The Sovereign Individual
by James Dale Davidson, William Rees-Mogg · first published 1997
47% recommend43% neutral10% critical
Why HN recommends it
Prescient 1997 argument that the internet and cryptography will weaken nation states as violence loses value and capital becomes mobile; recommended for readers wanting a framework for crypto, tech and politics.
Summarised by Claude from recommending comments
Two renowned investment advisors and authors of the bestseller The Great Reckoning bring to light both currents of disaster and the potential for prosperity and renewal in the face of radical changes in human history as we move into the next century. The Sovereign Individual details strategies necessary for adapting financially to the next phase of Western civilization. Few observers of the late twentieth century have their fingers so presciently on the pulse of the global political and economic realignment ushering in the new millennium as do James Dale Davidson and Lord William Rees-Mogg.
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I am talking about books like: - The Sovereign Individual by James Dale Davidson - How I Found Freedom in an Unfree World by Harry Browne - The Bell Curve by Charles A. Murray and Richard Herrnstein Books that make you go "hum....". It could be about Government,…
on “Ask HN: What are some deep, mentality changing books?” ↗I think the megapolitical perspective on violence in The Sovereign Individual[0] by James Dale Davidson and Lord William Rees-Mogg can be helpful here. Unions were powerful because they could limit access to labour, which was required for production. Now they are increasingly…
on “People's underestimation of AI” ↗…the board will eventually drive the adoption of encryption, which in turn will lead to the gradual transition of power away from nation states (mostly in the economic sense). [0] https://www.amazon.com/Sovereign-Individual-Mastering-Transi...
on “Personal data for more than 130K U.S. Navy sailors hacked” ↗> What phenomenon is driving this? Read Davidson/Rees-Mogg: Sovereign Individual (1999) Basic thesis: violence's utility declines in the information age. The institutions that are built on it, like nation states, go through a phase of decline and decay, during which they make rather…
on “Australia is becoming a surveillance state” ↗…movement away from centralised infrastructure is important (and arguably unavoidable) from a fundamental perspective, go and read one of the primary sources for crypto libertarinism - https://www.amazon.com/Sovereign-Individual-Mastering-Transi... this book was published in 1997 it describes cryptocurrencies and their terminal implications on prevailing powerstructures and so much more. The Author was a member of the House of…
on “Web3 and crypto skepticism is growing and people are finally starting to listen” ↗I’m actually a well-known author and this is a pseudonym. This really isn’t that crazy of an idea though. Read “The Sovereign Individual” by Davidson & Mogg. Written in 1999/2000.
on “The Great Crypto Grift May Be Unwinding” ↗Read The Sovereign Individual published 1997. Don't like your current location? Pick up your capital and move. (In the book, ultimately big government loses as the rich people move away and there's nobody left to rob.) A dozen years…
on “Is there such a thing as too much freedom?” ↗Another prescient text about how the internet and cryptography will change the logic behind the existence of nation states as we know them today is: The Sovereign Individual (James Dale Davidson & William Rees-Mogg) - highly recommend it, I felt like I was pulling back the curtain on the true workings of the world.
on “The Crypto Anarchist Manifesto (1988)” ↗I read 136% of what I'd set out to (34, was set out to read 25). Here are the best ones: - Unsavory Truth by Marion Nestle - The Sovereign Individual by James Dale Davidson - The Simple Path to Wealth by J.L. Collins - The New Confessions of an Economic Hitman by John Perkins
on “Ask HN: What book changed your life in 2020?” ↗- How to be free, Epictetus - Sovereign Individual, Davidson - Origins of Money, Carl Menger - Operating Systems, Tanenbaum
on “Ask HN: Life Changing Books?” ↗Still reading it actually, but definitely "The Sovereign Individual: Mastering the transition to the information age" by James Davidson and William Rees-Mogg (actually the father of current UK politician Jacob Rees-Mogg) Its main thesis is that the main driver of megapolitical…
on “Ask HN: What's the best book you read in 2021?” ↗…books for me have been sci-fi or more in the future prediction category. 1) Stand on Zanzibar: Helped me understand one direction of a potential world unfolding and stands out as incredibly prescient 2) Sovereign Individual: Helped me understand emerging tech trends potential impact on how government/society is organized 3) The Unbearable Lightness of Being: Helped me better understand relationships, human needs, and dealing…
on “Ask HN: Name 3-5 books that had the most impact on your career and knowledge?” ↗Please let me know if I'm missing an important book. The list has the top rated books first. American Kingpin by Nick Bilton The Sovereign Individual by James Dale Davidson The Age of Surveillance Capitalism by Shoshana Zuboff Mastering Ethereum by Andreas M. Antonopoulos The Creature from Jekyll Island by G. Edward Griffin Mastering Bitcoin by…
on “Show HN: I've compiled a list of books on cryptocurrencies” ↗Human Action The Sovereign Individual
on “Ask HN: What book(s) had a profound impact on your life and why?” ↗…mistakenly attribute to it. Web3 has one superpower in that it can say a huge FU to gov and FU to big tech. Web2 can't. That's it. It's ok to be disappointed by this superpower. But after reading "the Sovereign Individual", I am a believer in this superpower as being incredibly meaningful and impactful in the longer span of human civilization.
on “Web3 is centralized” ↗