on the argument that investigations into civil matters is not covered by the amendment (FCC Inspection Fact Sheet). Therefore the FCC has taken it upon itself to have the power to demand inspection of any station, without any warrant or other justification. You are required to immediately submit to a search, if the FCC demands it. Unfortunately, while there have been a number of court rulings that admit that the Fourth Amendment is not limited to criminal investigations, the courts have not yet fully recognized our protections (Justia).

While I do hope to have fun with amateur radio, I have really gotten involved in the activity in order to oppose these unconstitutional restrictions. After all, you cannot just sue to oppose a law. You must be impacted by the law in order to sue. Being a licensed amateur radio operator, I will now be impacted by these restrictions, and so it will now be easier to involve myself in lawsuits related to amateur radio operations.

Further Reading

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