Stephen David Mauldin
8 min readDec 20, 2020

“Zero Money”: First Principles Thinking About Monetary Value

Change the Money, Change the World (31)

Addendum 3 — Political strategy and tactics: DiEM25 Tech Sovereignty 5

Commentary 16: This is the fifth posting in this addendum. The series comprising this addendum provides commentary on the specific agenda for Technological Sovereignty on the platform of the Democracy in Europe Movement. DiEM25 is the regionally developed leading model for The Progressive International. Commentaries are grouped under the links to which they refer. These need to be referred to to see the context.

Democracy in Europe Movement and the The Progressive International

Commentary 17: In the first posting in this addendum I provided commentary on the introduction of the specific agenda for Technological Sovereignty on the platform of the Democracy in Europe Movement. In the second posting I continued with commentary on the single subsection of the introduction, followed by commentary on the second section of the DiEM25 Technological Sovereignty platform and its first subsection. The third posting in this addendum completed commentary on the second section. In the fourth posting I completed commentary on all the third section (3.). This posting will complete addendum 2 beginning with section 4 of the DiEM25 Tech Sovereignty platform:

DiEM25 Tech Sovereignty 1 (Commentary 1 to 2)

1. Introduction: For Democracy to Be Possible, Technology Must Be Democratised

DiEM25 Tech Sovereignty 2 (Commentary 3 to 7)

1.1. Three Interlocking Transformations to Achieve Technological Sovereignty

2. A Digital Commonwealth for the 21st Century

2.1. Democratising Platform Monopolies

DiEM25 Tech Sovereignty 3 (Commentary 8 to 12)

2.2. Towards a Digital Commonwealth

DiEM25 Tech Sovereignty 4 (Commentary 13 to 15 )

3. Free Knowledge for Democratic Innovation — the Role of Intellectual Property and Education

DiEM25 Tech Sovereignty 5 (Commentary 16 to 18 Current post)

4. Democratising Innovation and the Economy

Commentary 18: The text simply states the necessity for “democratic instruments and institutions” to “democratise technologies” in tactics to “address the fundamental structures that shape and govern technologies”. Again, as indicated in earlier comments, I support DiEM25 taking a direct confrontation against the immorality of the collaboration of powerful and wealthy elite members of society by exposing the actual theft of value from the rest of society that is being perpetuated. This is an opportunity for DiEM25 to become via the Progressive International the only worldwide hard money party. Yes, needed is the reforms for egalitarian goals and means in line with the tactics outlined in this section, yet it must be explicitly recognized that the immorality of a fiat inflationary economic regime is the mechanism of theft for the governance by the greedy cabal of Central Banks, the two-party USA political monopolies, and the corporate donor class. What solutions are possible in the context of this platform section:

4.1. Democratising Innovation Funding

This section and subsection are indicating an emphasis on funding but only go so far as to say “We have to put citizens in charge of the decisions that shape technology”. There is some detail provided on the EU proposals regarding programs shaping tech research funding and a legitimate complaint that funding decisions are controlled by “Brussels bureaucrats, lobbyists and scientific experts”. The only reference as to how the existing program is to be changed is that made to the Diem25 European Green New Deal for an investment-driven recovery. A complete discussion has been provided in Commentary 6 to 11 regarding “2. A Digital Commonwealth for the21st Century” which actually focuses on monetary issues critical to questions of funding. These can be accessed in the links listed above.

4.2. Democratising the Economy

Such a subsection as this actually encompasses the entire Tech Sovereignty platform. The broad statement at the heart of the subsection is that Technological innovation has “vast potential to transform how we coordinate our lives and activities … It is imperative that this revolution in coordination is democratic at its heart”. The essay of which this is part of an addendum, as well as all the commentary in this five blog entry series in this addendum have tried to emphasis the DiEM25 Tech Sovereignty platform needs to emphasize an ontological foundation of subjective/objective idealism which reflects natural first principle thinking about monetary value that will actualize an egalitarian society that idealism justifies.

I refer the reader to the several sections of the main essay that are linked at the end of this blog entry for further information on the technology of the range and efficacy of digital currencies and cryptocurrencies available for evolving a new monetary and fiscal paradigm. There are many extensive projects available and needed to create applications for smart contracts and tokens to provide block chain transparency and verification and democratic value distribution for each and every tactic listed in sub-subsections of both subsection 4.1 and 4.2. Adoption of new monetary technology offers a lifeboat for much of society to escape the grip of Central Bank and political party perpetuation of fiat money, including CBDC attempts to co-opt our personal monetary tech sovereignty.

Synopsis of the most important Commentary of Addendum 3 (selected from Commentary 1 to 18)

1. … “democracy” is positively reflected in our objective reality only when there is allegiance to a specific understanding of the sovereignty of every individual as a subject in relation to all others. That sovereignty remains sustainable only to the degree that human action has egalitarian objectives and egalitarian means for attaining them. The insight necessary for the highest degree of egalitarian sustainability is that Consciousness is the unifying fundamental of equality reflected in and between all individuals.

