One thing that governments have figured out is that Constitutions work.
Constitutions aren't just a set of laws and rights. They are a list of overarching principles that no other laws are allowed to overstep. They guide everything forward and make sure democratic governments aren't just creating a hodgepodge of untethered bullshit with every new vote.
In the U.S. we have the right to free speech, free press, the right physically protect yourself from an overarching government. We have the right to privacy and the right to not incriminate ourselves. It can be argued that a lot has been done to sidestep a few of these through interpretation but they are there and any laws that blatantly trample those will be challenged.
Crytpo Is Still a Little Young
Crypto hasn't quite figured this out yet and we are seeing this with the Splinterlands DAO. A patchwork of bullshit proposals with nothing to guide us other than "that sounds like a great idea to me! And I like the guy who submitted the proposal!"
It's fine to have these patchwork votes as long as they are tethered to some set of well thought out principles. As it is, each vote sets a one sets a precedent for another later even though none of this has any focus or direction.
This is dangerous, especially when half the group is itchy to just "do something!" with the money sitting there. It's also dangerous when a few people really can swing a vote.
Building a constitution around the ideals of the DAO and how it runs gives it continuity. It doesn't allow us to be blinded by a bunch of logical fallacies where we vote against our own self interests because something is worded in a friendly way.
DAOs Are Governments
Many crypto folk aren't fans of governments but let's face it, the DAO is a government. It represents the citizens of SPS. It sets the rules through votes from the citizens and it enforces them whether or not everyone agrees with them. Like a government, it sets economic policies and uses its resources to try to improve economic conditions and keep things running.
What type of government is it? Well, its a hybrid of a formal plutocracy (wealth directly determines the weight of your vote) and a direct democracy (where laymen get to vote on everything directly and its enacted). Basically it's a government that no one in their right mind would set up today, But hey, here we are.
Democratic Economic Policies Make the Most Sense
With the DAO falling somewhere on the spectrum of a democratic government, I would think it would make sense that we would follow a more capitalist set of rules. We are mostly capitalists here in crypto right?
If you look at capitalist governments, there are a few things you'll usually note. The first is they don't own businesses. Sure, there's the occasional utility but these "businesses" aren't for profit. They are selling you water or electricity at a regulated price. They are not selling you consumer goods and services like cars, Tupperware, and liposuction.
Capitalist governments don't compete in the market. They profit off the market through taxation, licensing fees, and fees for use of infrastructure but they won't use tax dollars to build businesses to compete for profits. That's just not their job.
So I would recommend, a capitalist DAO does the same.
What a DAO Constitution Might Look Like
In a constitution, that might look like this:
Amendment 1: The DAO will not earn income by competing in the market with players, investors, or businesses. The DAO will not get any rewards other than what was set for it in the white paper.
Amendment 2: The DAO will strictly fund itself through fees for in game transactions and for providing access to infrastructure to outside entities.
Those make sense in a capitalist government. Those are tried and true.
And they also show us how absolutely backwards we already are when it comes to funding.
This Makes No Sense
How is the DAO currently getting funded? Well it's not the new transaction and card market listing fees. We're burning those. 🤡
Instead it's selling packs while the contracor business who keeps this thing running has no revenue and needs to add even more products eventually to get it.
And if this new proposal goes through, the DAO will also be funded by getting LP rewards from the market place. that players and investors are currently getting.
And before you say, "Well aren't LPs just transaction fees? Didn't you just say that where they should get funding?" think about the fact that most of all the rewards people are collecting from those pools aren't based on transaction fees. They come from additional allocations of SPS being paid out regardless of transactions for the sole purpose of attracting investors to participate.
We Need a Constitution
If we had a constitution, we wouldn't just be throwing whatever idea against the wall and seeing who thinks it sounds reasonable after reading a post that's directly selling them on the idea.
If we had a framework, we could be discussing ideas that fit within it and actually be making progress with ideas that actually are reasonable and are principled.
If we had a constitution, there wouldn't be a constant uneasiness that the whole thing could just change on a dime tomorrow. We would be able to look at it and better gauge the future direction of this game and economy and get a better sense of whether we want to invest heavily in it.
We need a constitution and we need to figure out a reliable and predictable direction.
And I'm still not a maverick since I never bought 1000 packs lol.