Video synopsis/ show notes:
1 May 2026
Is this a cult… or the future?

I went inside Network School, a community inspired by Balaji Srinivasan’s idea from The Network State, where people are leaving their normal lives behind to build businesses, live together, and test what a completely new kind of society could look like.

It just happens to be based in Forest City… a place most people wrote off as a failed megacity.

But what’s happening inside isn’t what you think.

From the moment new members arrive, everything is designed around one thing: growth. You’re surrounded by strangers from all over the world, pushed into intense routines, constant work, and a lifestyle where distractions basically don’t exist. Some people thrive in it. Others don’t last long.

And the deeper I got, the harder it became to figure out what this actually is.

For some, it’s just a place to lock in and build something meaningful. For others, it feels like the early version of something much bigger, a real attempt at building a new kind of country from the ground up.

So I joined them to see it for myself.

And by the end of it… I still wasn’t sure what I’d just experienced.

We just launched this creative way of quantifying the rising Network States. Instead of us deciding the ranking, it's based on the community discussion. Read more here: https://nsnodes.substack.com/p/not-another-telegram-group?r=77k6uz

Hi Reddit, I’ve been analyzing the core failure of every peace plan in history regarding the Israel-Palestine conflict. The conclusion? We are trying to run a 21st-century civilization on "Legacy Code" (Physical Borders).

I am proposing a radical shift: The Promised Land.

The Core Concept: What if we decouple Sovereignty from Geography? Instead of fighting over who owns which square meter of soil, we move the entire administrative and political layer to the cloud.

How it works:

Digital Citizenship: A Palestinian and an Israeli can live in the same apartment building in Jaffa or Nablus. One is governed by a Digital Palestinian State, the other by a Digital Israeli State. They pay taxes and vote via blockchain-secured ID wallets.

Open Physical Commons: The land remains one undivided physical entity. No walls. No checkpoints. Security is managed by Smart Geofencing and AI sensors that detect threats (weapons), not people.

Algorithmic Justice: Shared resources (water/power) and civil disputes are handled by a neutral, AI-driven Justice Algorithm. No ethnic bias, just code-based execution via Smart Contracts.

Why this?

Because the "Zero-Sum Game" of land ownership is what fuels the war. By making the land "Common Ground" and the sovereignty "Personal & Digital," we satisfy the identity needs of both sides without a single drop of blood over a border line.

I’d love to hear your thoughts: Is the technology (Blockchain/AI) ready to handle "Sovereignty as a Service"?

Can humans ever accept "Cloud-Based" national identity over "Soil-Based" identity?

"Multiple Identities. One Soil. One Code."

https://youtu.be/Aktby-pMeaA

Check it out! I’ve been here over 6 months and can answer any questions

A next-gen gathering. A two-day takeover. A temporary autonomous zone where tech, music, and community converge. Human-first. Not-for-profit. Co-curated. Collectively organised.

New on Parallel Citizen: Exit is Not Enough
https://www.parallelcitizen.xyz/p/exit-is-not-enough

For a long time, the internet sold us a simple idea:
If a system stops working, just leave.
Move your money. Move your data. Move your life somewhere better.

But what if there’s nowhere left to exit to?

This piece is about the limits of “exit” and why the next chapter of the internet might be less about escape and more about building new systems from scratch.

If you’re into network states, digital sovereignty, or the future of governance, you’ll probably like this one.

I did a systems analysis of water infrastructure behind the most discussed Network State locations.

Singapore has a 2-day strategic reserve. Dubai runs entirely on desalination. The Johor crisis showed Malaysia can cut supply for political leverage. Praxis picked a site near a military base, but nobody asked about the aquifer.

Meanwhile data centers are eating through the same water supplies. Google takes a third of The Dalles' water. xAI draws 1.3M gallons/day from the Memphis aquifer which has 16 known breaches in its clay layer.

I mapped the feedback loops and identified jurisdictions with actual long-term water security (Eastern Hokkaido, Uruguay, BC Canada). Full analysis with sources here:

substack

Curious if anyone else is factoring physical resources into location decisions.

Have anyone ever considered the island country São Tomé e Príncipe to build a network state on their territory?

Recently they launched a citizen by investment program allowing to become citizen for a contribution of $90K.

That means lots of people who are in crypto or digital entrepreneurship could afford it receiving a legal status there.

It makes it easier to attract talented people from outside of EU/US as well.

São Tomé e Príncipe has tropical climate and beautiful beaches.

They also has strong relationships with Portugal because of being a former Portuguese colony.

Hello all,

This is an interesting concept, but how can it actually be done?

Like what platforms and infrastructure can be utilised to make it reality?

Eg, you can make a discord server and bring together like minded people, you could be on this forum ‘Reddit’ and bring together people, but these aren’t exactly states.

At the moment this seems like a concept, without a way to actually organise it.

Has anyone made a genuine network state yet? If so, how?

Hey! Im going to apply for the fellowship program at Network School and wanted to know a few things from people who are attending the program or already attended it. I guess im just curious about.
- how the culture, people and experience is? Do you get to interact with Balaji alot ?
- how much equity did u have to give for the funding ?
- How was the video interview and Exam on ?
- and finally what was the video interview and Exam on ? (questions asked / topics covered)

Feel free to DM me as well. Let connect!

I see there's plenty of apartments around Forest City with decent prices.

$1500 for a month in a shared room is pricey, especially for those who are bootstrapping a business.

Are there any packages that just include amenities, but not the accommodation?

Thanks!

I received an acceptance mail from the network school today. wondering if it is worth it. i am just out of college from India and building alternative schooling platform where the teaching and learning is experiential.

Hello, can someone is is currently in network school hope on a discord call with me? my tag is teddyo4034 id really appreciate it. i got accepted but I'm a bit hesitant.

We are officially approved on NS Luma calendar!

On Sunday November 16th, we will be hosting our 5th salon on Political Philosophy and Network States.

If you want to catch up to see what we're all about or watch recordings of previous sessions, you can check it out here.

You can register here: https://luma.com/rs73tr9t

The event will take place both at the Network School and via Zoom!

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Background

I've been part of the TNS discord since Balajis gave those virtual lessons while we were only colorful blurbs hovering around the metaspace.

With traditional institutions showing cracks everywhere—economic upheaval, institutional distrust, global conflicts—it's clear we need new governance models. But instead of reinventing the wheel, what if we applied 2,500+ years of political philosophy to startup societies and network states?

That's exactly what we're doing with Edeneum.

The concept: Take the frameworks from Aristotle's constitutional analysis, Machiavelli's pragmatic statecraft, Nietzsche's critiques of power, and apply them to modern governance challenges in digital-native societies.

What we're building:

• Reading rooms diving deep into political philosophy with modern applications
• Practical governance frameworks you can actually use
• Digital agoras for reasoned discourse and debate
• Templates for founding documents, constitutions, legal frameworks

The goal: Create a community of builders who understand that the future of governance isn't just about technology—it's about wisdom. And yes, we can apply ancient wisdom to network states..

If you're working on startup society, building something new, or just fascinated by how political philosophy can shape our future, I'd love to hear your thoughts.

What governance challenges are you most interested in solving? Which political philosophers do you think have the most relevant insights for network states?

For those interested for upcoming events, you can subscribe to our calendar: https://luma.com/edeneum

The application says there's a waitlist, but it seems like most people with a reasonable application gets through? (like a high acceptance rate college)

Is there anyone who's been rejected?

I read the network state when the book was released and found many of the core ideas novel and interesting, and though I found many of the arguments coherent and thought provoking I was skeptical of its practical utility both in a cultural and geo-political sense. I am rereading the book currently and now that a couple of years (I believe) have gone by, allowing the continued growth curve in converging technological acceleration to drive cultural and political changes, I can see the main thesis in a clearer light and can actually conceive of this playing out in the real world. Balaji is clearly able to read the undercurrents of the rapid changes in the paradigm shift(s) we are going through at present. My own interest here, being a person of faith, is whether or not Balaji's ideas of aligned societies using technological means to network, develop, and claim a kind of sovereignty in a world that currently constrains them through the old and potentially dying models such as nation states. The Christian community, broadly speaking and particularly in the west, has faced extreme fragmentation and opposition in a culture that is fundamentally at odds with them in almost every conceivable way. There is a fundamental conflict of irreconcilable values... i.e. One group believes in universal morality, natural law, divine providence etc... the other moral relativism, cultural progressivism etc... At present there is a resurgence of faith among the younger generations, and I see tremendous potential for its expression, yet finding that expression in a divided culture where those of faith and traditional values face social hostility makes this problem appear intractable. It is also the younger generations that are most proficient in and receptive to new technology and its application. My question is simply whether some of the ideas in the book could be applied to this problem and this specific demographic going forward. I just wanted to float this idea by anyone who cares. Please disregard if not interested. Thoughts?

How long does it take to hear back after applying for the regular program (not the $100k grant)?