The ‘digital nomad’ is now a real thing. Working online when the only requirements are a wi-fi connection and a power source has enabled a new generation to ditch the traditional office and the urban grind.
For some, the idea of being a digital nomad conjures up a picture of some dream existence on a far-flung tropical beach where the daily commute is along to a bar or café to get free wi-fi. The pandemic’s remote working revolution has given this alternative lifestyle a new impetus but now some of its pioneers want to get rid of the traditional concept of a nation-state too.
In his e-book ‘The Network State: How To Start a New Country’, Balaji Srinivasan, former chief technology officer of the Coinbase cryptocurrency exchange, predicts the death of our traditional concept of countries and nationhood.
According to Lauren Razavi, executive director of Plumia.org, a new “virtual” country is already in development. “The nation-state is outdated – it’s based on 19th-century thinking, and we aim to upend all of that” he has been reported to say. Born in Britain to an Iranian immigrant, Razavi sees herself as “untethered and borderless” and refers to national citizenship and “tax to a subscription” that is very hard to cancel.
Maybe it won’t be long before digital nomads could be signing up to Plumia as a whole new nationality.
