The Memory Police was my favourite read during the pandemic. Quarantined indoors for the better part of 18 months, I have no doubt we have all indulged in greater volumes of creature comforts, such as science fiction novels, to escape from the trials and anxieties of everyday life.

Yōko Ogawa’s dystopian tale, The Memory Police, transports the reader to an unnamed island under authoritarian rule, where inhabitants are subjugated into a slow yet unrelenting march toward the loss of memory of objects, concepts, and eventually their own body parts. What struck me the most is the inevitability of the inhabitants’ abdication of their rights, their cherished items and memories. How could the characters so passively submit to the titular enforcers who outlawed and destroyed forbidden items with impunity and without reason? It seemed that with the epidemic of memory loss, the idea of endings had also disappeared—so much had been taken away that existential dread was no longer a plausible emotion. Ogawa’s work depicts an allegory of collective, societal degradation, resulting from the willful blindness of the masses.

This New Yorker review posits my feelings perfectly on societal cognitive dissonance: “statelessness and slavery and fascism may be complex, but, if we fail to fully see them, this is at least partly because we have chosen to look away”.

—

In June 2021, the Hong Kong police arrested executives and froze assets of companies linked to a high-profile democracy news outlet, Apple Daily. Activists turned to decentralized file storage platform Arweave, to archive and preserve indefinitely thousands of journalist entries from the Apple Daily. Arweave is a blockchain software that stores files permanently across a distributed network of computers, with the stated mission of allowing us to “never forget”, to “remember and preserve […] history indefinitely”, and to “prevent others from rewriting it”.

Make no mistake—this is not intended to be a pointed criticism at one regime or another. Just last week I wrote about the American government memory-wiping the atrocities of the Black Wall Street Massacre, which was only brought to the attention of the masses thanks to the critically acclaimed limited series HBO’s Watchmen.  

Rather, my point is that through a curious combination of (a) a government’s inclination to not hold itself accountable for past transgressions; (b) the rapid narrowing of the human attention span; and (c) the general passage of time, the repression, omission, and alteration of history feels inevitable.

We become enraptured by our personal goals and issues. We seek to block out the tragedy or drama of the day, exhausted and hyper-anxious thanks to a boundless stream of sensationalized news. Like most of the island’s inhabitants in Ogawa’s The Memory Police, we choose cognitive dissonance to preserve our own mental wellbeing.

The application of the blockchain technology to protect journalistic integrity, as seen in Arweave’s preservation of Hong Kong’s pro-democracy reporter archives, is a welcome sign for those of us who are bullish on defi and NFTs. Being able to thrive and work independently without interference from state or foreign actors is something that only authenticating and distributing information over the blockchain can do. The tenets of transparency, authenticity and secured storage can do so much to protect decentralized content creation, to shield individuals from oppressive reprisals and to differentiate between real and fake news propagated on social media.

This application matters too, because until now, the mainstream perception of the blockchain has been overwhelmingly negative and skeptical. In 2021 there has been a litany of headlines written attributing the rise of NFTs to climate change. While Ethereum transactions are undeniably energy intensive, I would argue it is a false narrative to point the finger at the blockchain as the culprit for global warming rather than the mass deforestation ordered by governments or the proliferation of private airfare used by the ultra-wealthy. The rising popularity of the Decentralized Autonomous Organization (DAO) as an investment vehicle in cryptocurrency has led, rightfully so, to questions as to who is ultimately “responsible if something goes wrong?”

The next time your family, friend, or a stranger you meet at a social gathering presents misgivings about the blockchain, I urge you to share the story of Arweave in Hong Kong. Defi—as much as the mainstream headlines are about jpegs and shitcoins—truly matters when it comes to preserving human and journalistic integrity, creating an equalization factor for the individual to access finance, resources and authenticated data against the reality of increasing wealth disparity, censorship, and gatekeeping of knowledge.

—

The War on Drugs’ Under the Pressure is a track I always seek out when I feel anxious. The track is technically superb – a whirling dervish of saxophone swells and guitar solo flourishes, accompanied by the steady backdrop of drumbeats, piano pulses and dreamy reverbs.

More than that, the track builds so organically and so effortlessly, layering instrument and hook over one another time and again. As the track surges forward, it seems as if it may buckle under the its own weight. But it refuses to do so until its explosive conclusion – delivering utter catharsis denoted by Adam Granduciel’s whoops.

