Freedom Tech is Punk

I'm stoked that Jack Dorsey spoke, at the tail end of his recent appearance on the newly-launched The Money Matters Podcast, of his appreciation for music. As a musician exploring "freedom tech", it's evident that I'm early. There aren't many content creators leveraging permissionless and censorship-resistant technology (yet). I suspect it won't be long before platforms of the kind begin to garner a lot more attention.

My career -- and life for that matter -- has had a lot of ups and downs (naturally). Perseverance counts for a lot. You can't achieve anything if you're not in the game. But I believe it's also important to evolve. Jack draws parallels between punk music and FOSS (free, open-source software) developers, in that regard, when he points out that they:

question everything
have no hesitation about being terrible at what they do

Put another way, escape your assumptions and embrace the fact that a kind of frequent failure is paramount to eventual success. You can't be afraid to look foolish (at times) in your pursuits. Take risks. And there is no shortage of people doing just that as they develop, and build on, the protocols of the future.

Jack also points out that he learns a lot from listening to various artistic voices. Conversely, I learn a lot from those that produce the underlying technology with which art can be made and distributed. It's all the more encouraging when all parties' interests and values align.

I'm not a developer but I admire their fervor. I feel something in common. I, too, want to see technology of a certain ilk succeed. I, too, want to evolve. And although I don't make punk music, I do identify with the underlying motif.