Crypto Agorism
- 📅 2024-04-02T12:37:23.750Z
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Crypto Agorism: Free markets for a free world
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[Anarkio Crypto](https://medium.com/u/ad0b4579773c) on 2022-06-28
[Link to original article](https://anarkiocrypto.medium.com/crypto-agorism-free-markets-for-a-free-world-d9c755e6ef11)
Crypto Agorism unites agorists and cryptocurrency users to build fair and free markets outside of the state, which provide necessities like food, jobs, housing, healthcare, sim cards, mail & more without censorship or surveillance.
Video (Peertube): [https://tube.tchncs.de/w/tPvohTaiocfg5LEsFjGqHN](https://tube.tchncs.de/w/tPvohTaiocfg5LEsFjGqHN)
Mirror (Odysee): [https://odysee.com/@anarkio:a/crypto-agorism:0](https://odysee.com/@anarkio:a/crypto-agorism:0)
Mirror (Youtube): [https://youtube.com/watch?v=Qb1W2OvaBkU](https://youtube.com/watch?v=Qb1W2OvaBkU)
Slides (PDF): [https://anarkio.codeberg.page/crypto\_agorism.pdf](https://anarkio.codeberg.page/crypto_agorism.pdf)
Slides are also available below:
**Slide 1: Crypto Agorism**
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Crypto Agorism.
Free markets for a free world.
Slide 2: Contents
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This presentation introduces Crypto Agorism, what it is, and how it helps people today to survive outside of the state, and access services without censorship or surveillance. Important tools are cryptocurrencies, anonymous services and gray markets.
Slide 3: What is Crypto Agorism
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Agorism means fair and free markets that operate outside of the state. No company registration, ID or permits are required. Examples are under-the-table jobs, informal apartment rentals and anonymous sim cards.
Cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin and Monero are good tools for agorist markets. Unlike banking, no government ID or corporate permission is required. Just download a wallet, and you can send and receive money worldwide without censorship.
Crypto Agorism unites agorists and cryptocurrency users to build practical free markets.
Slide 4: Fair and free markets
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Agorism focuses on small businesses, entrepreneurs and communities, not state-backed corporations.
Small businesses are more flexible, offer better, more individualized, service, and have a closer relationship between the buyer and seller.
Small businesses can also offer fairer pay and better working conditions, due to direct deals with the producers, and bypassing middlemen, profiteers and CEOs. An example is direct trade coffee vs. Nestle.
Slide 5: State monopoly on money
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Agorism helps you to bypass the state’s monopolies on money, identity and markets, which attempt to censor and surveil the free market.
Fiat, such as the US dollar, is the state’s monopoly on money. The state can print more money limitlessly and manipulate the economy.
The state also forces government ID requirements onto banks, which excludes millions of people without ID and surveils the financial transactions of everyone else.
As the state is phasing out cash and planning to introduce gatekept and surveilled CBDCs, a free currency is necessary.
Slide 6: Crypto is freedom
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Cryptocurrencies are the answer. Crypto operates outside of the state. No country, corporation or individual controls the network or issuance.
No government ID or application is required. Simply download a wallet, and you are ready to earn, spend and save money worldwide.
Crypto transactions are pseudonymous, censorship-resistant, fast and have low fees.
This makes crypto perfect for online shopping, money transfers, fundraising and brick-and-mortar stores. Additionally you can withdraw crypto to physical cash, gift cards or gold.
Slide 7: State monopoly on identity
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The tyranny of digital ID already exists, due to the state’s monopoly on identity.
The state already refuses to print passports, national ID cards and birth certificates for approximately 1 billion people worldwide.
As more and more services require government ID, this shuts people out from necessities like jobs, apartments, healthcare, mail, sim cards and more.
Sadly there are no alternatives. Flag Theory requires an existing ID, Red Cross doesn’t print IDs, and non-government IDs aren’t accepted. If someone, for example, wasn’t registered at birth, there is no way for them to appeal or access ID in another way.
Slide 8: KYC is censorship
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Government ID requirements, also known as KYC, have been excluding innocent people from jobs, housing, healthcare and more since decades.
Not only people who can’t get ID, but also people who need pseudonymity for safety reasons, such as activists and victims of abuse.
