On proxy merchants...

On proxy merchants...

In this highly globalized and specialized economy, with long supply chains and advanced technologies, striving for self-sufficiency is not possible - it would put us years behind in the economic development of highly advanced products.

Unless we want to turn old-school, farm to mouth, we need trade with the larger markets outside of the dark forest. With financial surveillance and economic control, this becomes a bit more difficult... especially after the introduction of CBDCs and phasing out of cash.

This problem is being solved by proxy merchants. They get paid in anonymous cryptocurrency and can supply you with whatever you need from the mainstream economy. In many cases they can get around various consumption taxes, or provide privacy (making purchases either anonymous or pseudonymized using special purpose companies or other means).

Proxy merchants also solve the other side of the trade - helping entrepreneurs in the dark forest sell products and services in the mainstream economy.

This sounds like a scifi concept, but there are proxy merchants doing this already.