Merge branch 'main' of https://github.com/audreyt/plurality

Author: audreyt

contents/english/0-0-endorsements.md

@@ -147,7 +147,7 @@
 
 > Drawing inspiration from Taiwan, the world’s most under-appreciated democracy, *Plurality* makes a powerful case that digital technologies can be harnessed to facilitate...a more democratic future...Reading this brilliant book left...a new sense of urgency, but it also provided real reasons for hope.  
 <br></br>
-— [Steven Levitsky](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Steven_Levitsky), David Rockerfeller Professor of Government at Harvard and co-author of [*How Democracies Die*](https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/562246/how-democracies-die-by-steven-levitsky-and-daniel-ziblatt/) and [*Tyranny of the Minority*](https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/706046/tyranny-of-the-minority-by-steven-levitsky-and-daniel-ziblatt/)
+— [Steven Levitsky](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Steven_Levitsky), David Rockefeller Professor of Government at Harvard and co-author of [*How Democracies Die*](https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/562246/how-democracies-die-by-steven-levitsky-and-daniel-ziblatt/) and [*Tyranny of the Minority*](https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/706046/tyranny-of-the-minority-by-steven-levitsky-and-daniel-ziblatt/)
 
 <br></br>
 
@@ -213,4 +213,3 @@
 
 
 
-

contents/english/0-3-credits.md

@@ -1,3 +1,3 @@
 # Credits
 
-Placeholder for credits for contributions across a diversity of domains that helped create the book.  Contributors will be highlighted in line with their social capital and the type of their contribution will be showcased.  Coming soon after the finalization of the English print edition text.
+The below represents the current state of ⿻ credits in the project, a community currency we used to track contributions as discussed further in the text. Every contributor is categorized in terms of exactly one contribution area, even if they made multiple types of contribution. Order within categories and font size overall indicate quantitative holdings of ⿻ as of early April, 2024 and we used the same weights to create the composite image above. The list excludes the two primary authors as they are sufficiently highlighted above, as well as anyone who only received credit for endorsing, as they are listed in order of credit on the opening pages of this book or on its exterior. We apologize for any errors in the ledger due to the experimental nature of the technology we used to track it and will correct these online and in future editions.

contents/english/1-preface.md

@@ -12,7 +12,7 @@ The internet is a powerful technology for tying people together in new collabora
 
 It is no coincidence that democracy now finds itself at a low tide. Authoritarian regimes now command [nearly half](https://www.v-dem.net/documents/29/V-dem_democracyreport2023_lowres.pdf) of the global GDP. Only a modest one billion people find solace under the umbrella of democratic systems, while over two billion dwell under authoritarian rule.[^VDem] 
 
-[^VDem]: V-Dem Institute, *Democracy Report 2023* (Gothenburg, Sweden: V-Dem Institute, 2023): 7.
+[^VDem]: *Democracy Report 2023* (Gothenburg, Sweden: V-Dem Institute, 2023),\ p.\ 7.
 
 Every culture, akin to a river, tells its own tale. We see the river of democracy as a conduit of hope. As its waters wane, we must replenish it. 
 

contents/english/2-0-information-technology-and-democracy-a-widening-gulf.md

@@ -82,7 +82,7 @@ Regulators in both the EU and US have responded with a range of actions, includi
 Perhaps the clearest quantitative mark for this declining proactive public interest in information technology has been falling public expenditures on research and development (R&D) as a share of gross domestic product (GDP), especially in information technology. In the great majority of developed democracies, public sector research and development expenditure as a share of GDP has been declining in recent decades even as business spending on R&D has dramatically expanded and spending by the PRC (People's Republic of China) government has dramatically increased as a share of GDP and focused on information technology.[^TechInvestmentDecline]  Figure B shows the example of the US.
 
 <figure>
-<img src="https://raw.githubusercontent.com/pluralitybook/plurality/main/figs/data/public_rd_funding/public_rd_funding.png" width="100%" alt="Chart showing the declining trend of federal government funding for research and devleopment while business investment rises">
+<img src="https://raw.githubusercontent.com/pluralitybook/plurality/main/figs/data/public_rd_funding/public_rd_funding.png" width="100%" alt="Chart showing the declining trend of federal government funding for research and development while business investment rises">
 
 **<figcaption> Figure 2-0-B. The decline over time in government funding for research and development and its eclipse by the private sector.  Source: National Center for Science and Engineering Statistics[^FedR+D] </figcaption>**
 </figure>
@@ -101,7 +101,7 @@ More central to the heart of governmental responsibility in democracies, however
 
 [^EGDI]:_United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs_. E-Government Knowledge Database, 2022 available at https://publicadministration.un.org/egovkb/Data-Center
 
