(incredible artwork by Alina (https://alinaloseva.art/ ))
The why of values.
its been 26 year since the declaration of independence of cyberspace - barlow https://www.eff.org/cyberspace-independence
spanish translation: https://ohowell.wordpress.com/published/declaracion/
Where are we now 2022
Things that are happing at the moment:
Metamask not accessible for Venezuelans:
https://www.theblockcrypto.com/linked/136256/venezuelan-users-of-crypto-wallet- metamask-say-they-can-no-longer-access-it
Opensea blocks users from Cuba and any other that USA defines as “enemies”
https://www.theblockcrypto.com/post/136336/a-look-at-metamask-infura-opensea-and- the-countries-they-do-not-serve
Bank accounts frozen in canada https://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/ottawa-protests-frozen-bank-accounts-1.6355396
Parler shut down by amazon https://www.npr.org/2021/01/21/956486352/judge-refuses-to-reinstate-parler-after- amazon-shut-it-down
QR pass restricting access and travel https://www.government.nl/topics/coronavirus-covid-19/covid-certificate/coronavirus- entry-pass/where-do-i-need-to-show-a-coronavirus-entry-pass
Hyperinflation https://www.zerohedge.com/markets/taliban-bans-dollars-afghanistan-amid-financial- crisis-hyperinflation-next
Currency crisis ukraine /russia: https://www.smh.com.au/business/banking-and-finance/russians-rush-to-banks-as-they-
brace-for-another-currency-crisis-20220301-p5a0hs.html https://www.bloomberg.com/opinion/articles/2022-02-28/russia-s-money-is-gone
These are all examples how a system is built with a single point of failure. One entity or player in the ecosystem can crash everything. By intention or unintentional but nevertheless its a weak system because of it.
If we build the ecosystems that we like to see on top of these systems we are building on insecure and controlled fundamentals and therefore whatever we build has no solid ground.
Why we take effort to also build the foundation of these projects it’s this reason.
The good news. Since its decentralized, also the action of building these systems is together. Since we see this infrastructures as a public good, all is open constructive and buidl together with an amazingly huge ecosystem of communities.
That is why we can always count on other communities in this same space for helping out answering questions, and give a hand and we help them etc. Because everybody knows, that what is built for one project is built for all, so project by project everything becomes better. Even if one fails, everybody learns from it.
Why I am telling you this?
Sometimes this mentality is so embedded in everything we do and think, since it clicks with our personal values, that we just take it for granted because it becomes natural to us. And you are here because we share these values. You are here because we are building things according to these values, together. Let’s get them out in the open, so we can help eachother to get where we we are going.
We all make mistakes since the society that we grew up in is not always aligned (and many times even against) these values, so its not a natural behaviour in the society our previous generations have built.
They are not to blame, neither are we, it’s not about guilt or being against something. But we do need to realize that the society is a human built one. Every expression and creation contributes to this. This to me seems important to realize since we do have this responsibility to build the society. We are doing it anyway, every day. So we might as well do it according to our values.
We all grew up in different countries, different communities different families, all these circles come with a set of values. Its a great time to analize and self access what you will put forward, and what you would like to unlearn, or construct a new. And I am sure you have passed by many moments in your life that you have done just that.. All these experiences make us rich, especially if we share these together if becomes one big organism of diverse experiences.
Let’s build our community according to our values, our heart and how we want to imagine society to be. I know this might sound utopian and I know I am a dreamer. But dreams and ideals are where everything starts from, and you are part of it.
Below we describe some of the core values that we have started from, and that we share with many projects and humans in this space ( and beyond) We highlight them since they are big drivers for decisions we have made and will make together, and illustrates and gives some light on how we want to construct the base of this community.
We are building this together, every day. Every meeting every interaction.
They are in no means perfect, and neither are we. We make mistakes and learn from eachother. I would love to see that even if (and especially when) we make these mistakes we have these values to fall back on and guide us and guide eachother in the way we want to go.
It was followed by various sessions with the whole team, to gather around values, and define them as a community.