This artificial barrier to the economy is cruel, fatalistic and puts people in danger. No third party should be able to universally censor an individual from the entire market.
For example, if an employer likes an applicant’s skills and work ethic, they should be able to hire this person. In reality, government ID requirements prevent this applicant from finding work anywhere, despite their abilities and efforts. Likewise, if someone is ill, goes to the doctor and can pay in cash, they may be wrongly refused treatment due to no government ID.
In a free market, transactions are between the buyer and seller only. Trades are made on the basis of supply and demand, without censorship from external gatekeepers.
Government ID requirements are unethical, especially as the state refuses to print ID for millions of people. In comparison, agorism doesn’t require ID and is open to everyone.
Slide 9: KYC-free services are vital
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Agorist KYC-free services don’t require government ID or state permission. This provides equal and meritocratic access to services, preserves privacy, and avoids state surveillance and censorship.
Some examples are under-the-table jobs, informal apartment rentals and anonymous health clinics.
Cryptocurrencies help people to earn money remotely, shop online and send international money transfers.
Anonymous sim cards and PO boxes help people to access the internet and receive mail without ID.
Proxy merchants are also useful. Some examples of proxy services include: A roommate deals with the rental contract on your behalf and you pay them in cash. A friend sends a bank transfer for you. A local store allows you to pickup mail there. A business registers sim cards under their company name and resells them anonymously.
Slide 10: P2P reputation
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There are many ways to establish trust or authorization without government ID, many of which are successfully used today.
Many transactions can be done anonymously, for example, buying food, clothes or electronics in a store. You only need to hand over the cash, and the product is yours. No name required.
PINs and passwords can help with authorization. One example is a password to login to a website, or a PIN sent by SMS or email to pick up a package.
Cryptographic key pairs are used for critical applications, such as PGP encryption and signing, for secure communication, and proving ownership of funds with Bitcoin. A pseudonymous key pair is enough to prove your identity or send money worldwide.
Online shopping and remote work can benefit from escrows, such as Bitcoin’s multisig. This enables refunds in the case of a scam. Cash deposits for rentals can protect against damages or theft.
Customer reviews can help you to find trusted products or businesses. Vouches, for example from friends, colleagues or landlords, and web of trust can help to trust individuals.
While personal IDs are a dangerous concept, non-government IDs from NGOs or companies are easier to access than the gatekept, single point of failure of government ID systems.
Slide 11: State monopoly on markets
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Next to the state monopoly on money and identity, is the monopoly on markets.
Via regulations, the state censors what can be sold, who can sell and for what price. The state excludes entire categories of products and groups of sellers from the economy, despite market demand for these services.
State regulations harm many people. They make it difficult to access medicine, affordable housing or even find a job.
High taxes make it difficult for regular people to afford food and rent, while the state immorally spends these funds on corporate bailouts, corruption and war.
Slide 12: Truly free markets
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In comparison, unregulated markets are open to everyone, without restrictions. These may be known as gray markets, parallel economies, circular economies or Second Realms.
Some examples are local cash-in-hand markets, online classifieds and darknet markets.
Opsec and risk management are important, but gray markets have operated successfully since decades, even in authoritarian countries, and provide customers with what they need, and are unable to get from gatekept state markets.
Slide 13: Agorist communities
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Many day-to-day necessities take place as market transactions. When you earn money from your job, pay rent for your apartment, buy food in a grocery store and pay for a gym membership: All these are market transactions between a buyer and a seller.
These market transactions take place in communities, such as with colleagues, neighbors, regular customers, friends or fellow fans of your hobby.
Local, global and online agorist communities can help buyers and sellers to meet each other and build a parallel economy free from state control.
Agorism doesn’t require mainstream adoption or integration with the statist white market. If you have one agorist employer, one agorist landlord and shop from one agorist grocery store, that’s enough. A network of like-minded people and a peer-to-peer free market can help people to find what they need.
(It matters less what 99% of statist businesses are doing, if you have access to 1% of agorist markets.)
Slide 14: Agorist businesses
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There are many ways to participate in agorist markets.
The Gray Man strategy is when a white market business sells agorist services under-the-table to trusted customers. For example, a local phone repair store sells anonymous sim cards on request, or a hotel rents out rooms without ID to people in need, such as victims of abuse or undocumented people.
