Plutarchy: The New Boss in Town?

Klea Muka
2 min readMay 11, 2024

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As the world changes, so do the power plays. Forget robots taking over mundane tasks — there’s a new idea brewing in Silicon Valley that’s turning heads: Plutarchy.

I stumbled upon Plutarchy while scrolling on Facebook and finding an article criticizing Balaji Srinivasan, a big shot in the tech world. His brainchild? Plutarchy — a system where money talks and democracy takes a back seat.

Image from Techcrunch, “Coinbase loses its first CTO after just one year in the job.” by Jon Russell.

Balaji, with his fancy degrees from Stanford (not in politics though), is pitching this idea as the solution to all our problems. Picture a world where the rich call the shots, and your bank account is your ballot. It’s like Monopoly, but with real consequences.

To further add fuel to the fire of passion, I have to represent the life-changing information I read directly stated from our philosopher, Balaji, in a podcast interview: “What I’m really calling for is something like tech Zionism. A tech-governed city where citizens loyal to tech companies would form a new political tribe clad in gray t-shirts. And if you see another Gray on the street…you do the nod.” on the Moment of Zen podcast. “You’re a fellow Gray.”

Now, you might think this is just some sci-fi fantasy cooked up by a guy with too much time on his hands. But Balaji is dead serious. His tech utopia where everyone wears the same gray T-shirt and nods at each other on the street is like a cult, but with better Wi-Fi.

Balaji never grew out of his teenage obsession, and now, after a lot of effort, he’s trying to make his dream a reality. It’s like watching someone try to build a spaceship out of Lego blocks. His idea is catching on with many people in the tech world, especially young adults. It reminds me of those dystopian books we used to devour in the early 2010s, but the Walmart version. It’s like a mashup of “Divergent,” “The Maze Runner,” and maybe even “The Hunger Games,” with all the “gray” color grading.

Before you start panicking, remember — this isn’t the first crazy idea to come out of Silicon Valley. Remember Google Glass? Exactly.

And while Plutarchy might never become a reality, the real danger lies in the influence it’s having on the tech world. Imagine a future where robots are making decisions based on profit, not people. It’s like Terminator but without Arnold Schwarzenegger.

But fear not, brave reader. For every tech genius with a god complex, there’s a rebellious teenager ready to take them down a peg. So let’s raise a toast to the future, where the only thing scarier than a robot uprising is a group of teenagers with smartphones.

All hail Plutarchy. Or not. You decide.

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Klea Muka

I am a front end developer and a journalist whose love for life, nature, and a warm cup of coffee are the driving forces of who I am and what I do.