meta-neocameralist program of research

Land starts MNC here. in this post I list general questions that have to be answered by a MNC research program.

Descending the levels as the original landian post, we start at the occult level-0 and dig deep:

(0) MNC-theology: what is the arcane fundamentals of organization and order? what is the formalization of order in the universe (i. e., what is the cosmos)? Who or what has sovereign property over the cosmos?

(1) Power economics: How is power produced, distributed, maintained and lost? Which physical quantities determinate the quantity of power? Does power define boundaries? If so, how? Is division of power possible? If not, does secession really ever happen or only a single hegemon always governs the world? Else, what are its possible configurations, and which configurations determine the growth or decrease of systemic power? How does level-0 entities check power? What is a realistic definition / determination of power? How does power relate to (systemic) survival, i.e. linearly, non-linearly, inversely, etc? Abstractly, what is reality, especially from the point of view of power? How to discover it?

(2) Power pedagogy: How do regimes learn? How do they learn how to learn well? How do they produce realistic information? How do well-governing regimes learn and apply such information? How does power recur upon itself, i.e. how does it intellectualize? And what are the specific consequences of this? Is power indeed selected to check itself? If so, how does it happen? If not, where does Land go wrong? What is a formalization of power? How does this increase its commercial liquidity? What is a model for power to become a business, and thus perform experiments? What are the networks of exchange between “public” and “private” spheres, and how fast do they integrate both? How can entropy in government be dissipated through bankruptcy and market-drive restructuring?

(3) Power formalization: How can one formalize existing regimes as sovereign corporations? Who are the clients, executives and shareholders in each polity? How is power sold and bought? How does power markets function? Does power increase through this monetization cycle? If so, how and how much? Which definite social quantities are power factors? In which proportion to each other?

Of course, some answer have been pursued ever since “neocameralism” became a word, and thus may have been more or less thoroughly answered. Also there may be questions which I haven’t covered. Link both of them to me, and I’ll link them here (so that this becomes a reference post). Most of them, though, I suspect have been mostly neglected in the last 2 years, and deserve further investigation.

There is a fourth possible degree, called “power engineering” that Land has not (for obvious reasons) included. This is the point where MNC folds back upon NC and finally tells you which principles have been the “best practices” of functioning social orders, and thus at least a little of how to design a society. It may be included here, if there is any exploration in this regard going on.

how to make a plan

1. chose a goal – aka “scope”. this is probably the most important step. you can’t make a plan if there isn’t an envisioned end state. if there can’t be, adopt some kind of heuristics, and not a plan. be specific about the end state as well. SMART objectives are smart. a little uncertainty is unavoidable, but you should be able to picture the end state with a mostly clear vision.
2. survey resources – aka “budget”. you have to know which resources are available to you, whether immediately or virtually through mobilization. this is essentially a verification of your power. make a careful inventory.
3. establish deadlines – aka “schedule”. when you have to get that goal finished? either receive it from the outside, or be sure to produce one from the inside. without a deadline, all plans are doomed to failure (you will postpone indefinitely, don’t fool yourself).

after these initial steps, you have to make a viability analysis, which boils down to posing yourself the question: can I reach my goal with my resources within the deadline? if the answer is “yes”, proceed. otherwise, either acquire more resources, buy more time or be more modest in the goals.

the rest of the plan is employing resources towards the goals, within a detailed schedule. it’s important to keep track of enemies (obstacles are enemies) and neutralize them before they hurt the plan. also, in the execution of the plan, heuristics may be necessary due to uncertainties (try not to abuse, or you will stray out of course, simply because the environment gives less then a fuck for your goals). do not use resources prematurely, not anymore than needed (even if replaceable): be prepared for eventualities. most importantly, try and stay ahead of eventualities. being able to foresee troubles to the plan is already bring the goals from the future. update your stats as you go, in order to know how far from the goal you are. you have planned a specific velocity, do not hush nor lag behind.

keep your blood reptile cold, don’t lose the goal from sight, even in face of great difficulties or obstacles. enemies smell and profit from your fear. the goal is your justification, stand by it.

neocameralism for leftists

…wait, what?

why would leftists want neocameralism? well, because it makes the dream possible. instead of a rule by impolite proles from deep country, rednecks and bigots in general, a civilized progressive morally superior social justice paradise, governed by BHO and his descendants, forever, with the loyal and intelligent help of science and rationalism (aka rule by certified PhD professors).

think, a shiny Californian Republic sovcorp, with LGBTQA* rights, affirmative action, universal basic income, no racial discrimination, no wage gap, a police force that effectively prevents rape, open borders, progressive media, and everything good. a city upon the hill, indeed. plus, the certainty that never ever ever will the red-tribe bigots ever get into power again. a general ban on white-cisheteropatriarchy and fascism in general.

