The Innards of Sovereignty
The form factors, tools, documents, structures and articulations of sovereignty have always interested me about the Network State, as we’ve watched them develop over the past few years.
The Network State has been building up the guts of sovereignty — like citizenship, constitutions, declarations of independence, global delegations and congresses, legal bodies — that demonstrate clear progress towards the establishment of a sovereign nation-state, or, network state in their parlance, taking the form of the colonial empire.
The Network State Praxis issuing visas to its citizens is a big one, expressing here the concept of a founded state, the concept of a citizen and of citizenship, and the establishment of official legal and administrative processes regarding the handling of its citizens; it additionally establishes the core divide between “member of the nation” and “non-member”, the delineations that define a state, the beginning of borders, and eventually wars.
After an application process which is of course based on technological achievement, being a member of the tech/crypto class, etc., having money, being a founder or computer engineer, being connected in tech fascism. Then new Praxis citizens are issued the “Steel Visa”. They claim to have over 87,000 of these citizens… and I believe them. Praxis was founded in 2019, and they’ve had six years awash with PayPal and a16z money to do events all over the world, to build a base in New York City, to attract people from the tech class through lavish events and various propaganda campaigns.
We should absolutely believe that there are 87,000 of them and consider what it means to have 87,000 people who are considered citizens of just one Network State — one with the most heavy funding, the most marketing, the closest relationships to the US executive.
Afropolitan, another tech-fascist backed project, has done something similar, allowing early participants to mint a new “Citizen Pass” on the blockchain. (Now “sold out”) . A much earlier stage project but it shows how this same model is emerging across the Network State, with the concept of the citizen built in from the start.
Going back to Praxis, they held in October 14th, 2024, a WORLD CONGRESS. In the Dominican Republic, one of many places that they are looking at to set up a stronghold in. (Eventually this means having strongholds of tech fascism in dozens and dozens of countries).
During the Congress, they created a Declaration of Ascent, the “Foundational Signing of the Declaration of Ascent”. Such a declaration of a state we have seen throughout history. While it may look to you as a LARP, what is looks to me as a critical milestone in the establishment of their state, the achievement of cornerstore documents and frameworks that accompany the creation of all states.
Now, I regret to share the text of such with you but here we are. I have shortened it considerably to spare you, never forget I was kind to you once, with particularly notable parts highlighted in bold.
When in the course of human events, profound transformations in human consciousness demand the birth of new political forms, it becomes necessary for a people to transcend the limitations of their age and establish modes of civilization and government worthy of humanity's highest potential.
We hold these truths to be self-evident: that the human spirit knows no earthly bounds, that each generation must choose its own destiny, and that when technology opens new realms of human possibility, new forms of civilization must arise to meet them.
… Yet while humanity stands at the threshold of its greatest leap forward, existing political structures remain bound to geographic accident rather than chosen purpose, devoted to mere maintenance rather than ascending greatness, concerned with administering decline rather than pursuing glory.
Therefore, we, the founding citizens of Praxis, declare our intent to ascend beyond these limitations and establish a new form of human civilization: the Network Empire.
… To these ends, we bind our destinies together as citizens of the first network empire.
We commit ourselves to:
The cultivation of nobility, beauty, and excellence in all endeavors
The creation of new forms of human organization born from our highest ideals
The establishment of governance that nourishes the human spirit in its ascent
The development of our own territory, both physical and digital
The advancement of technology in service of human transcendence
The preservation and transmission of our highest values through generations
The extension of human civilization beyond the cradle of Earth
… In testimony whereof, we, the founding citizens of Praxis, hereby pledge to each other our lives, our fortunes, and our sacred honor in pursuit of these noble aims…
Let it be written in the eternal record that on this sixth day of November, two thousand and twenty-four, at the first Praxis World Congress, humanity took its first step toward a greater destiny. For glory. For transcendence. For Praxis.
I know. That was a lot. And I know the first instinct is to ridicule. But all documents like this throughout history sound the same. The flowery language, the bluster and peacocking, the grandiosity and extravagance, the absurd ambitions… all are true to the form.
This is a legitimate document establishing a sovereign state.
And these people are backed by some of the most powerful people in the world; Praxis is funded by Marc Andreessen, Peter Thiel, Joe Lonsdale, Sam Altman, all who have recently captured the US government. So I suggest we not discard this as LARPing so easily. I take it seriously: the beginning of their state.
Importantly, these types of things: world summits and caucuses, founding documents, declarations, signing ceremonies, these are very much structures of the state, a real state.
And there are more examples out there but in the interest of keeping it short n snappy, the other thing I wanted to point out here is… a very concerning development out of the most advanced Network State location, Próspera in Honduras, which is setting up *its own legal bodies* in the Próspera Arbitration Center,
“authorized to decide all cases of a contractual nature arising in the Próspera ZEDE unless specifically stipulated otherwise; and it is leveraging this historic role to provide arbitration services to individuals and companies involved in disputes throughout Latin America and around the world… All private disputes in the Próspera ZEDE, including labor disputes, are by default decided by arbitration by the PAC unless specifically stipulated otherwise… The mission and vision of the PAC is not circumscribed by its role as the default arbitration services provider or the geographical bounds of the Próspera ZEDE… Our mission is to offer high quality Alternative Dispute Resolution based on cost-effective, efficient and fair procedures to spur socio-economic development in Honduras specifically and Latin America generally and their greater integration into the global economy.”
Lots of words but it basically means that Network States, built on special economics zones like Próspera is, are developing internal legal structures and become legal sovereigns in the Network States, with their own lawyers, their own codes, their own processes.
Próspera, like other Network State sites, is in a primary business of registering businesses inside of Próspera, there to receive all the benefits therein… and they are mighty…. check out this page from the Próspera site advertising to foreign businesses:
LMFAO at “say goodbye to” literally all obligations of a business to a people… the Honduran people are definitely NOT enriched by this. Such is the parasite of the Network State.
All of this to say, the growth of the Network State, its inner structures, sense of itself, founding documents, delegative functions, legal organs, constitutions, passports and citizenships… these are very advanced, they are also becoming templates, they can be used in other Network State sites, the experience of all accruing to all as they are managed by central capital.
This is an early state but it is already one that is full of the pillars of sovereignty and that has carved out some pieces of sovereignty already. They are building a sovereign nation, a fascist state. There is no doubt about it.