-Digitization of conventional public services is perhaps the least ambitious dimension along which one might expect democracies to advance in adopting technology.  Technology has redefined what services are relevant and in these novel areas, democratic governments have almost entirely failed to keep up with changing times.  Where once government-provided postal services and public libraries were the backbone of democratic communication and knowledge circulation, today most communication flows through social media and search engines.  Where once most public gatherings took place in parks and literal public squares, today it is almost a cliché that the public square has moved online.  Yet democratic countries have almost entirely ignored the need to provide and support digital public services.  While privately-owned X (formerly Twitter) is the target of constant abuse by public figures, its most important competitor, the non-profits [Mastodon](https://joinmastodon.org/)  and the open [Activity Pub](https://www.w3.org/TR/activitypub/) standard on which it runs have received a paltry few hundreds of thousands of dollars in public support, running instead on Patreon donations.[^Mastodonsupport]  More broadly, open source software and other commons-based public goods like Wikipedia have become critical public resources in the digital age; yet governments have consistently failed to support them and have even discriminated against them relative to other charities (for example, open source software providers generally cannot be tax-exempt charities).  While authoritarian regimes [plow ahead](https://www.atlanticcouncil.org/cbdctracker/) with plans for Central Bank Digital Currencies, most democratic countries are only beginning explorations.
+Digitization of conventional public services is perhaps the least ambitious dimension along which one might expect democracies to advance in adopting technology.  Technology has redefined what services are relevant and in these novel areas, democratic governments have almost entirely failed to keep up with changing times.  Where once government-provided postal services and public libraries were the backbone of democratic communication and knowledge circulation, today most communication flows through social media and search engines.  Where once most public gatherings took place in parks and literal public squares, today it is almost a cliché that the public square has moved online.  Yet democratic countries have almost entirely ignored the need to provide and support digital public services.  While privately-owned X (formerly Twitter) is the target of constant abuse by public figures, its most important competitor, the non-profits [Mastodon](https://joinmastodon.org/)  and the open [ActivityPub](https://www.w3.org/TR/activitypub/) standard on which it runs have received a paltry few hundreds of thousands of dollars in public support, running instead on Patreon donations.[^Mastodonsupport]  More broadly, open source software and other commons-based public goods like Wikipedia have become critical public resources in the digital age; yet governments have consistently failed to support them and have even discriminated against them relative to other charities (for example, open source software providers generally cannot be tax-exempt charities).  While authoritarian regimes [plow ahead](https://www.atlanticcouncil.org/cbdctracker/) with plans for Central Bank Digital Currencies, most democratic countries are only beginning explorations.
 
 [^Mastodonsupport]: Sara Perez, "Amid Twitter chaos, Mastodon grew donations 488% in 2022, reached 1.8M monthly active users", *Tech Crunch*, October 2, 2023 at https://techcrunch.com/2023/10/02/amid-twitter-chaos-mastodon-grew-donations-488-in-2022-reached-1-8m-monthly-active-users/)
 
@@ -200,7 +200,7 @@ Leading exponents of this view in Silicon Valley are Altman and his mentor Reid
 
 A second view is much less common in the mainstream media but has been a dominant theme in the community that has built around Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies and in various related internet communities; it is captured by the Civilization VI “Corporate Libertarianism” category, which we will abbreviate to "Libertarianism" below.
 
-Libertarianism focuses on the potential (or in some telling inevitability) of cryptography and networking protocols supplanting the role of human collective organization and politics, liberating individuals to participate in unfettered markets free from government and other collective “coercion” and regulation.  Fiction has been the central inspiration for libertarian thinking, including the work of [Ayn Rand](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Atlas_Shrugged) and Stephenson.[^Rand]  Stephenson’s books, especially *Snow Crash* discussed above and *Cryptonomicon* (1999), while seemingly and expressly intended as dystopian warnings, have been adopted as blueprints by adherents of Libertarianism.[^CryptoStephenson]  Exemplary technologies in these works and have since become central to the Libertarian community are immersive virtual worlds (viz. Stephenson's metaverse), digital currencies independent of governments, private sovereignties especially based in ungoverned spaces such as floating cities or “seasteads” and strong cryptography as a means of evading collective control/law.  The Bitcoin, Web3, 4Chan, and other “peripheral” but influential online communities are core to the social base of the Libertarian perspective.
+Libertarianism focuses on the potential (or in some telling inevitability) of cryptography and networking protocols supplanting the role of human collective organization and politics, liberating individuals to participate in unfettered markets free from government and other collective “coercion” and regulation.  Fiction has been the central inspiration for libertarian thinking, including the work of [Ayn Rand](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Atlas_Shrugged) and Stephenson.[^Rand]  Stephenson’s books, especially *Snow Crash* discussed above and *Cryptonomicon* (1999), while seemingly and expressly intended as dystopian warnings, have been adopted as blueprints by adherents of Libertarianism.[^CryptoStephenson]  Exemplary technologies in these works that have since become central to the Libertarian community are immersive virtual worlds (viz. Stephenson's metaverse), digital currencies independent of governments, private sovereignties especially based in ungoverned spaces such as floating cities or “seasteads” and strong cryptography as a means of evading collective control/law.  The Bitcoin, Web3, 4Chan, and other “peripheral” but influential online communities are core to the social base of the Libertarian perspective.
 