A Proxy Merchant offers their company as a proxy, so that people can access services anonymously. An example is a personal shopping service. A customer sends a link to a product and pays with crypto. The personal shopper buys the product with their bank account and ships it to the customer.
A Second Realm business exists entirely outside of the state, without a registered company, ID or permit. An example is remote freelance work for cryptocurrency, or selling refurbished laptops in Craigslist.
Peer-to-peer sales are one time sales, such as subletting your apartment for 1 month while you are traveling, or selling your old car for cash.
Slide 15: Food
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Agorist markets for food include farmers markets, local non-chain stores, crypto-friendly grocery stores and restaurants, and direct trade for imported products.
You can also grow your own food with a garden or homestead.
Encourage your favorite online and local stores to accept crypto, rather than only bank transfers or credit cards. Make sure you use a KYC-free provider, such as BTCPayServer.org, Oshi.tech, Bitejo.com or a mobile wallet, instead of a platform that requires government ID like Strike, Coinbase or Bitpay.
Slide 16: Jobs
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Agorist jobs include under-the-table jobs for cash and crypto, either as your main income or on the side.
Offer your services via word-of-mouth, Craigslist or crypto classifieds websites like Microlancer.io or FreelanceForCoins.com. You can exchange earned crypto to physical cash with Bisq.network, HodlHodl.com or Bitcoin ATMs.
If you need to hire someone, choose a freelancer or small business, not a corporation.
Proxy merchants can help by setting up a shell company, with which freelancers can make contracts, receive bank transfers, rent coworking spaces and receive mail.
Slide 17: Housing
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Agorist housing includes apartment, hotel, land and office rentals for cash or crypto, without ID or address registration.
With a network of intentional communities such as city neighborhoods, trailer parks, homesteads or van living communities, agorists can live together and build local parallel economies.
Community spaces including cafes, hackerspaces and anarchist libraries provide a place for meetups, events and education.
Slide 18: Healthcare
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Agorist healthcare includes anonymous health clinics with out-of-pocket payments or funded by donations, crypto-friendly doctors, online pharmacies and telemedicine services, and importing medicine from countries that don’t require prescriptions.
An agorist health insurance company could print health insurance cards without requiring government ID, as well as help people access healthcare for a monthly fee.
In addition, people are starting to synthesize medicine such as insulin, in home labs. Check Four Thieves Vinegar for more details.
Slide 19: Logistics
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Agorist logistics includes anonymous PO boxes and parcel lockers, a crypto-friendly alternative to Uber for taxis and deliveries, and dead drop services.
A dead drop is where a package is left at specified co-ordinates, and the sender and recipient never meet each other.
Additionally, a proxy merchant could rent an office and allow customers to pick up mail there.
Slide 20: Communication
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Agorist communication includes anonymous sim cards, KYC-free home internet, public wifi networks and mesh networks.
In addition, use PGP and Matrix for encrypted chats, Tor for anonymous browsing, and Monero for private payments.
Slide 21: Agorism already works
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It isn’t a question of “Will Agorism Work?”
Agorism already provides necessary services to people, outside of state censorship and surveillance.
Sellers earn profits, save time, avoid bureaucracy and bypass censorship, and buyers can get what they need with cash or crypto.
There are many motivations for this, such as saving money and time, avoiding red tape, financial inclusion, privacy, safety, humanitarian or ideological reasons.
Gray markets work, have worked since decades, and will continue to work, wherever they are needed.
Slide 22: What can you do
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What can you do to get started with agorism?
Buy from small businesses and peer-to-peer markets, instead of state-backed corporations.
Encourage your favorite stores to accept crypto, or accept crypto in your business.
Don’t require government ID in your business and find services that don’t require ID.
Offer proxy merchant services, for example via a shell company.
Join online or local agorist groups to build practical parallel economies.
Slide 23: Links and resources
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There are many resources, articles, podcasts, directories and tools to help you to learn more about agorism and build truly free markets.
Slide 24: Books
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“An Agorist Primer” by SEK3 and “Second Realm: Book on Strategy” by Smuggler & XYZ are practical books about agorism.
