Blue Check Manifesto

On Jan 8, 2024

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Freedom is not granted; it is taken and defended. Our freedom is being eroded on nearly every front yet few push back, blinded by greed and lust. Most with influence in our society shepherd us toward darkness for more power and more money. The incentives are designed by massive, corrupt institutions and billion-dollar companies focused on squeezing out as much money as possible from billions of digital slaves.

Tracked. Manipulated. Censored. Sold. This is our reality.

Can you see it? Can you see where this leads? “Everything I do is tracked. It is already a lost cause” is a common narrative, disappointing and frustrating. Millions see the problems, but most have given up hope.

How did we end up here? Humans have relied on trust since the dawn of time. We built families. We built communities. We built businesses. We built new technologies. We built governments. Trust is how humans have improved our standing in the world. Trust will always be essential, but at scale it remains vulnerable. Systems that require trust are easily corrupted. In the modern age, this vulnerability is amplified due to the scale of these systems, controlled by a powerful few whose incentives are at odds with the millions who trust and rely on them blindly.

I was once a Twitter power user — my only social media for the past decade. It was not without fault, but it was an incredibly powerful tool. It held the promise of billions being able to communicate freely and build off of each other’s thoughts and ideas. Then censorship escalated. Then identity checks began. Refusing to comply effectively shadowbanned you. In retrospect, it was inevitable. Trust does not scale. The systems we rely on are too easily corrupted.

The massive centralized institutions that govern so much of our lives are broken. What has worked in the past is not sufficient for the future. We can do better. We must do better. Nobody is coming to save us. We have to save ourselves.

We have the tools — the tools that empower individuals and minimize trust. Protocols such as Bitcoin and Nostr that are not controlled by any entity enable us to communicate and interact freely and without permission. Freedom tech is our hope, but real change will require millions to stand up and take responsibility for our future. Say no to TikTok, Google, WeChat, PayPal, Facebook, Twitter/X, and the countless digital slavery companies that join their ranks. Their incentive is to control you and they are winning. Build, support, and utilize freedom tech tools instead.