This is the dream -- cooperation through economic incentives rather than through economic or military coercion

That said, I wonder if it's sustainable because money tends to agglomerate over time, and power structures naturally arise

What keeps the system balanced?

No kings, no standing armies, no shared treasury. Just a cooperative decentralized network of merchants and towns with common interests in trade.

One like, one tweet about the German Hansa, the mysterious medieval non-institution.

Ethan Buchman (🐝,🦇)

This is the dream -- cooperation through economic incentives rather than through economic or military coercion

That said, I wonder if it's sustainable because money tends to agglomerate over time, and power structures naturally arise

What keeps the system balanced?

https://x.com/buchmanster/status/1873769448307626075

If a state keeps the system in balance, as I think it should with the caveat that there are many types of states that are more or less desirable, then one can make the argument that there’s no distinction between incentives and coercion. That any form of selection of this economic policy over that policy is a form of distortion and represents a point of view. That’s why democracy is important— because people keep the system balanced (or attempt to).