The Dinner Party Network State
I love the idea that internet communities can create capacity for action, then make a significant impact on the lives of their members and the real world. This idea is also known as the network state. A precise definition of the network state comes from Balaji Srinivasan, who popularized the term, as:
a highly aligned online community with a capacity for collective action that crowdfunds territory around the world and eventually gains diplomatic recognition from pre-existing states.
I want more of these powerful communities to exist, and many others share this desire. Examples include Srinivasan, organizations like Praxis Society, and many Twitter posters.
The problem with this desire is that it is so large that most people don’t know where to start. Many end up just talking about the network state, and do little towards actually building it. This is best summarized by one of my favourite ever tweets:
Part of my interest in hosting comes as a reaction to this. If you can’t host a successful dinner party, you definitely can’t build a network state. Although I don’t have a clear path towards building a network state, I know I can host more dinner parties.
I wanted to name this Substack “Dinner Party Network State” for this reason, but Luisa said no (fair enough, it is a bit esoteric)1. My vision of a dinner party network state remains. The idea of spending time and building relationships with friends in my home, and eventually across the world, sounds like a great use of my time. These skills and relationships might eventually form the basis of a dinner party network state.
Even if I fail at this goal, I still think hosting is better than intellectualizing about a hypothetical network state. Also spending time with friends, having good conversations, and eating food is a big enough benefit to encourage me to host. My strange dinner party network state idea is just a bonus.
If you dream of building a network state but don’t know how to make it happen, join me and start with hosting a dinner party.
I (Luisa) said no because I didn't want to scare any of our guests who had no previous notion of what network state meant. Basically, I didn't want them to think we were inviting them to a cult.