--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: And for those of us who are motivated by…" description: "\"“And for those of us who are motivated by commitment to a specifically participatory politics of the commons, it’s not at all clear that any blockchain..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/83b/adam-greenfield-70300_politics_and-for-those-of-us-who-are-motivated-by_878085.jpg" --- # And for those of us who are motivated by commitment to a… ![“And for those of us who are motivated by commitment to a specifically participatory politics of the commons, it’s not at all clear that any blockchain-based infrastructure can support the kind of flexible assemblies we imagine. I myself come from an intellectual tradition that insists that any…” quote by Adam Greenfield](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/83b/adam-greenfield-70300_politics_and-for-those-of-us-who-are-motivated-by_878085.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/83b/adam-greenfield-70300_politics_and-for-those-of-us-who-are-motivated-by_878085.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/83b/adam-greenfield-70300_politics_and-for-those-of-us-who-are-motivated-by_878085.jpg) > ““And for those of us who are motivated by commitment to a specifically participatory politics of the commons, it’s not at all clear that any blockchain-based infrastructure can support the kind of flexible assemblies we imagine. I myself come from an intellectual tradition that insists that any appearance of the word “potential” needs to be greeted with skepticism. There is no such thing as potential, in this view: there are merely states of a system that have historically been enacted, and those that have not yet been enacted. The only way to assess whether a system is capable of assuming a given state is to do the work of enacting it.”” [Adam Greenfield](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/adam-greenfield/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Blockchain’s flexibility is limited; true commons require adaptable, enacted structures, not just theoretical potential. **In simple terms:** Blockchain can’t easily support flexible commons without active effort. Key Takeaway Focus on building and testing systems rather than relying on promise. Themes technology politics commons skepticism Mood critical analytical Type theoretical philosophical When to use this quote - community projects - policy design - open-source platforms Key Concepts decentralization potential theory systems thinking Questions to Reflect On - What concrete steps can you take to test a system’s capability? - How do you balance optimism with skepticism? A Different Perspective Potential is not a guarantee; implementation may fail despite optimistic forecasts. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Blockchain Based](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/blockchain-based-965509/) [Capable Assuming](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/capable-assuming-1023569/) [Participatory Politics](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/participatory-politics-1023570/) [Politics](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/politics/) [Potential View](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/potential-view-1023571/) [Thing Potential](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/thing-potential-1023572/) ## Related quotes > [We are seeing entrepreneurs issuing their own blockchain-based tokens to raise money for their networks, sidestepping the traditional, exclusive world of venture capital altogether.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/olaf-carlson-wee/we-are-seeing-entrepreneurs-issuing-their-own-blockchain-based-tokens/) [Olaf Carlson-Wee](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/olaf-carlson-wee/) > [For the foreseeable future, I'm all about building blockchain-based decentralized services.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/fred-ehrsam/for-the-foreseeable-future-i-m-all-about-building-blockchain-based/) [Fred Ehrsam](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/fred-ehrsam/) > [ICOs are obviously a new and interesting form of funding for blockchain-based protocols, but it's not clear that all of them comply with U.S.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/naval-ravikant/icos-are-obviously-a-new-and-interesting-form-of-funding-for/) [Naval Ravikant](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/naval-ravikant/) > [A blockchain-based startup could have a product/service as part of what they are developing, but their stride is best hit when they are also…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-mougayar/a-blockchain-based-startup-could-have-a-product-service-as-part-of/) [William Mougayar](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-mougayar/) > [“Jim Reston: Walking through the crowds of air-kissing politicians, actors and high fliers, it was tough to tell where the politics stopped and the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-morgan/jim-reston-walking-through-the-crowds-of-air-kissing-politicians/) [Peter Morgan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-morgan/) > [One of the worst things to come out of the Consumer Protection Board's misleading claims is the impression that government resources are to hard…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/matthew-lesko/one-of-the-worst-things-to-come-out-of-the-consumer-protection-board/) [Matthew Lesko](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/matthew-lesko/) > [Right now we're concerned about budget. Right now we're concerned about the prospect of interest rate rise. We're concerned about government corruption, government handing…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/amity-shlaes/right-now-we-re-concerned-about-budget-right-now-we-re-concerned/) [Amity Shlaes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/amity-shlaes/) > [Scepticism and cynicism about politics is so great that one of the best counters to it is what you can do at a local…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ed-miliband/scepticism-and-cynicism-about-politics-is-so-great-that-one-of-the/) [Ed Miliband](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ed-miliband/) > [“The global population of Earth are involved in the following corporate government experiments: The long term effects of - 1. Nuclear bomb fallout radiation.