in fact, for the Cathedral, building heaven is not very hard, since it already holds power. it just has to let go of one thing it already only pays lip service, namely, democracy. formalize all the assets, restructure the State of California, declare independence (and back it up with the latest developments in military security) and just live the dream.

seriously, I guessing the other side will be just as happy. the bliss of divorce…

capitalism = feminism (sketch summary)

bullet points, for starters

1. as per Levi-Strauss, women are the first commodities in human societies, being traded in the marriage circle, to avoid incest (and, thus create genetic variation). this starts the expansion of exogamy in humanity.
2. capitalism (economic modernity), as the process in which everything turns into commodities, and then money, and then…, is the process of the empowerment of commodities. they serve to rule.
3. women, as commodities provided with brains are empowered as members of the economy. their character as primitive commodities gives them “a revolutionary destiny”, as they now tower upon those that once owned them. yes, modern society is gymnocentric, and will only get ever more so as capitalism intensifies.
4. becoming women = becoming commodity = becoming capital. it’s only by dissolving into flows of information that anything survives within and throughout capitalism. any resistance is an undoing of these fluxes. resist capitalism, and the fatherlands win. dissolve into capital, and then… who knows?
5. feminism is the drive towards the Technological Singularity.

neocameralism for agorists

in opposition to more “traditional” ancaps, agorists have no time to waste on transitions. they do commerce, legal or illegal, right here and right now. agorism is the NAP taken to its utmost consequences as a personal code of honor.

what, then, can neocameralism offer to agorists?

good governance. any commercial enterprise needs a sound theory of how to deal with its internal organization. if you’re doing things all alone, it’s a personal code of ethics. if you’re dealing with others, you have an organization. and if it’s an organization that intends autonomy, it is a sovereign corporation.

an agorist sovcorp would be essentially a nomad war machine: whatever other business it may have, it’s core activity is protecting itself. which may be ever harder, given it’s non-territorial nature (“we aren’t states anymore”). it’s internal organization is a strict contractarian hierarchy, with every member being on a contract that is to be enforced by the sovcorp itself, according to the rules established by the contracts. the ultimate option is exit.

this sovcorp primarily offers protection services. it’s clients may be anywhere in the world. essentially, it’s indistinguishable from a private army. this company may as well pay dividends on its profits, thus having shareholders.

if you’re an agorist, opening a sovcorp may be the best way to present competition to the state, and thus assure its downfall.

neocameralism for ancaps

David Friedman proposes, in his classic Machinery of Freedom, a world of protection agencies, in contract with each other, so as to replace nation-states. the only difference from this to Moldbug’s Patchwork is territoriality. Moldbug dismisses right away the military feasibility of protection agencies competing over the same territory (as the good Hobbesian he is), and so territorializes Friedman’s  agencies in Webberian-state-like corporations.

are non-territorial sovcorps, and so ancap itself, feasible? let’s start with Moldbug’s model and make only a few feasible transformations, and see if the end result looks like something an ancap would love more than the Patchwork.

the first transformation is for a territorial sovcorp to allow private courts in its territory. although it’s still solely responsible for any enforcement in its territory, there’s no reason all judicial procedures need to be carried out by the sovereign. someone may appeal to the sovereign, but it is not required to do anything. also, private courts allows for one less expense and one more source of profits.

the operation of private courts will likely involve insurance agencies, which may start selling insurance policies that include specific adjudication in case of certain crimes or other covered risks.

the next step is a little more rogue, but equally feasible. the sovcorp abstains itself from enforcing contracts or law (now private) inside its territory, allowing protection agencies to freely enter the market. it’s a bold move, but if has enough military power to remain sovereign in a largely hostile world, it can certainly contain a few private armies. it may demand some sort of regulation, restricting the protection agencies’ military power to the degree it can contain. ultimate appeals are still possible, and conflicts among protection agencies are still mediated by the sovcorp.

another way to think about this is to imagine a virtual federalism, in which protection agencies are states, and the sovcorp is the federal government. essentially, the sovcorp has the same functions as the Constitution originally envisioned for the fedgov: external relations, protection from outside forces, adjudication of conflicts among member states.

the final step is way less bold than the second one, but more consequential. now, the protection agencies become all shareholders of the sovcorp. which turns the sovcorp into a constitutional contract among protection agencies. by either Friedman’s or Long‘s account, this is ancap proper: non-territorial protection agencies in contract among each other, replacing nation-states.

the punch-line of all this reasoning is: ancaps have good reason to spouse neocameralism, since it’s only three feasible steps away from ancapism. how to get to neocameralism? all power to the pilots.