Nerd money.
\nWhat is it? When you look up nerd money on Google, you get a variety of definitions:
\n\u201cThe amount you put aside to go to comic-cons and buy nerdy shit.\u201d\u200a\u2014\u200aUrban Dictionary
\nBut this definition isn\u2019t the one that I\u2019ve been hearing about in the digital currency space recently.
\nNerd money in this article refers to Bitcoin and other digital currencies. It\u2019s considered to be nerd money because it was created by a computer programmer and still has not been adopted by mainstream society. Most people who are regularly using Bitcoin are considered to be a bit odd, existing in some kind of dark, nether world.
\nIn order to become comfortable with using Bitcoin and other digital coins, one must become skilled in security and specialized digital wallets.
\nOne must also become responsible for storing one\u2019s own money. This is a very strange concept to most people who are used to having banks do this for them. I would bet that very few people even realize they have a choice in this matter. But what happens when you are in control of your own money? When your money is in the bank, you can bet someone is profiting from it, in some way and it\u2019s not you.
\nDigital currencies also use encryption and long alphanumeric addresses to send money in their networks. To further confuse the average person is the fact that Bitcoin is decentralized. Most people have no idea what a \u201cdecentralized network\u201d even means. We\u2019ve all grown up with the idea that a company has a CEO at the top and all the workers are basically reduced to well-fed slaves, earning a tiny fraction of what the CEO makes. Most societies have this centralized structure which seems to be the main driver of everything but is becoming less so because of the internet. This centralized structure is so pervasive that it has permeated the way we, as human beings, think society has to be structured, too.
\nBut centralized power structures tend to create massive problems: fraud, abuse, vast wealth imbalance, slave populations and enormous suffering, both with humans and the creatures who inhabit our planet.
\nI\u2019ve worked for good companies and bad ones. I\u2019ve been everything from a freelance web designer to an assistant lunch lady. Seven years ago I read the 4-Hour Work Week and ever since then, I\u2019ve been plotting my out of working for centralized corporations. But I didn\u2019t quite understand what my ideal work situation was until now.
\nBack then I was thinking in black and white terms. I thought I had two choices: work in a corporation or work alone, running my own business. I didn\u2019t know I had a different option as I didn\u2019t even know that a decentralized, autonomous organization (or DAO) existed back then. It didn\u2019t exist in reality, but only as a wishful, utopian dream of some computer programmers.
\nWhat would you say if I told you there\u2019s another way to organize a company that doesn\u2019t rely on massive centralized power?<\/p>\n
What if I told you that one such DAO already exists and is very profitable and successful right now?
\nWhat if I told you I already am functioning very well inside a decentralized organization? What if I told you that I\u2019m the happiest I\u2019ve ever been in my entire life right at this moment?
\nYou know, successful examples and happy people rarely make the news.
\nYou might ask me the question:
\nWhy do you feel happy?
\nMy answer:
\nI exist both independently and as part of a healthy organization. I\u2019m not being micromanaged and I have no boss. It feels similar to being a part of a global honey bee hive (well, the kind that\u2019s not being killed off by humans) and I work for the overall health of the Dash ecosystem. I bring creative energy to the hive and the hive rewards me for my efforts. Above all, I feel free to add my creative voice and energies to help the hive grow bigger. It is the feeling of belonging to something bigger than myself while retaining creative control over my projects that brings me the most joy.
\nThis feeling is something I have never experienced before in any job.<\/p>\n
For someone like me, I prefer to work in a global community of like-minded people instead of running solo. I like collaboration, helping and working together towards a common goal. A decentralized structure fits my personality perfectly.
\nSo, let\u2019s examine the differences between a centralized corporation (which describes most companies on the planet right now) and a decentralized autonomous organization.
\nI will be using two examples I have experienced in my life. The centralized corporation I worked for was Hallmark and the decentralized autonomous organization I work for now is Dash.org.
\nA centralized corporation has a CEO, shareholders, upper and middle management and workers.
\nThe workers give their energy to the company in exchange for a meager salary. The workers receive direct orders from their superiors and they must do as they are told, no matter what. They are not encouraged to think outside the box because doing so would threaten the position of their immediate supervisors. They must never bypass the chain of command. They receive a tiny fraction of the CEO\u2019s salary. The managers receive a bit more than the workers, but they must keep the workers in line and the upper managers happy.
