[ardy42]

> A lot of people always complain about how hard it is to figure out what Urbit is, but I'm pretty sure the obfuscation is part of the plan....

> But as others have pointed out (including the author of the post), the idea is deeply terrible, and implements a sort of feudal network with kings, lords and peasants (galaxies, stars, planets), because Yarvin is a neo-reactionary who believes life was better when we had monarchies in charge of everything.

> All of this speaks to a desire for things to be simple. Simple politics, simple computers.

I'm not sure if that's exactly true. If he really had a desire for things to be simple, then why the obfuscation? IIRC, his writing about his ideas is also highly obfuscated: extremely verbose and prone to unnecessary redefinition. The talk of simplification may be just a lure to hook some followers.

It all feels more like an attempt to bluff his way into some kind of elite status. There's at least two ways to be seen as brilliant: actually be brilliant or say impenetrable nonsense and hope people assume you're brilliant (because sometimes brilliance is impenetrable to the layman). I'm also sure some actual elites are tickled by the idea of feudalism and are willing to patronize him.