Slide 25: Articles
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Check Anarplex, Bitcoin Magazine and Medium for agorist and crypto articles, like KYC-free Bitcoin circular economies.
Slide 26: Podcasts
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Listen to practical podcasts for agorist ideas, crypto use cases and more, such as Vonu Podcast and Citadel Dispatch.
Slide 27: Marketplaces
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Trade products and services for crypto with Bitejo.com or MirageSale.com, or join a Matrix or Telegram group, for example Bitcoin P2P Marketplace in Telegram.
Slide 28: Tools
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Find a list of KYC-free services at KYCNot.me. Use Tor for anonymity, Matrix for encrypted chats and Monero for private payments.
Slide 29: Communities
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There are many agorist, crypto and privacy communities in Matrix, Telegram and other social networks, including Flote, Freedom Cells and Hack Liberty.
Slide 30: Freedom
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Free the markets, free the world.
Slide 2:
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The current system is broken. The state has total control over the white market economy.
The state’s largest mechanism for surveillance and censorship is the government ID system, also known as KYC.
The state forces employers, landlords, doctors, banks, ISPs, cell providers, mailmen and even gyms and libraries to require government ID. Without a passport or driver’s license, it becomes difficult to find a job or a place to live.
Not only does this put innocent people under constant state surveillance, it also excludes approximately 1 billion people worldwide from the economy.
KYC isn’t only about “handing over your data”. If that would be the case, it would be enough to simply say your name or fill out a form. Instead, only people with a state-assigned document are permitted to take part. The state’s monopoly on identity ignores reality, in favor of gatekept databases and centralized control.
Fortunately, agorism bypasses the state’s systems and allows everyone to take part in free and fair markets. With agorism, you can find work, rent apartments, receive healthcare and more — no government ID or state permit required.
Slide 3:
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One problem with the state’s monopoly on identity is surveillance, which stretches far beyond the tracking and surveillance capitalism of Big Tech.
Via government ID systems, the state tracks innocent people from birth certificate to death certificate. It compiles databases of names, birth dates, photos, home addresses, jobs, bank balances, medical records and more. Which it shares with third parties without the individual’s knowledge or consent.
This level of data collection is unnecessary. For example: Buying bread or a bus ticket with cash doesn’t require a name. Medical records should stay between the doctor and patient. Many people only share their home address with close friends and family.
Government ID requirements can also put people in danger, such as people who are escaping from abuse or activists who are using a pseudonym for safety reasons.
Slide 4:
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What is worse than surveillance, is total censorship.
The state actively refuses to print ID for millions of people, which shuts them out of the mainstream economy and makes it difficult to survive.
If your country of birth or residence refuses to print a birth certificate, passport or national ID card for you, there is nowhere to go and no appeals.
Even if you have witnesses, are a skilled worker, can prove your identity via non-government records, or are willing to give fingerprints, there is no way to convince the state to enter you into its database. In most cases, this problem starts at birth or early adulthood, and the individual has done nothing wrong.
NGOs like Red Cross and United Nations are aware of the exclusion and discrimination caused by government ID systems, but they are unable to convince the state, nor offer alternative IDs. Jurisdictional arbitrage like Flag Theory requires an already existing ID. Even the Californian driver’s license for undocumented people requires an existing international passport or ID card from another country.
Old strategies like paper tripping no longer work. It’s difficult to find so-called corrupt bureaucrats who would print ID for you under-the-table. In many countries, it’s difficult to find fake ID vendors, and if you can find one, it may not work to open a bank account or find a job.
Ignored, blamed and even criminalized by the state, millions of people are left on the edge of society without recourse and with great difficulty to even earn money or find a place to live.
Slide 5:
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Authoritarianism is increasing globally. Every year, more services require government ID, shutting people without ID or who need privacy or pseudonymity further out of the economy.
During corona statism, vaccine passports required not only an untested vaccine, but also an existing government ID. In some countries, cops and soldiers patrolled the streets during lockdowns and demanded ID from innocent people. As is clear to most people, this wasn’t about health, but about control.
Digital IDs and CBDCs will make it worse. The claim that digital IDs will help unbanked people is a lie that uses vulnerable people as an excuse, while continuing to deny them access to the economy.