\nThe managers decide who gets hired\/fired and the opinions of other workers are not considered when hiring\/firing decisions are made. Most of the wealth that is generated in the corporation by the workers goes to the CEO and the shareholders. The workers are easily replaceable so they live in fear of being fired at any moment. Being in fear of losing their job and livelihood, they obey the orders of their managers in an attempt not to \u201cstick out\u201d. The workers have zero power in this kind of system and this sense of powerlessness begins to dominate their thinking in many other areas of their life. Their survival strategy becomes \u201ckeeping one\u2019s mouth shut and following the rules.\u201d
\nIn a decentralized autonomous organization, or DAO, there is no CEO.
\nIn Dash, there\u2019s a founder and a Core Team, but if the founder truly embraces the spirit of decentralization, then he\/she will not exert a huge amount of control over the DAO. Evan Duffield, founder of Dash, fits this model since he just announced that he removed his masternodes and plans to give away 4\/5 of his wealth to create more DAOs. Also, the Core Team can be fired by the community at any time if they\u2019re not doing a good enough job. This type of feedback loop brings out the best in people and is a truly merit-based system.
\nIn this type of organization, anyone can become a shareholder, even the workers.<\/p>\n
Decisions are made not by a central authority, but by the global community members casting their votes in favor or disfavor of proposals. In Dash, there are about 4,000 masternode owners all over the planet who are monetarily compensated for keeping the Dash network healthy and functioning. So in this system, the masternode owners are both the workers and the managers.
\nIn order to become a masternode owner, one must invest 1000 Dash and keep that money invested, not spent. In return, each masternode owner can vote on proposals in the Dash community. The people who create proposals are outsiders who are seeking to be employed by Dash. So, if Dash decides to hire you, you will be chosen by the 4000 masternode owners. You will not be chosen by one hiring manager and no CEO will have any say because CEO\u2019s don\u2019t exist in DAOs.
\nIt is very much like working in a bee hive, with the more established bees being the ones who decide which new bees to accept into their hive.<\/p>\n
Groups tend to be good at picking healthy bees and rejecting the ones who are sick. I have witnessed this sort of thing when I studied the social dynamics of Dancing Rabbit ecovillage. It operates on very similar fundamentals because the health of the community is the central focus of its mission.
\nThere are other kinds of workers too in the Dash ecosystem: miners and those who create proposals to help the Dash network grow.
\nI am one of those whose proposal was approved by the Dash community and I\u2019m working hard every day to educate people about Dash. I\u2019m the editor of a Medium publication called, Dash For Newbies. I\u2019ve also created a YouTube show with that same name. I\u2019m focused on educating people about Dash who have never used it or Bitcoin before.
\nAnyone can hold the Dash currency, therefore anyone can become a shareholder.
\nBy owning Dash, you automatically become invested in the future value of Dash. When you hold Dash or buy Dash with a different currency like USD, Bitcoin or Euros, you immediately become a shareholder. This makes it possible for the average person to easily get involved with investing in Dash\u2019s future. People who only have $10 to invest can easily do so. And people can submit proposals and earn Dash from the Dash Treasury. If you\u2019re interested to learn the steps, go here to read.
\nBy now, I bet you\u2019re asking why do I want to educate people about Dash?
\nMy reason is simple:
\nI think that DAOs like Dash are the future of work and a realistic way that ordinary citizens can become more empowered. Centralized systems rely on a lot of slave labor while decentralized systems empower individuals. It\u2019s a lot harder to enslave people when they are financially free. In fact, it\u2019s impossible. Much of the world\u2019s suffering could be eradicated if decentralized systems replaced centralized ones. I\u2019ve witnessed this shift in my own life, and if it were to be replicated across the globe, we would have a very different planet, a massive shift in consciousness would take place, too. Our world and ecosystem would be healthier. We\u2019re heading in this direction already. I\u2019m living proof.
\nNerd money isn\u2019t just for nerds anymore. It\u2019s for everyone. When Dash releases its Evolution application, I have a feeling my parents might be using it:<\/p>\n