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Cryptocurrencies’ Carbon Footprint Underestimated

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181–190 of 361 posts

Re: Cryptocurrencies’ Carbon Footprint Underestimated

#181

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I would generally agree, and have brought up my concerns in regards to accountability before. (not in the context of crypto) And while this is true in theory, the reality as far as I can tell is that we already have a system of no accountability - for a certain privileged sub-group of society. All crypto does is to level the field, and that's a big net win in my book. Now if panama and paradise papers had lead to any…

> And while this is true in theory, the reality as far as I can tell is that we already have a system of no accountability - for a certain privileged sub-group of society. All crypto does is to level the field, and that's a big net win in my book. This isn't true at all. What you describe isn't really relevant to cryptocurrency. You might as well advocate for the abolition of taxation to "even the playing field." The…

> You might as well advocate for the abolition of taxation to "even the playing field." The resulting societal disaster be darned.

No, not at all. Taxation is another broken system that needs to be fixed, not abolished. Voting has proven to do nothing. The act of protesting has done little, and continues to be attacked with nonsense bills.

All that's left is what everyone has been repeating for the past five decades: To vote with our money.

Now people are creating ways to remove their money from systems that are controlled by regulators that continue to disappoint. It's a consequence more than it is anything else. Obviously this, too, has its own set of drawbacks, but "societal disaster" really is not the one I'm worried about, because we're already headed that way with what he have right now.

Re: Cryptocurrencies’ Carbon Footprint Underestimated

#182

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Focusing on democratic nations specifically for a moment - I don't see how it could be a balancing weight. Presumably all issues with a country and its handling of their own currency could be resolved solely through democratic political means. No technical solution - cryptocurrency or otherwise - necessary. I don't really understand your second point. Taxation by definition is involuntary. I won't discuss the merits…

For example, Keynsian economics requires everyone to be forced to save through a central banking system. Otherwise the whole thing collapses. Keynsian economics has dominated the last 100 years of politics. Crypto gives you an escape which puts a check politicians who would be forced to be less spendy. The only other way of enforcing this would attack the ways in which politicians trade favor which seems impossible.…

>For example, Keynsian economics requires everyone to be forced to save through a central banking system.

Where did you get this strange idea from? You can literally buy anything with your money to save in real assets or at least non monetary savings like bonds. If anything, low interest rates tell you you should stop saving in money but they don't force you to save or stop saving in money. Nobody is here to tell you what you should do as an individual actor.

Re: Cryptocurrencies’ Carbon Footprint Underestimated

#183

Earlier quoted context omitted.

No ideology is beyond reproach. That doesn't mean any single person has the right to circumvent the law at will; instead, we discuss it and make a change as a society. Taxes are no different from other laws in this respect. Just because someone doesn't like them doesn't mean they should get to disregard the law. If that were the case, we should be free to ignore any law we don't like.

Right. But every change in the societal order will be illegal by definition. Its more that our capabilities to rebel are increased over time. We would all be in feudal bondage if machines didn't reorganize our relationship between workers and the state. Women would not have the rights they do without birth control, etc... Taxes work because we can (imperfectly) enforce them. What happens when we can't?

What happens? A failed state.

Re: Cryptocurrencies’ Carbon Footprint Underestimated

#184
post #125
post #101

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Why don't the provisions in the bill of rights lead to an amorphous group of oligarch gangsters and cartels who can escape prosecution because they are protected against searches/seizures/etc? Are those provisions a regression to democracy too? Why does democracy need checks and balances at all if the government is fundamentally accountable? > our current system isn't here by accident. Is cryptocurrency here "by acci…

Bitcoin at least was a deliberate response to what I would paraphrase as the "socialism for the rich, capitalism for the rest" policies of the last global financial crisis. I'm not going to say it will be successful in that aim, but the idea that governments can simply create currency by fiat, donate it to their powerful, insolvent friends, pass the cost along to your grandchildren and/or degrade the value of your sa…

> Bitcoin at least was a deliberate response to what I would paraphrase as the "socialism for the rich, capitalism for the rest" policies of the last global financial crisis.

