'Aristocracy DAO:' 5 Systems of Metaverse Government

Technocrats and philosopher King's 👑

I would like to congratulate Hiro on getting past my administrator privileges to finally publish in this space. I wish I could say it was worth the wait. Generally I found his post on the limitations of regulation to be self-serving, despite the surprising traffic and shares. Good luck with that sword, Hiro!

The below is adapted from Plato's five regimes of government & other writings. Ancient theories of government, enlightenment social contract theory, the separation powers and the modern if crumbling nation-state are inspirations for the metaverse governance of tomorrow. Web3 infrastructure represents an emerging zone for these discussions.

This research was initially commissioned for a significant blockchain based metaverse currently forming out of Dubai.

5 SYSTEMS OF DAO GOVERNMENT IN THE METAVERSE

School of Athens, 1509-1511 (Raphael)

In etymology aristocracy meant “rule by the best.” For Greeks this meant victory on the battlefield, and virtue in office. During the Renaissance, it meant mastery in war, art, letters - and romance. A

As Europe ossified, the French revolution, enlightenment rhetoric & the American Revolution equated “rule by the best” with “rule by a landed gentry.”

In the metaverse, ‘aristocracy’ would likely involve a caste of origin builders, coders and investors which monopolize resources, controlling the economy, social life and in-world security.

Democracy has varying definitions, be it the distributed system of Greek city states, tribal “Majlis” gatherings in the Middle East, or the United States two-party (‘duopoly’) system.

Instead of exploring circular nomenclature, a simpler question might be to understand the extent to which “rule by the people, for the people” is technically actionable within the metaverse. 

Inspired by an ideal of the perfect Athenian city-state, this theory seeks to combine the idea of a philosopher king with the importance of true art, poetry and culture in society.

“The Republic” outlines an ideal of government in which the physical world is not absolute or unchangeable, but in many ways inferior to the virality of ideas; both good, and bad.

Traversing above reductive debates of ‘big’ or ‘small’ government, the Republic aims to erect a city-state which is strong, epic and magical. A new form of civilization. As such, it is a compelling template for study and DAO architecture in the metaverse.

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