**Please keep in mind that this post was written years before DAO’s and snapshots were even a thing in crypto… so some of this doesn’t match up with how the market met the democratic demands of the populace, but at least the core ethos is sound.

Originally Posted on my Medium June 3rd, 2016 -- Original Post Linked Here:

America is at a crossroads — it sucks, but what can we do when there’s really only two candidates to choose from?

This got me thinking… “do we really even need a Supreme Leader? or can Americans pretty much run themselves?

A lot of people get freaked out by the notion of not having a President/Supreme Leader — they think that we live in a controlled environment, but what they fail to see, and what I sometimes forget, is that we pretty much do live in Anarchy already. Think about it, anything can happen to us when we walk outside our doors each morning — a katana wielding schizophrenic can slice you in half, a rabid dog can run up to you and bite your kneecap. These are all real possibilities — a katana wielding schizophrenic literally ran around my neighborhood scaring everyone into an agoraphobic panic. Thankfully, he was stopped before he sliced anyone in half. But it illustrates my point, that anything can happen, and our leaders can’t/won’t do anything about it.

This thought, that we basically live in anarchy anyways, got me thinking — Do we even need a President?

I contend we don’t.

During Muammar Gaddafi’s manhunt in 2010 or so, I began reading a lot about how his country, Libya, was governed. I wanted to know how their citizens lived, and I was curious because I’ve always had a fantasy of being a ‘Spy’ probably from all those Hollywood Action films I watched (and still do!) as a kid.

This curiosity lead me to pick up on a system of government called Jamahiriya. Jamahiriya, is a system of government in which authority is distributed among many groups who all have to come to a consensus before making a law — and which, when done authentically, has no primary leader.

The distribution of Authority is what caught my attention. Right now, in American Politics, can we really, truly say that any of our politicians actually give a shit about us? In case you’re struggling here, the answer is a resounding “NO, THEY DON’T!”

Cue the MJ.

Recently, I’ve been studying the Blockchain and figuring out different ways to apply the technology. For the uninitiated, Blockchains are ledgers (like Excel spreadsheets), but they accept inputs from lots of different parties (ex. Citizen groups in Jamahiriya). The ledger can only be changed when there is a consensus among the group. That makes them more secure, and it means there’s no need for a central authority to approve transactions (Dictator/Supreme Leader/President).

Wouldn’t it be great if we each could get an email notification, go online, and individually vote on a referendum. When the vote closes, the bill would either become a law, or not. But the people are the leaders in the system.

Picture this, if you call a country’s constitution the ‘chain’ and any and all amendments/provisions/referendums a ‘block’; and then consider that with a blockchain system, transactions are created by participants using the system, and in Jamahiriya, ‘laws’ are created by citizens participating in the government; then it all jives right?

To simplify, here’s a key:

-Constitution/book of laws = Chain

-Amendments/Provisions = Block

-Citizens = Participants

-Votes = Transactions

So, considering that our Country is screwed and the two party system isn’t really providing candidates who do what’s right for the people, but rather candidates who are bought and paid for by corporations, wouldn’t a better form of government be a ‘Blockchain’ voting system without a centralized authority figure? A system where we can all go online, get notification for something to vote on, and then vote on it to ‘add’ or ‘not add’ to our constitution/book of laws. This system would be a more direct form of democracy where the people actually hold power and fewer numbers of people are left feeling disenfranchised by the political establishment because the people, quite literally, are the political establishment.

Thanks for reading, I have a book coming out soon, so give me a follow, comment, or send those digits :)