@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
11---
2−sort: 7
2+date: ~2016.6.24
33type: post
44title: The DAO as a lesson in decentralized governance
55author: Curtis Yarvin
@@ -12,14 +12,12 @@ navpath: /
1212navhome: /
1313navclass: urbit
1414---
15−
16−# The DAO as a lesson in decentralized governance
17−
15+<br /><br />
1816What's the right lesson for the decentralization community to
1917learn from the collapse of the DAO?
2018
2119Perhaps the simplest lesson is that even decentralized networks
22−need governments, and have governments. Every network is a
20+need governments, and have governments. Every network is a
2321state. Every state has a government.
2422
2523## Decentralization theater considered harmful
@@ -63,7 +61,7 @@ clue is that before the DAO hack, everyone swore great oaths to
6361"the steadfast iron will of immutable code." Methinks the lady
6462did protest too much. But these oaths make rolling back the DAO
6563blatantly illegitimate.
66−
64+
6765From a governance perspective, the line of lawlessness isn't the
6866line between soft and hard forks. It's any fork which makes an
6967exception for a specific address. Ethereum has already done this
@@ -217,7 +215,7 @@ understanding of its capabilities and limits.
217215A rollback acknowledges this. It acknowledges that Ethereum
218216wasn't ready for complete self-government, and *someone* needed
219217to have stopped the DAO from trading. It's not quite clear what
220−the principle behind the rollback was
218+the principle behind the rollback was
221219
222220Perhaps the best kind of DAO rollback would be a rollback which
223221understood this error fully, and acknowledged that -- for the
@@ -302,7 +300,7 @@ well-engineered, high-quality smart contracts like Augur and
302300Maker, but just its own equivalent of 1789. If Ethereum needs a
303301government, it must govern itself. It certainly has all the
304302technical tools it needs!
305−
303+
306304Or, of course, it could just let the hackers win. This is the
307305easiest path. And in the end, it may still be the best. War,
308306who needs it?
@@ -322,9 +320,15 @@ from the network.
322320Whatever institution signs these updates is, by any standard, an
323321absolute government. It's as if the Ethereum Foundation could
324322push a hardfork of all clients by signing the new code on the
325−blockchain. Getting out of this situation is a long-term goal --
323+blockchain. Getting out of this situation is a long-term goal --
326324where "long term" means years. Decentralization is hard.
327325
328326Read our [interim
329327constitution](http://urbit.org/posts/constitution) and our
330328[beliefs and principles](http://urbit.org/posts/principles).
329+
330+<br /><br />
331+
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