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I was wrong, we need crypto

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Re: I was wrong, we need crypto

#201

Post by koonsolo »

jqpabc123 wrote: post #10

... we need crypto Did someone say otherwise? Crypto is an attempt to fulfill a broad yearning for financial freedom. The problem is, as it currently exists --- it just doesn't deliver. Crypto doesn't displace trust, it misplaces it. Instead of trusting government and regulated banks, you end up trusting the unregulated gatekeepers to the block chain --- the exchanges. Who is making sure these gatekeepers are not sel…

> trusting the unregulated gatekeepers.

Mine your own coins, and buy stuff with crypto. I don't see why you need to pass through gatekeepers.

And when you can buy things with crypto, there is also another end that sells things for crypto.

Ok, maybe it's a minority, but it serves the niche pretty well.

Re: I was wrong, we need crypto

#202

Post by anonymousab »

SamReidHughes wrote: post #185
arcticbull wrote: post #99

This is full of factual errors, and garbage on the face of it. Canada is a rule-of-law, democratic society. The so-called protestors blocked off major ports of entry leading to material harm to businesses. They also violated the rights of individuals living within the downtown core (including my family) for weeks on end. They brought weapons with them, they built shanties and filled them with kerosene and propane. Th…

> Canada is a rule-of-law, democratic society. Flat out wrong. Canada is freezing accounts of people who weren't violating any law, with ex post facto laws.

> Canada is freezing accounts of people who weren't violating any law

They outright lost in court.

Re: I was wrong, we need crypto

#203

Post by koonsolo »

arcticbull wrote: post #116
jqpabc123 wrote: post #10

... we need crypto Did someone say otherwise? Crypto is an attempt to fulfill a broad yearning for financial freedom. The problem is, as it currently exists --- it just doesn't deliver. Crypto doesn't displace trust, it misplaces it. Instead of trusting government and regulated banks, you end up trusting the unregulated gatekeepers to the block chain --- the exchanges. Who is making sure these gatekeepers are not sel…

> Did someone say otherwise? I will say otherwise. We do not need crypto.

Just because you don't, doesn't mean someone else doesn't. Or are you going to speak for everyone on this earth?

Re: I was wrong, we need crypto

#204

Post by aaaaaaaaata »

woodruffw wrote: post #160
koolba wrote: post #155

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Governors in the USA have consistently extended emergency orders continuously since the pandemic began. It’s not unreasonable to expect power to not easily be relinquished.

"Governors in the USA" are not subjects of the Canadian government, and there's no particularly valuable conclusion to be drawn from the structure and legal backing of emergency orders in the US in this circumstance.

Sure there is — Canadians are even less likely than US-ians to push back against the ratchet-click that is tightening government control.

Re: I was wrong, we need crypto

#205

Post by woodruffw »

latchkey wrote: post #165
woodruffw wrote: post #159

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Excellent question. The post also begs the question: does DHH really think that people in Canada are performing everyday transactions in cryptocurrencies? Donations in those forms would almost certainly be liquidated immediately, into ordinary banking accounts.

> Donations in those forms would almost certainly be liquidated immediately, into ordinary banking accounts. Not necessarily, p2p and cash.

Converting cryptocurrency into fiat outside of the financial system falls under the "don't do two crimes at once" maxim, in this situation.

Re: I was wrong, we need crypto

#206

Post by aaaaaaaaata »

woodruffw wrote: post #151
0xbadc0de5 wrote: post #123

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Semantics aside - the Act does allow for the suspension of civil liberties that should be troubling to everyone. The ability for a government to unilaterally lock people out of their bank accounts without a court order or any form of recourse is virtually unprecedented in Western society. Likewise, retroactively labelling a behaviour as a crime, then punishing individuals for it is explicitly against the Canadian Cha…

When a conversation starts with accusations of "martial law," you don't get to wiggle out of that by wringing over "semantics": "martial law" means something specific , and using it in the first place belies either an incorrect understanding or a dishonest attempt to portray the Canadian government's actions in terms that nobody can disagree with. > The ability for a government to unilaterally lock people out of thei…

So...your argument for Canada discarding due process is:

"But the US discards due process, too!"

Re: I was wrong, we need crypto

#207

Post by MichaelZuo »

Discussing the politics of a country that the vast majority of HN readers do not understand in-deth in response to a rant by someone else who also only has cursory understanding is adding useless noise to HN.

Canada has never been about ‘life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness’, bar a small minority. In many areas it is closer to the EU than the U.S.

In fact these rants are self-defeating as they convince ever more voting Canadians that the whole fiasco was boosted to an unnatural degree by self-interested U.S. based groups, and thus further legitimizing the crackdown.

Re: I was wrong, we need crypto

#208

Post by ComradePhil »

arcticbull wrote: post #199
ComradePhil wrote: post #190

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>Also real democracies have real elections and real candidates and peaceful changes of power between politicians. I completely agree. And fake ones have faux elections with controlled oppositions where voting doesn't matter... like in the U.S. or Canada.

How familiar are you with Canada, Comrade Phil? We enjoy a vibrant, multi-party parliamentary democracy with all sorts of different opinions represented. We have five major parties, not two. An even an up-and-coming nutbag 6th.

That's like saying Firefox is a competitor to Chrome... while Google pays Mozzila millions to keep it alive.

Just so you know, North Korea has 4 political parties, China has 8, Russia has dozens. In faux democracies, small parties are paid for by the very same people who keep the big ones alive. Controlled opposition is very handy. People in power don't want to lose it just because half of the peasants don't like a face in an election.

Re: I was wrong, we need crypto

#209

Post by woodruffw »

aaaaaaaaata wrote: post #206
woodruffw wrote: post #151

Earlier quoted context omitted.

When a conversation starts with accusations of "martial law," you don't get to wiggle out of that by wringing over "semantics": "martial law" means something specific , and using it in the first place belies either an incorrect understanding or a dishonest attempt to portray the Canadian government's actions in terms that nobody can disagree with. > The ability for a government to unilaterally lock people out of thei…

So...your argument for Canada discarding due process is: "But the US discards due process, too!"

It's not an argument. The GP claimed that the act of freezing bank accounts was unprecedented in Western societies; I showed that there is, in fact, ample precedent.

There isn't even remotely a due process concern here, in the US constitutional sense (which isn't the Canadian sense!) of the phrase. When someone receives a SAR, their bank account is frozen and they are given steps to liquidate the account. No deprivation of property, the necessary condition for due process, occurs.

Re: I was wrong, we need crypto

#210

Post by guilhas »

HL33tibCe7 wrote: post #81

> the Canadian prime minister imposed martial law on the protestors No, he didn’t.

Call it what you want, it is abuse of power by the government to deal with a peaceful protest that has a vast support if not the majority of the people

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S_GnClytz34

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