Writing this as part of my own reflections and understanding of the different projects but also as a general resource for the ecosystem. I think its useful for both potential coordination members figuring out which ones fit them best that they want to join and also the organizers of each to understand how members might be analyzing them and perceiving them in the wild as well as how they can better differentiate from each other.
I’m excited for this Network State / CoordiNation movement since i’ve been a digital nomad since 2017 and been traveling solo around the world looking for a new home. I’ve yet to find one but I’ve built a great network of amazing people in the process. Many people in my friend groups have been talking about a “global network of community homes” for years now and it is starting to become a reality, especially since Covid when this lifestyle became more normalized. The past 6 months I’ve been visiting some of the emerging communities and the ability to travel while living also living within close knit communities that aren’t just your closest friends feels tangible now.
The “Network State” has been a hot topic ever since Balaji released his book on them in late 2022. This is not a new concept and comes from many inspirational sources like The Sovereign Individual, Cryptonomicon, and Network Cities. I am an anarchist (to put it simply) so I dont agree with the term “Network State” for a few reasons that i wont go into. The main point being that while Balaji’s framework of offline → online and small → large is accurate, but he over imposes his own ideals and ambitions narrowing the possible applications of his frameworks to those that only want to create their own Nation State.
I was pleasantly surprised when i went to Zuzalu and many people there had similar discontents with the term and had invented their own to replace it - “CoordiNations”. A CoordiNation is a group of people with a collective identity and shared culture that organize together to live and take care of each other. CoordiNations are more similar to MicroSolidarity but using land and technology to scale by disseminating culture and gating members. Unlike Network States, CoordiNations allow for a more diverse set of outcomes for groups who don’t necessarily want to create their own sovereign political borders, from popup cities like Zuzalu to networked cities like Cabin DAO to mutualistic cooperatives like Cohere.
https://twitter.com/JonathanHillis/status/1653361387022741504
What is the difference between a nation and a nation-state then? Nations are often categorized as ‘ethno-linguistic’ groups, that is a shared culture and language. The State assert their power by claiming they are the one true voice of The People of their nation and having a monopoly on violence to enforce these ideals, regardless if The People agree or not. This is why riots are “bad” even though they are the truest form of free speech and political action because they give power back to the People, challenging the State’s authority. Countries are just the physical boundaries that define the limits of a State’s powers. This is why using “CoordiNation” > “Network State” is important. Its a tiny linguistic change that immediately distinguishes the cultural differences and political systems being activated.
Finite And Infinite Games explains this difference quite eloquently
“…it can be said that a society is defined by its boundaries, a culture is defined by its horizons. A boundary is a phenomenon of opposition. It is the meeting place of opposing forces. Where nothing opposes, there can be no boundary. One can not move beyond a boundary without being opposed. This is why patriotism is inherently belligerent…”
Where as culture demands a vision for the future, looking beyond the horizon because a horizon is merely the limitation of ones own vision, not an obstacle in itself. States and societies are finite games, culture creation and community building is an infinite game.
So the basics of the Network State framework for their finite game can be viewed as guidelines for the infinite game of creating CoordiNations: