Why Techno-Libertarianism Clashes With Medicine

(Especially the Anarcho Variety)

I believe that it’s essential history for every CXO and board member to have a clear understanding of the long standing culture issues involving currency. This is to promote understanding, compromise, and solutions within our organizations and ecosystems. This post is focused on misalignment between techno libertarianism and medicine; and declines to go into the details of the obvious ethical conflicts involved in the identity politics of these culture wars.

This post is also generally not about the 2022 Summer crypto downturn (what some call a collapse.)

The John Birch society (founded 1958) and other libertarian coalition members at the time opposed leaving the gold standard which the U.S. did in 1971 (before I was born) because it threatened then, the concentration of control over wealth and power that being tied to the gold standard enabled. This is not a judgment, just a statement of historical facts.

Today, we have fiat currency that is not backed by gold which the John Birch society and its allies opposed. While fiat currency is at greater risk of inflation, it’s important to understand history of how fiat currency arose. Learn from Investopedia with the excerpts pasted below.

I became interested in the views of anarcho techno libertarians as I curiously observed medical misinformation and misunderstanding of the medical system underpin both historical failures of tech to succeed in medicine; as well as through watching how the region became a groundswell of enormous amounts of medical misinformation. The latter which is a destructive contributor to physician burnout.

“Why Do Modern Economies Favor Fiat Money?

Prior to the 20th century, most countries utilized some sort of gold standard or backing by a commodity. As international trade and finance grew in scale and scope; however, the limited amount of gold coming out of mines and in central bank vaults could not keep up with the new value that was being created, causing serious disruptions to global markets and commerce. Fiat money gives governments greater flexibility to manage their own currency, set monetary policy, and stabilize global markets. It also allows for fractional reserve banking, which lets commercial banks multiply the amount of money on hand to meet demand from borrowers.

What Are Some Alternatives to Fiat Money?

Virtually every country today has legal tender that is fiat money. While you can buy and sell gold and gold coins, these are rarely used in exchange or for everyday purchases and tend to be more of a collectible or speculative asset. Cryptocurrencies, such as Bitcoin, have emerged over the past decade as a challenge to the inflationary nature of fiat currencies; but despite increased interest and adoption, these virtual assets do not seem to approach being “money” in the traditional sense.

Can Fiat Money Lead to Hyperinflation?

There is always the possibility of hyperinflation when a country prints its own currency”

Anarcho-Techno Libertarianism is a Proposed Solution

You ask, what is anarcho techno libertarianism? Synthesize what technolibertariansim is and anarcho capitalism is to get crypto anarchism. Definitions and resources below

According to DBPedia:

“Technolibertarianism (sometimes referred to as cyberlibertarianism) is a political philosophy with roots in the Internet’s early hacker cypherpunk culture in Silicon Valley in the early 1990s and in American libertarianism. The philosophy focuses on minimizing government regulation, censorship or anything else in the way of a “free” World Wide Web. In this case the word “free” is referring to the meaning of libre (no restrictions) not gratis (no cost).”

Related, you need to know what is anarchy capitalism? The modern day version is crypto anarchism.

Next: read this respected venture capitalist’s synposis of anarcho techno libertarianism. “Why I’m a Cryptophobic.”

For the record, I categorize crypto like gambling; not for it, not against. I think it’s for the very rich to amass potential future riches which they should be free to do.

As a side note, it’s important to understand the role that funding, legal action, and libertarianism have on the trajectory of public health as a sector. Again not as a judgment but FYI.

Learn from this study about the ethics (or disdain for them) of libertarianism: https://righteousmind.com/largest-study-of-libertarian-psych/

Also see Austrian Economics: https://www.britannica.com/topic/economic-rationality

I hope this post helps you understand the ideological root causes of medical misinformation and long standing misalignment between the tech and medicine sectors so that if you’re a reasonable, ethical person we can work together to solve. As I said in this post, I don’t care if you’re a libertarian. In fact, I’ll fight for your right to be one. It’s just that I think if you are, you waste yours and everyone else’s time trying to make likely wasteful noise in medicine. It’s the wrong market, “barking up the wrong Birch tree,” as you might say.

By Sherri Douville, CEO at Medigram, the Mobile Medicine company. Recognized in 8 categories of top CEOs by Board Room Media (Across SMS, mHealth, iOS, IT, Database, Big Data, Android, Healthcare). Top ranked medical market executive worldwide and #1 ranked in mobile technology categories (mhealth, iOS, Android), #1–2 (on any given day) for the cybersecurity market in the U.S. on Crunchbase. Best selling editor/author, Mobile Medicine: Overcoming People, Culture, and Governance & Advanced Health Technology: Managing Risk While Tackling Barriers to Rapid Acceleration, Taylor & Francis; Series Editor for Trustworthy Technology & Innovation + Trustworthy Technology & Innovation in Healthcare.