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steven-magee/the-global-population-of-earth-are-involved-in-the-following/) [Steven Magee](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/steven-magee/) > [For the Scottish government, the practice of having meetings in different parts of the country is well established, but for the U.K. government, it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nicola-sturgeon/for-the-scottish-government-the-practice-of-having-meetings-in/) [Nicola Sturgeon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nicola-sturgeon/) > [Politics is not an issue whether you like or dislike , but every citizen must involve.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/khem-veasna/politics-is-not-an-issue-whether-you-like-or-dislike-but-every/) [Khem Veasna](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/khem-veasna/) > [We could form a government of national unity fighting corruption. The ordinary Afghan is sick and tired of it, because it's she or he…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ashraf-ghani/we-could-form-a-government-of-national-unity-fighting-corruption-the/) [Ashraf Ghani](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ashraf-ghani/) > [“Only careful political manoeuvring will be able to manage the situation.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/davan-yahya-khalil/only-careful-political-manoeuvring-will-be-able-to-manage-the/) [Davan Yahya Khalil](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/davan-yahya-khalil/) > [Crony capitalism is essentially a condition in which... public officials are giving favours to people in the private sector in payment of political favours.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alan-greenspan/crony-capitalism-is-essentially-a-condition-in-which-public-officials/) [Alan Greenspan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alan-greenspan/) > [Sentiment is the mightiest force in civilization; not sentimentality, but sentiment. Women will bring this into politics. Home, sweet home, is as powerful on…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/judith-ellen-foster/sentiment-is-the-mightiest-force-in-civilization-not-sentimentality/) [Judith Ellen Foster](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/judith-ellen-foster/) ## More by Adam Greenfield > [“Just as James Watt refused to license his steam engine, suppressing the development of that technology over the quarter century that elapsed between his…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/adam-greenfield/just-as-james-watt-refused-to-license-his-steam-engine-suppressing/) [Adam Greenfield](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/adam-greenfield/) > [“In our time, even the most seemingly transgressive visions of technology in everyday life invariably fall back to the familiar furniture of capital investment,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/adam-greenfield/in-our-time-even-the-most-seemingly-transgressive-visions-of/) [Adam Greenfield](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/adam-greenfield/) > [“Its first postulate is that the contemporary urban environment is so complex and so vexatious in its demands that no group of ordinary, unaided…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/adam-greenfield/its-first-postulate-is-that-the-contemporary-urban-environment-is-so/) [Adam Greenfield](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/adam-greenfield/) [Explore all 4 Adam Greenfield quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/adam-greenfield/) ## More Politics quotes > [Sentiment is the mightiest force in civilization; not sentimentality, but sentiment. Women will bring this into politics. Home, sweet home, is as powerful on…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/judith-ellen-foster/sentiment-is-the-mightiest-force-in-civilization-not-sentimentality/) [Judith Ellen Foster](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/judith-ellen-foster/) > [Crony capitalism is essentially a condition in which... public officials are giving favours to people in the private sector in payment of political favours.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alan-greenspan/crony-capitalism-is-essentially-a-condition-in-which-public-officials/) [Alan Greenspan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alan-greenspan/) > [“Only careful political manoeuvring will be able to manage the situation.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/davan-yahya-khalil/only-careful-political-manoeuvring-will-be-able-to-manage-the/) [Davan Yahya Khalil](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/davan-yahya-khalil/) > [We could form a government of national unity fighting corruption. The ordinary Afghan is sick and tired of it, because it's she or he…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ashraf-ghani/we-could-form-a-government-of-national-unity-fighting-corruption-the/) [Ashraf Ghani](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ashraf-ghani/) > [Politics is not an issue whether you like or dislike , but every citizen must involve.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/khem-veasna/politics-is-not-an-issue-whether-you-like-or-dislike-but-every/) [Khem Veasna](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/khem-veasna/) > [For the Scottish government, the practice of having meetings in different parts of the country is well established, but for the U.K. government, it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nicola-sturgeon/for-the-scottish-government-the-practice-of-having-meetings-in/) [Nicola Sturgeon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nicola-sturgeon/) > [“The global population of Earth are involved in the following corporate government experiments: The long term effects of - 1. Nuclear bomb fallout radiation.