23 Comments
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Steshu Dostoevsky's avatar

Corruption appears almost everywhere. And it has been the core “business” model since civilization began. Rackets, hustles, scams, grifts, and money laundering are pervasive everywhere.

What the public hasn’t learned yet is that all of the above are even more prevalent in the government sector and always have been.

The media is the propaganda machine that has provided cover for the government’s corruption. Why do people think any agency that receives federal funding or contracts is trustworthy?

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Reasonable Horses's avatar

Yessir. Money and power attract sharks.

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Duchess's avatar

I like all of these suggestions.

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Gray's avatar

Me Too. I don't understand how any of us get traction with any of this.

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Reasonable Horses's avatar

What protects technology from corruption?

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The Society of Problem Solvers's avatar

Decentralization and transparency. Has Bitcoin ever been corrupted? Counterfeit? No.

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Reasonable Horses's avatar

Bitcoin is a good example. But we do have a knack for corrupting whatever we create. What might be Bitcoin's vulnerabilities? Asking for a friend. Seriously, in this century, we need to know or keep looking for systemic vulnerabilities just to stay ahead of the corruption curve. So far, it doesn’t look like the Bitcoin bad guys have lapped the good guys. True?

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Tom Froer's avatar

a sledge hammer

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MCL's avatar

Seems like you want to boil the ocean.

How about starting with a kettle in a modest sized geography?

What would that look like?

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The Society of Problem Solvers's avatar

Precisely. Start somewhere. A town or city. Or better yet, one of Balaji Srinivasan’s Network States. Are you familiar?

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MCL's avatar

In one of your previous posts you referenced his work so I looked him up. Definitely worth some time.

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Joe Van Steenbergen's avatar

Corruption is as old as time; it's tucked neatly into the hearts of unscrupulous men. Until we find a way to change that, the corrupt will, as they have done with our Constitution, find a way around any anti-corruption schemes we try to implement.

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The Society of Problem Solvers's avatar

A good system should be able to be turned over to your enemies and it still doesn’t get corrupted.

There will always be hackers (corruptors), but that doesn’t mean we shouldn’t keep evolving the systems

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Reasonable Horses's avatar

I think "This war . . . the corrupt vs the virtuous" nails down the problem. Any systemic problem can get fixed if virtuous people run the system. Even absolute dictatorships would work very well for everybody if dictators were by nature virtuous (clearly none are). Evolving technology might stay ahead of the corruption curve, but corruptors will always be with us. They catch up. It’s the way of the world. I’m wondering how we can overwhelm corrupt actors with virtuous actors.

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The Society of Problem Solvers's avatar

Decentralized power is the only answer

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Reasonable Horses's avatar

Decentralize and/or disperse? Less interdependence is more independence. My family, my tribe, my neighbors, and good fences. Surely there are surplus plots of national forest where we can self-sustain. If there’s room for everyone crossing our borders, there must be room for you and me.

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The Signal's avatar

Groups like the Council of Foreign Relations, the Trilateral Commission, and the Club of Rome would have to be democratized. If we do not “Penetrate their cabinets” with the Sons and Daughters of Liberty then we can forget rooting out the corruption.

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The Society of Problem Solvers's avatar

We don’t need to root them out. We can exit to systems that make it impossible for them to join in.

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Tom Froer's avatar

Entropy might disagree w your list.

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The Society of Problem Solvers's avatar

Consciousness defies entropy.

We debated this before, but happy to have another go.

Consciousness requires acute organization.

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Tom Froer's avatar

- No it doesn't.

- If so then entropy will prove you wrong again (as it always does).

- No it doesn't.

Evolution works because it asks one simple question over and over. It doesn't stray from this question; what is more fitting.

The type of 'systems' you refer to contort this question.

The systems we've lived w for the past ~80yrs are failing. That is natural as they nolonger can grasp what is fitting (fair, just, healty, etc).

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User's avatar
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Jun 11, 2023
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The Society of Problem Solvers's avatar

Viruses, AI, and Aliens are the best patsies because it is so difficult to pin the blame. So absolutely all of these areas should be made transparent and sealed by the tyranny of the masses

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