2. The political resistance for technological sovereignty should above all else focus on exposing the moral failure, educating the few as well as the rest, of the responsibility of governance in allegiance to fundamental human equality … There is a strategy and then there are tactics to accomplish it … What is that strategy which will definitively change the world, that strategy that will be the intent of all tactics? … the power structure has to be decentralized, but isn’t that power essentially about monetary governance … The key disruptive technological change will be technological money of fixed scarcity, decentralized in its distribution of wealth generation on a global computer network.

5. My comments are not to question those tactics but to clarify why they should be taken in an effort to actualize monetary and fiscal renewal. I am trying to convince readers that this paradigm shift in monetary medium is the meta-strategy for which any other tactical groupings should be subsumed … I propose utilizing blockchain managed crowd-funding of all tactical actions for transforming access to benefits, technological funding and all decision making. Every tactical action is to accomplish system change for decentralizing in distribution of wealth generation on a global computer network of secure inviolable transparency and accountability.

7. … the immorality … lies in the greed and hubris of how the monetary transactions are being governed by the centralized power of the stakeholders … manipulating outcomes of wealth distribution rather than discovering equitable prices, and therefore wages … technological money of fixed scarcity, decentralized in its distribution of wealth generation … monetary medium is itself digital information that serves as a unit of account, store of value and medium of exchange. It is a medium of money that can coexist and conform use of capital and labor so as to decentralize the discovery of appropriate prices and wages. At the same time, use of this technological money decentralizes the power that governs that determination

10. In the “change the money, change the world” thesis, we must transition away from a credit and debt fiat currency inflation model which is the engine of exploitation. Morally corrupt governance generates the growing wealth divide in the global economy, among populations within and across national borders. A transition that accomplishes our tactical objectives, even to a significant degree, without ending the exploitative monetary and fiscal medium of fiat money, will still be rotten at the core … AI algorithmic design should be digital currency aimed at mitigating and replacing fiat dollars … digital monetary instruments from those not actually replacing the inflationary monetary policy at all, such as Central Bank Digital Currency (CBDC), to those completely replacing it with personal self-sovereign mediums in the cryptocurrency category of digital currencies. That medium with entirely peer to peer exchange capability, with no third-party point of moral failure is Bitcoin. Within the cryptocurrency spectrum are several bridging digital mediums that support the disruptive strategy for tactics … the term “token” is used because tokens have additional functions beyond being a medium of exchange, or value storage … In particular I refer to smart contracts embedded in digital monetary tokens … decentralized by algorithmic design to harness data power for public good rather than for private profits

11.clearly an example of the use of a block chain data ledger, is … a “universal basic dividend” rather than “universal basic income”, because, unlike the latter, a dividend is related to the use of capital for production of goods and services through the employment of labor. That income comes from a portion of the prices which are naturally determining wages. Its healthy capitalism instead of “socialism for the rich”. UBI, unlike UBD, is simply printing fiat currency, possibly in the form of CBDC, and perpetuating the debit and credit cycles of unsustainable debt … income used for UBD, in fact consists in and of digital data on a block chain ledge … has its own value rather than a value nominally calculated in reference to fiat currency … Its value can be maximized by having of a fixed supply of such digital currency. A digital currency of absolute scarcity, is … infinitely superior to an ever inflationary fiat currency no longer redeemable of anything having measurable value

12. The thesis of “change the money, change the world” is focused on disruption of existing monetary and fiscal governance, but it does so precisely in allegiance to a subjective/objective idealistic ontology … means Consciousness is the unifying fundamental of equality reflected in and between all individuals. For governance of this first principle of nature to be violated, by any individual or party of individuals by acts of hubris and greed, depriving the rights of others or the collective of all individuals is therefore immoral in this definition of morality

15. … the immorality of a fiat inflationary economic regime is the mechanism of theft for the governance by the greedy cabal of Central Banks, the two-party USA political monopolies, and the corporate donor class … Adoption of new monetary technology offers a lifeboat for much of society to escape the grip of Central Bank and political party perpetuation of fiat money, including CBDC attempts to co-opt our personal monetary tech sovereignty.

Change the Money (1) Preamble — Monetary value true by nature

Change the Money (5) Introduction (1) — Zero Money & First Principles

Change the Money (8) Part 1 (A) The technological solution

Change the Money (10) Part 2 (A) The Naming of the Beast

Change the Money (12) Part 3 Ending Inflation and embracing deflation

Change the Money (13) Part 4(A) — Phases of transition 1

Change the Money (17) Part 5(A) — Adoption, adaptation & activism

Change the Money (25)Addendum 1 — Politics: Author & Ontology

Change the Money (26) Addendum 2 — On the series of addendums

Change the Money (27)Addendum 3 — DiEM25 Tech Sovereignty 1

Change the Money(28)Addendum 3 — DiEM25 Tech Sovereignty 2

Change the Money (29)Addendum 3 — DiEM25 Tech Sovereignty 3

Change the Money (30)Addendum 3 — DiEM25 Tech Sovereignty 4

Stephen David Mauldin

DOB 1946 Retired Counseling Psychology M.S. Consciousness Studies — Interests: Citizen Diplomacy, Digital Currency