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steven-magee/the-global-population-of-earth-are-involved-in-the-following/) [Steven Magee](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/steven-magee/) > [Scepticism and cynicism about politics is so great that one of the best counters to it is what you can do at a local…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ed-miliband/scepticism-and-cynicism-about-politics-is-so-great-that-one-of-the/) [Ed Miliband](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ed-miliband/) > [Right now we're concerned about budget. Right now we're concerned about the prospect of interest rate rise. We're concerned about government corruption, government handing…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/amity-shlaes/right-now-we-re-concerned-about-budget-right-now-we-re-concerned/) [Amity Shlaes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/amity-shlaes/) > [One of the worst things to come out of the Consumer Protection Board's misleading claims is the impression that government resources are to hard…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/matthew-lesko/one-of-the-worst-things-to-come-out-of-the-consumer-protection-board/) [Matthew Lesko](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/matthew-lesko/) > [“Jim Reston: Walking through the crowds of air-kissing politicians, actors and high fliers, it was tough to tell where the politics stopped and the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-morgan/jim-reston-walking-through-the-crowds-of-air-kissing-politicians/) [Peter Morgan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-morgan/) > [We have to build our own power. We have to win every single political office we can, where we have a majority of black…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/fannie-lou-hamer/we-have-to-build-our-own-power-we-have-to-win-every-single-political/) [Fannie Lou Hamer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/fannie-lou-hamer/) > [The notion of a non-religious Christmas is ridiculous. But so is the insistence on the part of Christians that politicians and retailers carry out…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rachel-campos-duffy/the-notion-of-a-non-religious-christmas-is-ridiculous-but-so-is-the/) [Rachel Campos-Duffy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rachel-campos-duffy/) > [A man who kills on his own is a murderer. A man who kills at his government's request is a national hero.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ramman-kenoun/a-man-who-kills-on-his-own-is-a-murderer-a-man-who-kills-at-his/) [Ramman Kenoun](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ramman-kenoun/) > [Politics in Philadelphia is a contact sport.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-nutter/politics-in-philadelphia-is-a-contact-sport/) [Michael Nutter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-nutter/) [Browse all 44,914 Politics quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/politics/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“And for those of us who are motivated by commitment to a specifically participatory politics of the commons, it’s not at all clear that any blockchain-based infrastructure can support the kind of flexible assemblies we imagine. I myself come from an intellectual tradition that insists that any appearance of the word “potential” needs to be greeted with skepticism. There is no such thing as potential, in this view: there are merely states of a system that have historically been enacted, and those that have not yet been enacted. The only way to assess whether a system is capable of assuming a given state is to do the work of enacting it.”", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Adam Greenfield" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/adam-greenfield/and-for-those-of-us-who-are-motivated-by-commitment-to-a-specifically/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Politics" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/adam-greenfield/and-for-those-of-us-who-are-motivated-by-commitment-to-a-specifically/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/83b/adam-greenfield-70300_politics_and-for-those-of-us-who-are-motivated-by_878085.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/83b/adam-greenfield-70300_politics_and-for-those-of-us-who-are-motivated-by_878085.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/83b/adam-greenfield-70300_politics_and-for-those-of-us-who-are-motivated-by_878085.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“And for those of us who are motivated by commitment to a specifically participatory politics of the commons…” — Adam Greenfield", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } }, { "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "name": "Home", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "name": "Quotes", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "name": "Adam Greenfield", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/adam-greenfield/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "“And for those of us who...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/adam-greenfield/and-for-those-of-us-who-are-motivated-by-commitment-to-a-specifically/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/adam-greenfield/and-for-those-of-us-who-are-motivated-by-commitment-to-a-specifically/#breadcrumb" }, { "@type": "WebSite", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "publisher": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } }, { "@type": "Organization", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "logo": { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/themes/sq/assets/icons/icon-512.png", "width": 512, "height": 512 } } ] } ```