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Explorers Foundation ••• home page

Glyphs ••• list of fragments of Freeorder

Investments ••• a table of all investments

freeorder ••• the concept & vision

2008: Cobden-Bright Award of $250 for work on complexity, economics, self-ordering systems, and freeorder

There are articles here especially pertinent to the freeorder point of view, among them:

“The Invisible Hand Behind a Hundred City-States,” Bob Haywood interviewed by Max:

Max writes, 25 July 2023: “We sit down with Bob Haywood, the "policy entrepreneur" of Opportunity Zones. Arguably, Haywood has done more than anyone alive to lift people out of poverty.” https://underthrow.substack.com/p/the-invisible-hand-behind-a-hundred

The interview is preserved [in simplified format] for safety and alternate access as EF’s glyph#641:

The Social Singularity: How decentralization will allow us to transcend politics, create global prosperity, and avoid the robot apocalypse ••• 2018

In this decentralization manifesto, futurist Max Borders shows that humanity is already building systems that will “underthrow” great centers of power.

Exploring the promise of a decentralized world, Borders says we will:

- Reorganize to collaborate and compete with AI;

- Operate within networks of superior collective intelligence;

- Rediscover our humanity and embrace values for an age of connection.

With lively prose, Borders takes us on a tour of modern pagan festivals, cities of the future, and radically new ways to organize society. In so doing, he examines trends likely to revolutionize the ways we live and work.

Although the technological singularity fast approaches, Borders argues, a parallel process of human reorganization will allow us to reap enormous benefits. The paradox? Our billion little acts of subversion will help us lead richer, healthier lives—and avoid the robot apocalypse.

After Collapse: The End of America and the Rebirth of Her Ideals ••• 2021

After Collapse provides basis for imaginative and critical discussion. It should be widely read, especially in schools where there is interest in learning to think rather than only to believe and react. Things are bad enough to require deep thought and resolute action — which may succeed! -ls

The Decentralist: Mission, Morality, and Meaning in the Age of Crypto ••• 2022

Power politics is a negative-sum game wrapped in a spectacle. It replaces community with conflict, compassion with compulsion, mutual aid with mutual animus. Yet a world beyond politics awaits.

The Decentralist is an entry point into that world.

As we build new societies, we must rediscover timeless truths, for each of us requires a foundation of mission, morality, and meaning. But we must labor under no illusions: as decentralization offers new experiments in living, Centralists threaten to steamroll over these delicate shoots of possibility.

In this powerful book, Max Borders sets out a complete Decentralist philosophy. It’s more than the sum of technologies, he argues. If we reduce 'crypto' to mere trinkets and tokens, we will lose our humanist moorings and submit to authoritarians on the left and right.

We must therefore prepare ourselves. Decentralism provides philosophical and practical tools for living and working in an uncertain future.

Underthrow: How Jefferson's Dangerous Idea Will Spark a New Revolution, 2023

Power. Corruption. Another cycle of decline.

If Thomas Jefferson were alive, he’d say the West is due for a revolution. If we do nothing, much of the world will either join the list of fallen empires or descend into dystopia.

The good news is we need not refresh the tree of liberty with bloodshed.

In this powerful book, Max Borders rouses us in a call to underthrow—an active mix of nonviolent resistance and innovative reforms, more powerful and more peaceful than rioters or armed revolutionaries. As Borders explains, we have the tools to topple an empire. But first, we must rediscover the wisdom of the American Founders.

Despite overwhelming odds, a new breed of anti-authoritarians is finding its footing, standing firm on what Jefferson called “the consent of the governed.” If you are disgusted by the world’s drift toward central power, you’ll find inspiration in this revolutionary book.