CL: CUI
Intel of Note
How Can the Frameworks of Co-ops and DAOs be Combined
"The best framework for an organization may not be a choice between a cooperative or DAO model, but a blend of both"
What are DAOs and Co-ops
Unless you've been living under a rock there's a large chance you've at least heard the term DAO over the past two years. Usually mentioned in conjunction with NFTs and cryptocurrencies DAO stands for "Decentralized Autonomous Organization." A very high-level description of DAO is a is digital enterprise entirely based on a blockchain that is wholly owned and operated by its constituents instead of being owned by a small group of people or a group of investors. DAOs have been gaining in popularity due to their shared sense of ownership and their ability to develop ideas quicker than a traditional business. There are DAOs for a wide range of applications, from one that intends to save Blockbuster to one that almost bought a copy of the U.S Constitution.
A Co-op on the other hand can be thought of as a DAO before DAOs existed. A Co-op or cooperative is a business that is founded in the traditional manner via the process of incorporation. Similar to a DAO the ownership of the cooperative is shared between the members of the co-op and in some cases its customers. Co-ops are designed to benefit their members by providing something the market has failed to provide for them such as a well-paying job, food & in some cases freedom. The Underground Railroad is an example of an early co-op-type framework.
Blending the frameworks
Co-ops generally run off a "one person, one vote" style of governance. While this can be replicated in a DAO it is not as easy to accomplish as it is in reality. This is due to the difficulty of confirming the member claiming to be a person on the internet is actually a person. (We could dive into Dead Internet Theory but we will save that for another time) Because of this difficulty in verification, most DAOs opt for a style of governance that relies upon tokens. Each token an entity possesses provides them with 1 unit of voting power within the DAO. Because of this, there is the potential for abuse if one single entity possesses the majority of tokens and therefore has the most power within the DAO. Because of the potential for abuse DAOs should look to how cooperatives have handled their ownership through the clear establishment of bylaws and operating agreements to manage the organization and its members.
The use of tokens is not completely problematic, because co-ops generally have a hard time securing funding and capital using the DAO tactic of supplying tokens that have some form of value to participating members is a great way to bootstrap and raise capital. The tokens can be designed from the ground up to provide dividends whenever the co-op receives income.
As DAOs become more popular and widespread they should study the history of co-ops and learn from their mistakes while co-ops looking towards the future should consider the potential for rapid development and ease of funding that is inherent to DAOs.
Labels vs. Questions
"Rapport is a lubricant for information flow...The better we get along with one another, the more likely we are to open up and share what’s on our mind."
The Black Swan Group defines negotiation as an "Information gathering and influence building process." Throughout your operations, there will inevitably be times when you have to negotiate to get the outcome you desire. Some of these negotiations are obvious such as negotiating with your boss for a new position within the organization. Others are less obvious such as trying to use your expired coupon from 2019 in 2023. No matter the type of negotiation BSG prefers the use of labels to questions during negotiations.
What are Labels and why are they better than questions
Labels in the context of negotiation are devices used to gather information in a way that keeps you from committing to a particular inference you are making. For example instead of saying to your boss "why do you not like the idea of me holding X position?" you say "It seems like you don't like the idea of me holding X position." The use of "it seems..." or "it appears that..." allows you to frame the question as an educated guess instead of a concrete assumption. When you commit to an assumption you effectively corner yourself, using the label gives you a potential escape path in case your guess was incorrect.
Why You Should Prepare For An ‘Internet Apocalypse’ Caused By The Sun
According to a paper by SIGCOMM (A special interest group focused on data communication whose supporters include Microsoft, Cisco, ByteDance, Alibaba, Amazon & Comcast) there is a 1.6% to 12% chance that a huge solar superstorm will occur in the near future. This storm could produce a large Coronal Mass Ejection or CME that releases a large amount of plasma that can damage critical infrastructure if it reaches Earth. This is due to the fact that the Sun is projected to enter the peak of its Solar Cycle around 2024. The peak of this cycle is called the Solar Maximum and with it comes an increase in CMEs and Solar Flares. Solar flares are not as destructive and are the reason behind the awe-inspiring Northern and Southern Lights. CMEs are especially dangerous to critical infrastructure specifically the Internet. This is because the Internet relies on a series of undersea communication cables to transfer internet traffic between the continents. Unlike the infrastructure associated with the power grid, these cables are not designed to accommodate the effects of a CME. This is because these cables are extremely long and require a series of devices placed every 30-90 miles (50-150 km) to boost the signal. These cables have not been tested against such solar events as the last events were in 1859 and 1921.
It doesn't help that in recent history undersea cables connecting a vital space (or intelligence depending on who you ask) satellite station in Norway (the same island as the Svalbard Global Seed Vault that serves as this briefings cover) have been deliberately severed. As with many other controversies in recent months, this has ties to Russia as they possess a submarine dedicated to espionage activities including tapping into undersea cables.
While Russia tapping into these cables will most likely not cause significant damage, the projected outage, which will affect North America the most due to its cables being longer than the ones used by Europe and Asia, can cost the U.S economy alone up to $7.2 billion per day according to the NetBlocks Outage Calculator. If that's how much it will cost the U.S on just the monetary side how much will it cost you?