And ironically it works the same way in crypto. I bet the traditional financial markets wish they could "roll back" financial calamities like the Ethereum DAO hack - the founder of ethereum lost money so oops, hit the undo button, roll back every transaction on the whole network. That's the exact same sort of "socialism for the elites, capitalism for the rest" as crypto boosters complain about with USD.

Re: Cryptocurrencies’ Carbon Footprint Underestimated

#185

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Democracy is primarily about representation and individual freedom. "Rule of law" is one of the main selling points of authoritarian ideologies. Are you sure you didn't drop a minus sign somewhere?

I prefer laws over guns.

Laws are enforced with guns.

Re: Cryptocurrencies’ Carbon Footprint Underestimated

#186

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> most people are forced to consume practically all of their income to keep their family fed and to keep a roof over their heads I'll take a guess that you be living in USistan.

The majority of people in Europe have no consequential savings to speak of. That's also true of Asia, Latin America and Africa.

> The majority of people in Europe have no consequential savings to speak of.

Source?

Re: Cryptocurrencies’ Carbon Footprint Underestimated

#187
post #163

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Fundamentally it's the antithesis to democracy. No one is forced to use crypto. No one is forced to mine it. No one is forced to use it at all. Is this not democratic? The users choose whether they want to use it, miners choose whether to mine it, and the "lack of accountability" you suggest, I just don't agree with at all. Crypto removes the need for government fiat. There is no need for a central authority any mo…

You aren't forced to use crypto because fiat exists. If fiat would be replaced by crypto, you would be forced. Crypto is not democratic, it's redundant and it heavily biased towards the one with most resources. It's an oligarchy.

Anyone can create a crypto now and it could become a predominant one, if it provides enough benefits or has the right marketing. To me that's the difference. It's essentially technology, that iterates, and the market decides.

Re: Cryptocurrencies’ Carbon Footprint Underestimated

#188
post #115

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Democracies depends on transparency, accountability and the rule of law. Cyrptocurrencies are fundementally more anarchic than democratic.

Public blockchains have way more transparency than existing systems. Please provide an example of an existing democracy you consider to be more transparent, i.e. every single action that is made is public.

Transparency is a part of accountability, but accountability is not transparency.

Re: Cryptocurrencies’ Carbon Footprint Underestimated

#189
post #18
post #14

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Inflation (at levels that it happens in developed countries) is good, as it forces people to spend on goods and services or invest in productive enterprises. It is actively bad for the society if one can just sit on money. Taxation is as voluntary as it can be in democracy given that you elect the government which sets the rate and then pay into commons. You can’t rely on purely voluntary contribution as then people…

You will have your money's value stolen from you through inflation. You will be forced to consume. And you will be happy.

Does a rotting apple steal itself from you? Maybe you should think about eating it before it spoils? Ever thought about how human labor cannot be stored and money is basically a labor coupon via debt? Alternatively, if you truly insist on maintaining value, then you should try to buy the most durable good you can get your hands on because human labor spoils very quickly during unemployment.

>You will be forced to consume. And you will be happy.

That's literally how the damn economy works. If you don't want to buy anything or save in real assets then why the hell did you work for the money? Have you thought about working less instead of piling up green pieces of paper? Money that is saved cannot be earned by other people, it's that simple. It doesn't drive investment or business activity, it's just dead money doing nothing.

Re: Cryptocurrencies’ Carbon Footprint Underestimated

#190

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Focusing on democratic nations specifically for a moment - I don't see how it could be a balancing weight. Presumably all issues with a country and its handling of their own currency could be resolved solely through democratic political means. No technical solution - cryptocurrency or otherwise - necessary. I don't really understand your second point. Taxation by definition is involuntary. I won't discuss the merits…

For example, Keynsian economics requires everyone to be forced to save through a central banking system. Otherwise the whole thing collapses. Keynsian economics has dominated the last 100 years of politics. Crypto gives you an escape which puts a check politicians who would be forced to be less spendy. The only other way of enforcing this would attack the ways in which politicians trade favor which seems impossible.…

> Keynsian economics requires everyone to be forced to save through a central banking system

Utterly bizarre...

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