 [^Rand]: Ayn Rand, *Atlas Shrugged* (New York: Random House, 1957).
 [^CryptoStephenson]: Neal Stephenson, *Cryptonomicon* (New York: Avon, 1999).
@@ -234,7 +234,7 @@ Instead of the promised explosion of economic possibility, the last half-century
 To make matters worse, this period of stagnation has also been one of dramatically rising inequality, especially in the United States.  Figure G shows average income growth in the US by income percentile during the Golden Age and Digital Stagnation respectively.  During the Golden Age, income growth was roughly constant across the distribution, but trailed off for top-income earners.  During the Digital Stagnation, income growth was higher for higher earners and only exceeded the average level during the Golden Age for those in the top 1%, with even smaller groups earning the great majority of the overall much lower income gains.
 
 <figure>
-<img src="https://raw.githubusercontent.com/pluralitybook/plurality/main/figs/data/income_and_wealth_inequality/income.png" width="100%" alt="Shows that during the Golden Age, income growth was even across the income distribution, but lower at the very top, while duing the Digital Stagnation it was lower over all but high at the very top.">
+<img src="https://raw.githubusercontent.com/pluralitybook/plurality/main/figs/data/income_and_wealth_inequality/income.png" width="100%" alt="Shows that during the Golden Age, income growth was even across the income distribution, but lower at the very top, while during the Digital Stagnation it was lower over all but high at the very top.">
 
 **<figcaption>Figure 2-0-G. Average income growth in the US by income percentile during the Golden Age and Digital Stagnation. Source: Saez and Zucman, "The Rise of Income and Wealth Inequality"[^inequality] </figcaption>**
 </figure>

contents/english/2-1-a-view-from-yushan.md

@@ -107,7 +107,7 @@ The 1960s, parallel to the American Civil Rights movement, saw an outburst of de
 
 [^JJ18]: Ryan Dunch, and Ashley Esarey, _Taiwan in Dynamic Transition: Nation-Building and Democratization_, (Seattle: University Of Washington Press, 2020), 28.
 
-The United Nations was central to the ROC's early identity under the White Terror as it was not only one of the founding members of the UN, but also the only Asian permanent member of the Security Council. This prominent international role was the leading irritant to the People's Republic of China (PRC) regime, preventing it from participating in international affairs and leading the CCP to change its position from initially supporting Taiwanese independence to an ideological focus on conquering Taiwan. However, as the US sought to contain its failures in Vietnam, President Richard Nixon secretly pursued accommodation with the PRC, including supporting an Albanian-sponsored Resolution 2758 by the General Assembly on October 25, 1971 that transferred recognition of "China" from the ROC to the PRC, finally culminating in Nixon's visit to PRC in 1972. As a result, the ROC "withdrew" from the UN, transforming its identity and international standing.
+The United Nations was central to the ROC's early identity under the White Terror as it was not only one of the founding members of the UN, but also the only Asian permanent member of the Security Council. This prominent international role was the leading irritant to the People's Republic of China (PRC) regime, preventing it from participating in international affairs and leading the CCP to change its position from initially supporting Taiwanese independence to an ideological focus on conquering Taiwan. However, as the US sought to contain its failures in Vietnam, President Richard Nixon secretly pursued accommodation with the PRC, a move that signaled shifting global alignments, amid which an Albanian-sponsored Resolution 2758 passed the General Assembly on October 25, 1971 that transferred recognition of "China" from the ROC to the PRC, finally culminating in Nixon's visit to PRC in 1972. As a result, the ROC "withdrew" from the UN, transforming its identity and international standing.
 
 On the one hand, this withdrawal internationally greatly limited the scope of Taiwan's international activities and its ability to engage in economic and trade activities. It also led the US and much of the non-Communist world to shift from a position of unconditional alliance with the ROC to one of careful balancing of interests and ambiguity, seeking to prevent PRC violence over Taiwan while also supporting a policy of acknowledging its "One China" position.
 

contents/english/3-1-living-in-a-⿻-world.md

@@ -44,7 +44,7 @@ Nineteenth century mathematics saw the rise of formalism: being precise and rigo
 [^chaos]: James Gleick, *Chaos: Making a New Science* (New York: Penguin, 2018).
 
 <figure>
-<img src="https://raw.githubusercontent.com/pluralitybook/plurality/main/figs/science.jpg" width="100%" alt="Pictures the Mandelbrot set, a canoncical circular snowflake shaped fractal, at two scales.">
+<img src="https://raw.githubusercontent.com/pluralitybook/plurality/main/figs/science.jpg" width="100%" alt="Pictures the Mandelbrot set, a canonical circular snowflake shaped fractal, at two scales.">
 
 **<figcaption> Figure 3-1-A: The Mandelbrot Set (characterizing the chaotic behavior of simple quadratic functions depending on parameter values in the function) shown at two scales. Source: Wikipedia CC 3.0 BY-SA.</figcaption>**
 </figure>