Just like the current system, access to Digital IDs and CBDCs will require an existing entry in the state’s database. Giving your name and fingerprints will not be enough, if you weren’t already registered at birth.
If the state really wanted to promote inclusion, it would remove the barriers to obtaining ID, or remove ID requirements entirely. There is nothing blocking the state from this. The exclusion is intentional, and the system is working as designed.
If the goal was indeed mass surveillance, or even profiteering from money printing and taxation, the state would have no issue with entering people into its database. In reality, the state’s pathological desire to bully, deprive and ostracize is stronger than its desire to simply surveil and profit.
The pervasiveness of digital ID will only make survival more difficult for marginalized people. For example, if grocery stores only accept CBDCs to buy food, and access to public transit requires Digital ID.
In addition, even people who currently have access to ID are at risk of exclusion from the upcoming Digital ID system. Corporate deplatforming is already a huge issue, and a centralized single point of failure like CBDCs will make this worse. Anyone who resists could easily be cut off from the statist white market.
Agorism is already a necessity for many people today, and will become vital for many more, as state authoritarianism increases.
Slide 6:
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As you can see, government ID is nothing more than an artificial system, designed to control, surveil and dehumanize.
It should not be possible to exclude an innocent person from the entire economy and even push them to homelessness, just because a singular state bureaucrat doesn’t want to print a document for them. Everyone has a name, appearance, background and personhood. You should not need the state’s permission in order to have a name or to exist.
KYC wasn’t around forever. Even a few years ago, it was easy to rent an apartment, find work, send a money transfer, or buy a sim card, just by filling out a form and paying. This authoritarian power grab is new and unnecessary. Things worked perfectly fine before.
Peer-to-peer trust methods are more inclusive, humane and work better. This can be as simple as saying your name, using a PIN to pickup mail, a vouch or portfolio to get a job, or a cash deposit for a rental.
Slide 7:
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Instead of relying on state permission, agorist markets provide a much-needed alternative method to find work, housing, healthcare and more.
Agorism has worked since decades, including in authoritarian regimes, where it is needed the most. Agorist markets are also known as gray and black markets, the informal economy, the underground, and Second Realms.
There are many reasons to bypass state regulations when doing business, such as saving time and money, avoiding censorship or restrictions, protecting your privacy, or ideological or humanitarian reasons.
Agorism focuses on peer-to-peer transactions, small businesses and communities. No need for a global revolution or corporate mass adoption. If you can get what you need from agorist markets, you don’t need to worry about what the mainstream market is doing. Found an apartment for cash? That’s winning. Earn crypto online? That’s winning. Agorism is there for those who need it, and every transaction outside of the state is a win.
Agorism helps you to build independence from the games of the state, large corporations and geopolitics, which the individual can’t influence, and instead focuses on local and global small businesses and communities, where the individual’s voice counts.
Good people disobey unjust laws. A hotel owner who doesn’t require ID can save someone from homelessness or help them to escape from abuse. An agorist doctor can save lives. A seller of anonymous sim cards can help people to keep in touch with loved ones, or help an activist to fight for human rights.
Slide 8:
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There are multiple ways to run an agorist business.
The Gray Man strategy is when a state-registered white market business offers agorist services under-the-table to trusted customers. Some examples: A phone repair store sells anonymous sim cards on request. A hotel rents out rooms without ID to people in need, such as victims of abuse or undocumented people. A restaurant hires a chef for cash under-the-table, so that they can pay rent. A doctor agrees to treat an out-of-pocket patient without ID.
Proxy merchants are individuals or businesses that have access to ID, and allow people to use their company as a proxy to access services anonymously. An example is a friend who sends a bank transfer for you and you repay them in Bitcoin. Your roommate deals with the rental contract on your behalf and you pay rent to them in cash. A local business allows you to pickup mail there. A company registers sim cards under their name and resells them anonymously.
Second Realm businesses operate entirely outside of the state, without government ID or a registered company. Such as remote freelancing for Bitcoin or lawncare for cash. Importing medicine from countries that don’t require prescriptions. Selling your old car in Craigslist. Renting out your apartment for cash while you are traveling.