Granduciel’s eight-minute masterpiece starts with prescient lyricism:

” Well, the comedown here was easy Like the arrival of a new day But a dream like this gets wasted Without you Under the pressure”

Sometimes the walk of life is overwhelming, and in its extremes, you can feel completely alone. On our worst days, we may feel weighed down by our very existence. We may feel too exhausted to care about anything other than ourselves. And yet, under extreme pressure, the human will perseveres. We thrive as a decentralized collective of individuals, uplifting one another against the grandest of challenges.

Stories like Arweave’s preservation of information and history lift my heart. It lights the path forward for an altruistic (and profitable) view of the blockchain and its role in society. It exemplifies the uncommon, admirable feats that are made possible through the bravery and organization of individuals around the world, using a decentralized platform, to protect the integrity of journalism.

So my message to you this week is a rallying cry—although we are in the early stages of true acceptance of decentralized finance and NFTs, let us not lose sight of the value that these technologies can have on unifying the human collective, on choosing not to look away, but instead choosing to remember.

What are other ways that defi and the blockchain have done good in the world? Let me know, and as always, thanks for reading.

CounterCulture and NFTs make their way to Marvel.

What has been your favourite rewatchable during the pandemic? Quarantined indoors for the better part of 18 months, I have no doubt we have all indulged in greater volumes of creature comforts such as TV. 

For me, it has been HBO’s Watchmen. Every time through the 9-episode limited series, it has evoked inside of me a curious mélange of nostalgia and cultural relevance. Interwoven in Damon Lindelof’s remix and sequel to Alan Moore’s 1986 DC Comics series, is a heart-wrenching peek under the rug of America’s dark history of race relations. Without spoiling for those who have not watched, the show contains a vivid “re-enactment of the Tulsa Race Massacre of 1921, in which a white mob burned down the city’s thriving Greenwood District, also known as “Black Wall Street.” The deadly two-day massacre resulted in as many as 300 deaths and the destruction of over 1,200 Black businesses, homes and other public infrastructures.” Released in Q4 of 2019, HBO’s Watchmen received critical acclaim and was partly credited with raising awareness of and rectifying the omission of the Black Wall Street massacre from Oklahoma’s education system. Lindelof’s masterful storytelling analogized nuclear anxiety (the core to Moore’s original story) with racial tensions boiling over and chafing against the façade of American culture and society. The show’s timing also proved to be prescient, as the murder of George Floyd and ensuing nationwide protests occurred mere months later.

Not only were the historical and topical events of interest to me, but I have always loved superheroes as a medium for storytelling. I grew up on DC comics and Marvel comics, and believe they serve as excellent creative vehicles that are at once accessible to all demographics and capable of addressing key sociopolitical issues in a consumer-friendly way.

—

On June 24th 2021, the NFT world stepped into the glow of mainstream culture with the announcement of a collaboration between Marvel Entertainment and the parent corporation of VeVe Digital Collectibles App. Users will be able to purchase official Marvel NFTs through the VeVe app. “Since the beginning, collecting has always gone hand in hand with being a Marvel fan,” said Dan Buckley, President of Marvel Entertainment. “Like us, VeVe understands collecting is about the experience just as much as the product, and we look forward to extending that experience for our fans over the years to come.”

Sure, there have been other defining moments in the NFT era that have briefly caught the attention of the masses. In March 2021, Mike Winkelmann (or Beeple) auctioned off “The First 5,000 days” for $69 million at Christie’s, and since then, major auction houses have followed suit to capitalize on the burgeoning space. In February 2021, Dapper Labs’ NBA TopShot spiked with $48 million trading in a single day, experiencing a large influx of users and mainstream attention.

Make no mistake—the Marvel x VeVe announcement trumps them all. The Marvel machine is the lone homogenous influence that has consistently dominated the cultural conversation and consumer wallets for the past two decades. The numbers speak for themselves: Disney+ (the streaming subsidiary of Disney within which contains a dedicated content hub for Marvel) accumulated ~95 million subscribers in just 18 months and is rapidly encroaching on established streaming giants in Prime Video (150 million, started in April 2016), and Netflix (204 million, started in 2007). The Marvel Cinematic Universe is far and away the most commercially successful film franchise, having grossed ~$23 billion in box office revenues in 12 years—a number that is staggering when compared to its next closest competitor in the Star Wars franchise, which amassed ~$10 billion in 33 years.

