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Is Blockchain Technology Going to Disrupt Our Political System: We Hope So

blockgeeks.com

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Re: Is Blockchain Technology Going to Disrupt Our Political System: We Hope So

#21
I don't quite "get" how: "the power of decentralizing technologies to affect current and future political outcomes — and even the internal structuring of nation states — is growing exponentially." means "the establishment will ensure that blockchain voting is going to be a thing"

Traditional paper ballot voting works wonderfully. It's reliable, hard to fake, and everyone can understand it. This means that people will have more faith in the system than some abstruse "blockchain" solution that nobody understands and demagogues can use to rabble rouse based on that lack of understanding. Those basic facts won't change just because there are other people influencing the election and some of the candidates are corrupt.

Also, borders would just change if people decided that they liked to be "borderless" with other entities; see the EU passport control etc. You'll still have local representation, districts, etc. As it turns out, maintaining law and order in meatspace is still a good thing and geographically grouped people is a magnificent way to regulate that.

Re: Is Blockchain Technology Going to Disrupt Our Political System: We Hope So

#22
For a period as a child, I was thrown in among the happy-clappy sort of evangelical Christian [1] whose answer to every problem was, "Jesus can help you with that!" No money? Pray to Jesus. Sick? Pray to Jesus. Husband beating you? Pray to Jesus. Not sure if Jesus is real or just Santa Claus for adults? Pray to Jesus!

This was an awful experience, but I learned a valuable lesson. When a group of people have exactly one answer to a problem, it's not even worth engaging with them. Even if they have learned to sound reasonable, their conclusion is predetermined. Evangelical fundamentalists of any sort are a waste of time.

[1] Side note: I eventually met more reasonable Christians who found this kind of horseshit just as ridiculous as I did. They had plenty of thoughtful views; even where we disagreed, we could have interesting discussions. So my objection here is not to Christianity (or blockchains), just people who have found their first shiny idea and have let it completely overwhelm them.

Re: Is Blockchain Technology Going to Disrupt Our Political System: We Hope So

#23
post #4
post #2

Great info. I'm especially eager to see the national identities diminishing greatly. They're as bad as religion.

When people give up national identity, they replace it with other kinds of group identities. Those replacements aren't necessarily better. Query what the dissolution of national identity does to the modern welfare state. Can we maintain that when people feel more allegiance to their social class or profession than to their countrymen? My family emigrated away from the sub-continent, which has a deep-seated culture of…

> And in places like India you see wealthy people living in enclaves treating the working class around them like a different species. I'm frightened that a decline of nationalism and populism in the US could see a move in the same direction.

We're already there, we just don't yet see it for what it is.

Yesterday I watched a man on the phone while paying for his goods at a convenience store. The cashier spoke to him several times, he completely ignored her in favor of his phone. He made no sign of apology, it was literally like she wasn't there for him.

And of course, she had to keep smiling because that is her place as a customer service provider.

It would be one thing if this were isolated, but (anecdotally, of course) I only see it increasing. We're already at that point where some, at least, fail to consider the working class around them at all.

Re: Is Blockchain Technology Going to Disrupt Our Political System: We Hope So

#24
Not seeing how decentralization offers any of the perceived advantages the author mentions. Frankly, I'm curious if he's just following the trend du jour of attaching blockchain to anything to make it sound innovative. The current mechanism of voting and credit rating systems for example, aren't the victims of fraud because they are centralized. They also function quite well in developed countries where regulation is respected and enacted.

Re: Is Blockchain Technology Going to Disrupt Our Political System: We Hope So

#25

I feel like the extreme decentralization people just ignore human nature which history has revealed time and time again. The wild west no existing power structure idea is great until some entity inevitably comes along and controls it and its not so decentralized anymore. Decentralization exists when a small enough community can be self-policing and actors have noble goals. That all changes when you get a single bad a…

> Decentralization exists when a small enough community can be self-policing and actors have noble goals. That all changes when you get a single bad actor who takes advantage off their weaknesses and well-meaning nature and controls the new system

I found that Internet expanded this small enough community to a new scale. Call it an Internet social contract. I have a great experience doing business with people around the world that never met before. Obviously, there is a negotiation phase where you filter the ones that don't match certain criteria, but, beyond this, I think people is learning how to be decentralized.

Re: Is Blockchain Technology Going to Disrupt Our Political System: We Hope So

#27
Yeah, yeah, the neoliberal global order is falling apart and we all applaud. The fact that over the past 20 years it saw the largest reduction in global poverty and inequality in world history? Doesn't matter: it made middle class tech-savy people in industrialized countries feel slightly constrained, so we're cheering as it burns.

Re: Is Blockchain Technology Going to Disrupt Our Political System: We Hope So

#28
post #4

Earlier quoted context omitted.

When people give up national identity, they replace it with other kinds of group identities. Those replacements aren't necessarily better. Query what the dissolution of national identity does to the modern welfare state. Can we maintain that when people feel more allegiance to their social class or profession than to their countrymen? My family emigrated away from the sub-continent, which has a deep-seated culture of…

> decline of nationalism and populism in the US Did you just put nationalism in a good light by comparing it with classism? First of all, the two are not necessarily opposed and often go together. Also this is a false dilemma. Humans can live without a group identity or identify as living beings instead of being a "proud $skin_color $religion $nationality $gender". It's not far-fetched to say that this could prevent…

'Humans can live without a group identity or identify as living beings instead of being a "proud $skin_color $religion $nationality $gender".'

I think you may wish that was the case, but the evidence for this is rather lacking.

Even the people who think they identify that way actually identify as people who identify that way and freely indulge in "othering" the people who choose a different identity basis.

Re: Is Blockchain Technology Going to Disrupt Our Political System: We Hope So

#29
post #22

For a period as a child, I was thrown in among the happy-clappy sort of evangelical Christian [1] whose answer to every problem was, "Jesus can help you with that!" No money? Pray to Jesus. Sick? Pray to Jesus. Husband beating you? Pray to Jesus. Not sure if Jesus is real or just Santa Claus for adults? Pray to Jesus! This was an awful experience, but I learned a valuable lesson. When a group of people have exactly o…

You're assuming or at least implying that everyone in the Blockchain/Decentralization community thinks that Blockchain is the answer to everything which in my experience is not the case.

Re: Is Blockchain Technology Going to Disrupt Our Political System: We Hope So

#30
post #22

For a period as a child, I was thrown in among the happy-clappy sort of evangelical Christian [1] whose answer to every problem was, "Jesus can help you with that!" No money? Pray to Jesus. Sick? Pray to Jesus. Husband beating you? Pray to Jesus. Not sure if Jesus is real or just Santa Claus for adults? Pray to Jesus! This was an awful experience, but I learned a valuable lesson. When a group of people have exactly o…

any adult who talks about jesus or god in a serious manner should be embarrassed with themselves
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