Introduction

This essay tries to introduce how the book came about. I wrote these essays over a ten-year period. Each one was written contemporaneously. Only after ten years, as I was archiving them, did I realize I had written a history of the period. And, as I read over it, it became clear that I had become increasingly skeptical of the entire endeavor. I try to explain that here.

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"I quit my job and never looked back." Ten years later, these essays are the receipts.

You Say You Want a Revolution collects 75 essays written over ten years — from the 2016 DAO hack through 2026. One engineer’s journey from true believer to battle-scarred skeptic, building tools for a decentralized future while watching the movement betray its own principles.