Blockchain Open Source State

The Core Technology

Blockchain is a public database of information with one crucial feature: immutability. Information stored on the blockchain cannot be changed without notifying everyone about this fact and the scope of changes.

This makes blockchain valuable for storing public information such as:

• Birth and death certificates
• Marriage and divorce certificates
• Vehicle information - model, registration, insurance, ownership
• Property information - address, ownership
• And much more

With proper security features, it would be possible to store and share private information securely:

• Medical data

With additional roles and access management, we can securely store institutional data:

• Police records, accident reports, criminal records, court documents
• Historical archives

Benefits of Blockchain for Government

In the case of e-government, blockchain provides secure information storage:

• No physical paper archives that can burn with all city records (distributed storage)
• No government official can unauthorized modify, steal, or destroy data (immutable records)

What is stored in the blockchain remains there permanently. What has been decided through transactions or voting cannot be altered. This creates an unprecedented level of trust and security.

Applications for a Digital State

A suite of blockchain-based applications can help transition institutions to a new system:

• Citizen authorization and identity management
• Role-based permissions for citizens and organizations
• Election, voting, and polling systems
• Legal and judicial systems
• Transparent reporting to government with permanent record-keeping

Citizen Empowerment

In this system:

• Self-organized communities can determine their local laws
• Schools can establish their own rules, with parent input on curriculum
• Citizens can flag laws they believe violate the constitution
• When enough people report an issue, public prosecutors can take the case to court
• Elected courts can make verdicts about constitutional compliance
• If a law is found unconstitutional, it is automatically withdrawn and previous law reinstated

Digital Democracy Reimagined

This approach essentially recreates democratic institutions on the blockchain:

• Digital parliament and senate
• Transparent voting and elections
• Greater citizen control over their way of life
• A global, open-source, decentralized liberal democracy

I would call it “ordered anarchy” - there is still rule of law, but with extreme flexibility and local customization.

Local Customization of Laws

Imagine a municipality deciding they don’t want 5G, WiFi, or microwave technology in their area:

• Constitutional provisions would require supermajority (e.g., 90% support, 90% participation) for radical changes
• Different types of voting could be implemented for different scenarios
• With sufficient support, communities could enact local restrictions

This benefits society by:

• Embracing diversity in approaches to governance
• Creating natural experiments that generate data on policy effects
• Allowing communities to learn from each other’s successes and mistakes
• Providing space for experimentation and innovation

Examples in Practice

• A city might legalize autonomous vehicles as a test case
• Communities could organize around specific values and establish local regulations
• Only major infrastructure (like national highways) would remain under central control
• Government would provide default recommendations, while local political units could customize

Smart Contracts for Life Events

The system could handle life events through smart contracts:

• Wills as smart contracts on blockchains
• Upon verified death, automated transfer of:
  • Savings and financial assets
  • Real estate
  • Personal property
  • Access credentials to accounts
• Smart contracts could send messages to designated people
• Transfer digital keys for homes and other secure access

A New Social Contract

We need systems that enable people and organizations to create custom agreements with each other while remaining under one political framework. This allows for:

• Production of diverse values and their exchange
• Moving beyond mass culture to mass customization
• Decentralizing cultural approaches while centralizing decision protocols

By leveraging blockchain technology, we can create a state that is lightweight, efficient, open, and designed for the challenges of the modern world.