Slide 9:
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Now some practical examples, covering food, finances, jobs, housing, healthcare, energy, logistics, communications, education, community, and how you can get started today.
Starting with food: It’s still possible to buy food with cash in mainstream grocery stores. Even when corona restrictions closed most other stores, or demanded contactless payments such as credit cards and banking apps (which all require ID), most grocery stores stayed open, didn’t require vaccine passports, and continued to accept cash.
However, it’s still important to grow independence from large corporations and support small businesses and local farms. Whether that’s growing your own food and getting water from a well on a homestead or buying from farmers markets.
There are even farmers who accept Bitcoin and Monero, such as Gratuitas coffee and Beef Initiative.
In the future, if the state would force mainstream grocery stores to only accept CBDCs, local grocery stores who accept cash or crypto would become vital for access to food. In addition, proxy merchants who have access to CBDCs could go shopping for unbanked people.
Slide 10:
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Without government ID, it’s impossible to open a bank account or get a credit card. It wasn’t always like this. It used to be possible to open a Paypal account, buy a Visa gift card or send a Western Union transfer without ID. Now, you can’t even send 20 dollars to a friend, if you don’t have a passport or driver’s license.
Thankfully, cash still works for local in person transactions, and some online stores still accept cash on delivery or cash by mail. Some online stores accept gift cards, that you can buy with cash from local stores. In some countries like the US, anonymous Visa gift cards are still available. Physical gold and silver work well as savings.
Proxy merchants can send bank transfers, pay bills or purchase products on your behalf, and you pay them in cash or crypto.
The most important tool for financial freedom is cryptocurrencies. Bitcoin and Monero make it possible to send and receive money worldwide, without government ID or a bank account. Perfect for online shopping, brick-and-mortar stores, remittances, jobs, fundraising, tips, savings and more.
Many individuals and businesses are building Bitcoin and Monero circular economies, which aim to make it possible to live fully on crypto, including food, jobs, housing, healthcare and travel.
Slide 11:
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In order to pay for food and rent, you need a way to earn money.
Sadly the state also has a monopoly over the mainstream job market. Despite your skills, work ethic and effort, if you don’t have ID, most employers won’t even consider to hire you.
Fortunately, there are many agorist employers who value meritocracy and equal opportunities. If you can do the job, they are happy to hire you.
Some examples are under-the-table jobs for cash, for example, in construction, farming, factory work, restaurants, or selling products for cash in local markets. Additionally, there’s remote work for cryptocurrencies, including software development, graphic design, music, writing and translation.
It’s possible to find remote work for crypto in KYC-free freelancing platforms like Microlancer and Freelance For Coins, as well as in peer-to-peer marketplaces like Bitejo and Bitcoin P2P Marketplace in Telegram.
Co-ops and collectives also offer agorist jobs. For example, a bicycle repair co-op, or a cafe collective. DAOs are similar to co-ops, and can be used for projects, jobs, fundraising and more. For agorist DAOs, check Dark Fi.
Slide 12:
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Shelter is important. Protection from the elements, a place to sleep, relax, feel safe, and call home. But even a necessity like this is gatekept behind government ID KYC.
Peer-to-peer rentals help people to access shelter outside of the state. Whether it’s renting for cash from a guy in Craigslist, living with roommates who deal with the contract on your behalf, finding an AirBnB host who doesn’t require ID, or joining an intentional community like a housing project or an eco village.
Proxy merchants could help people to rent white market apartments, while a crypto-friendly AirBnB could help people to rent short-term and long-term accommodation for Bitcoin or Monero.
Intentional communities like eco villages and Bitcoin Citadels could provide an autonomous space where people could live, work and thrive outside of state control.
Slide 13:
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Even if you pay with cash and write your contact details and medical history on the form, doctors may refuse to treat you without ID. Not only is this against the Hippocratic Oath, it also puts people in danger and unable to seek healthcare.
Fortunately, it’s still possible to find doctors who don’t require ID, via word-of-mouth or support groups. Generally this requires out-of-pocket payment, but there are also some charitable health clinics funded by donations, where people in need can receive free or low cost treatment.
A Bitcoin health insurance company and network of Bitcoin-friendly doctors could help people to access healthcare for an affordable price, as well as print health insurance cards that people can use to visit doctors without government ID. A Bitcoin GoFundMe alternative could also help individuals and charities to raise money for medical expenses.