Marvel’s ability to hold the attention and wallets of its fans is not limited to streaming subscriptions and movie tickets, evident by the breadth of its success across various domains, including toys, clothes, electronics, video games, Happy Meals, and even makeup.

Nothing in this life is guaranteed, but it is a safe bet that the ubiquitous cultural presence and dominant, multigenerational fandom will follow Marvel into the NFT-verse. It is undeniable that Marvel entering the NFT space is a monumental harbinger of mainstream attention and potential financial success.

—

In the world of comic books and decades-old characters, nothing is ever linear in terms of development, popularity and cultural perception. At the inception of the Marvel universe in 1961, creators Stan Lee and Jack Kirby were regarded critically, and lauded for being innovative by making their characters more realistic in their interactions (i.e. heroes often fighting or arguing with each other). This avant-garde approach to characterization appealed to a broader spectrum of ages in its fanbase. As Marvel captured more college-aged readers, the stories also began to evolve. Notably, a 1971 issue of The Amazing Spider-Man faced controversy for featuring themes of substance abuse without first seeking approval from the regulatory body known as the Comic Code Authority prior to publication. During that period, Marvel received acclaim for its counterculture approach of addressing systemic social issues head on, including race relations, drug abuse and pollution.

Fast-forward to the moneymaking machine that is Marvel today, and it is safe to say that no one is looking to it for cutting-edge social commentary. In fact, one could argue that Marvel cannot be counter-culture, because Marvel is the culture. There is no other franchise that dominates the pop culture world quite like Marvel, and consequently its sensibilities are normative.

The fascinating thing about Marvel’s debut into the world of NFTs is that we are witnessing a mainstream cultural giant entering a space that is deeply rooted in counterculture.

Defi (decentralized finance) is the digital currency umbrella under which NFTs are transacted. Defi is, by definition, the contra (or opposite) of the centralized financial markets which transact using fiat (or government-issued currencies). Investors of cryptocurrencies and NFTs alike rally behind the ethos of full transparency (i.e. a digital database available for any and all eyes with an internet connection) and independence (i.e. ability to transact peer-to-peer without centralized institutions’ involvement).

The first and most successful set of NFT collectibles is Larva Labs’ CryptoPunks project. Punk emerged as a form of counterculture against mainstream 1970s rock. Holders of CryptoPunks, Bored Ape Yacht Club and similar derivatives take pride in creating genuine online identities that have fostered cultural cachet, building fervent avant-garde communities, not to mention immense financial success (CryptoPunks were initially free to claim for anyone with an Ethereum wallet; and Bored Apes were initially sold for 0.08 ETH).

How will the crypto- and NFT-community, that so readily identifies itself as being counterculture and edgy, interact and mesh with tens of millions of Marvel fans?

—

One of my favourite introspective tracks is Vampire Weekend’s ‘Ur Not a Contra’.

90 seconds to the end of the song, lead vocalist Ezra Koenig croons:

“You wanted good schools

And friends with pools

You’re not a contra

You wanted rock and roll

Complete control

Well, I don’t know”

The track paints a tale of two individuals who fall in love because they perceive one another to be “contras”, or counter-revolutionaries. Over time,  one lover realizes that his partner is not a contra, but just another normie who wants a house in a good neighbourhood and rich friends with pools. His lover is a walking paradox, who wanted “rock and roll”, which cannot by its virtue co-exist with “complete control”.

“Never pick sides

Never choose between two

But I just wanted you, I just wanted you”

However, he comes to the realization that as he has matured, he too has grown out of his anarchist/punk phase, and that he remains in love with this person who is no longer a contra.

What are we if not human—walking, talking contradictions who desire to be rebellious and conformist all at the same time?

I grew up with dreams of changing the world, of being an activist who helped to ease political tensions (the Cold War never ended, folks!) of challenging the staid and corrupt politician with a revolutionary blend of diplomacy and action. Today, I’m in my mid-20s and work a relatively tame corporate job during the day. I went to university for a business degree and live in my drab apartment with a girlfriend and a cat. 

Like many, I have strayed from my childhood dreams of being a contra. Like for many others, the NFT space represents a breath of fresh air into my life—a way to identify and connect with free thinkers who are passionate about art, pop culture and creating more equitable access to finance for themselves and their communities. I anticipate the vibrant evolution of NFT culture with the integration of mainstream cultural giants such as Marvel. So strap in, fellow contra, and join me on this wild ride. Thanks for reading.