Way it works when you want to hide a secret is you tell a good story about it. It’s not lying, more like camouflage.
Say you robbed a bank. Now somewhere between Robin Hood, the story, and Robinhood, the secret, you’ve found yourself an enduring tale of justice and courage – something that can get the people going in their hours of need. The mass decentralization of finance and debt, done through force without law and purpose without mercy, is made lore. Your deviation from the norm is praised. Not punished, you see. It’s simple and brutal, like seasoning. Unforgiving like an expensive perfume.
The replicas include the objects, the people, but also the rank and the status. The extended line of credit, the mood regulation, the fitness, the investment options. So many touch points we used to call that a surface. Low grade synthetics, sure, at least for now. Discount-scented, prestige-flavored, algorithmically-tokenized knockoffs: absolutely, but even a cheap rented high-frequency wrapper feels like an upgrade when the weather’s this hot. If you ain’t with it is because you can afford to.
The nature of this riddle is known to all. The burden of our choices lies not in consequence, but in the knowing.