It’s also possible to import medicine from countries that don’t require prescriptions, such as buying from an international online pharmacy. This helps people to access the medicine that they need to survive.
In addition, biohackers are making it easier to DIY your own healthcare. Four Thieves Vinegar is working on ways to synthesize medicines from freely purchasable re-agents, and advances are being made in robotic surgery and CRISPR.
Slide 14:
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Often, electricity and heating is included in rentals, and the landlord makes the contract with the energy company on your behalf. However, it’s useful to build energy sovereignty, especially in times of increasing prices or even risks of blackouts.
Off-grid solar panels and batteries can help you achieve energy sovereignty. Generate electricity from sunlight, even on a cloudy winter day, and store it in batteries for later usage. Even an emergency hand crank or pedal generator could help you to recharge your phone or listen to the radio during a blackout.
Gas generators and propane heaters can also give you independence from the grid. Although there is still dependence on oligarchs and national supply lines, you can buy gas in advance and use it during a blackout, when the grid is inaccessible or rationed.
In the future, community-run energy grids and improvements in renewables and battery tech could make it easier to live independently from the state’s energy grid.
Slide 15:
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It can be difficult to receive mail without ID. If you are living in an informal apartment rental, it may not be possible to receive mail there, and most PO box services require ID.
Depending on where you live, there may be courier-operated parcel lockers that only require a PIN that you receive by SMS, or general delivery may be possible with a passphrase.
Some taxi apps offer delivery services and accept cash, which works for local deliveries. In some cases, you could ask the taxi driver to pickup the package from the post office on your behalf.
It’s also possible to simply ask a friend or local business if they could receive the package for you.
In the future, a KYC-free PO box network could help people to receive mail. In this concept, local businesses could sign up as PO box providers and set their own fees and terms. Then customers could send mail to this address, and pick it up with a passphrase.
Slide 16:
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Access to the internet is also gatekept behind government ID. Most home internet providers require ID, although in some rentals, the landlord deals with the contract on your behalf. In many countries, even prepaid sim cards require ID, but some stores still sell anonymous sim cards under-the-table.
It’s possible to access the internet by importing a sim card from a country that doesn’t require ID such as the US or UK, using an anonymous e-sim like Silent Link, or making use of public wifi networks.
With more proxy merchants and public wifi providers, uncensored access to the internet would be possible for everyone.
Slide 17:
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Access to education and training is also censored by the state. Universities, trade schools and libraries require government ID, even if you pay in cash.
Thankfully, there are accessible ways to learn new skills, such as with online education and local hackerspaces and meetups.
Youtube videos, online courses, forums and open source software help people to learn about any topic online, including software development, languages, music, writing and DIY.
In addition, meetups, hackerspaces and anarchist libraries make it possible to learn a variety of practical skills, such as electronics, carpentry, gardening, cooking, sports or even biohacking.
The network of online classes and in person community spaces is growing, and it’s getting easier to learn new things, improve your skills and meet new people, outside of the state’s monopoly on education.
Slide 18:
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There are already some agorist, libertarian and crypto communities, for example in Twitter, Telegram, Reddit and Matrix, as well as in person meetups and conferences.
Bitcoin and Monero peer-to-peer marketplaces like Bitejo and Bitcoin P2P Marketplace in Telegram help you to build crypto circular economies, and buy and sell products and services outside of the state.
Spread the word about agorism, and help to build fair and free markets that everyone can participate in.
Slide 19:
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How to get started?
Find and use services that don’t require government ID.
Consider to accept crypto in your business, for example via BTCPayServer, or join a crypto peer-to-peer marketplace. Offer proxy merchant services if possible.
Build parallel economies that operate outside of the state and are future-proof against the dangers of CBDCs, digital IDs and increasing state authoritarianism.
Join millions of people worldwide, who participate in the informal economy every day.
For more information, check out “An Agorist Primer” by SEK3, “Second Realm: Book on Strategy” by Smuggler & XYZ, Vonu Podcast, Agorism Blog, and learn about Bitcoin or Monero.
Slide 20:
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Free the markets, free the world.