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An Extortionist Has Been Making Life Hell for Bitcoin’s Earliest Adopters

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Re: An Extortionist Has Been Making Life Hell for Bitcoin’s Earliest Adopters

#31

Post by josh2600 »

jotux wrote: post #27
AlisdairO wrote: post #14

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> The argument that heroin and meth should be legal is asinine. I don't think it's asinine. There's clearly reasonable arguments for it: mostly that the consequences to society of harsh crackdowns on drug abuse are worse than those of legalisation - in particular that addicts feel that they have no option but to kill or steal in order to obtain their next fix. Do I think people ought to do hard drugs? Absolutely not,…

I recently saw an episode of "Anthony Bourdain - Parts Unknown" where he visits Colombia. He talked to locals about the drug trade and one person he interviewed made a very good argument that stuck with me: Many people see drugs as a single problem with a single solution (eliminate all the drugs). But it's much more reasonable to see it as two problems: trafficking and use. Trafficking would be decimated with legaliz…

Minor point but one that I think is valuable. Decimating something is to reduce it by 1/10th. You are thinking of it as an analogy for destroy which it is not.

Re: An Extortionist Has Been Making Life Hell for Bitcoin’s Earliest Adopters

#32

Post by jmuguy »

donpdonp wrote: post #30

A formerly respected tech publication has been making life hell for hackernews readers by resorting to sensationalist link-bait headlines.

This article also seems to just abruptly end. Been seeing that more frequently lately with stuff posted online. Not sure if its just lazy or poor writing but no closing paragraph makes for a poor reading experience.

Re: An Extortionist Has Been Making Life Hell for Bitcoin’s Earliest Adopters

#33

Post by mycroft-holmes »

EpicEng wrote: post #29
mycroft-holmes wrote: post #7

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> "voluntary trade" makes it sound like said trade wasn't actually illegal Just because something is illegal doesn't mean it's wrong.

Right, but the police do not decide which laws to ignore and which to enforce. They are the enforcement arm, not the legislative. No one should be alarmed that people when people are arrested for peddling illegal drugs.

You're correct. My point was directed more towards people, like the parent I was replying to, who defend government actions simply because something is illegal. It would be equivalent to defending people who returned escaped slaves back in the day because it was the law to do so at the time.

Re: An Extortionist Has Been Making Life Hell for Bitcoin’s Earliest Adopters

#34

Post by dpeck »

EpicEng wrote: post #29
mycroft-holmes wrote: post #7

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> "voluntary trade" makes it sound like said trade wasn't actually illegal Just because something is illegal doesn't mean it's wrong.

Right, but the police do not decide which laws to ignore and which to enforce. They are the enforcement arm, not the legislative. No one should be alarmed that people when people are arrested for peddling illegal drugs.

Actually, they do. http://thelawdictionary.org/article/police-discretion-defini...

Re: An Extortionist Has Been Making Life Hell for Bitcoin’s Earliest Adopters

#36

Post by [deleted] »

josh2600 wrote: post #31
jotux wrote: post #27

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I recently saw an episode of "Anthony Bourdain - Parts Unknown" where he visits Colombia. He talked to locals about the drug trade and one person he interviewed made a very good argument that stuck with me: Many people see drugs as a single problem with a single solution (eliminate all the drugs). But it's much more reasonable to see it as two problems: trafficking and use. Trafficking would be decimated with legaliz…

Minor point but one that I think is valuable. Decimating something is to reduce it by 1/10th. You are thinking of it as an analogy for destroy which it is not.

[deleted]

Re: An Extortionist Has Been Making Life Hell for Bitcoin’s Earliest Adopters

#37

Post by tumultuous »

pyre wrote: post #3

> police have been devoting a huge amount of resources to track down peaceful people engaged in voluntary trade like Charlie Shrem and the operators of the Silk Road Market Um, the "operator(s) of Silk Road Market" allegedly attempted to hire a contract killer. I'm pretty sure that's the opposite of peaceful, if true.

Except the contract was against the guy who the cops threatened into being their informant. It was peaceful until the police showed up.

Re: An Extortionist Has Been Making Life Hell for Bitcoin’s Earliest Adopters

#38

Post by [deleted] »

drzaiusapelord wrote: post #10

The operators of Silk Road were mafioso's that ordered hits on competitors and people they didn't like. The whole, "we're just a bunch of gentle hippie libertarians and the evil police state can't handle how chill and peaceful we are" is both factually and morally false. Please stop repeating it. http://www.businessinsider.com/silk-road-boss-ordered-6-assa... I also support 90% of the drug laws out there. The argumen…

[deleted]

Re: An Extortionist Has Been Making Life Hell for Bitcoin’s Earliest Adopters

#39

Post by pilgrim689 »

pyre wrote: post #3

> police have been devoting a huge amount of resources to track down peaceful people engaged in voluntary trade like Charlie Shrem and the operators of the Silk Road Market Um, the "operator(s) of Silk Road Market" allegedly attempted to hire a contract killer. I'm pretty sure that's the opposite of peaceful, if true.

It's innocent until proven guilty isn't it?

Re: An Extortionist Has Been Making Life Hell for Bitcoin’s Earliest Adopters

#40

Post by e40 »

jotux wrote: post #27
AlisdairO wrote: post #14

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> The argument that heroin and meth should be legal is asinine. I don't think it's asinine. There's clearly reasonable arguments for it: mostly that the consequences to society of harsh crackdowns on drug abuse are worse than those of legalisation - in particular that addicts feel that they have no option but to kill or steal in order to obtain their next fix. Do I think people ought to do hard drugs? Absolutely not,…

I recently saw an episode of "Anthony Bourdain - Parts Unknown" where he visits Colombia. He talked to locals about the drug trade and one person he interviewed made a very good argument that stuck with me: Many people see drugs as a single problem with a single solution (eliminate all the drugs). But it's much more reasonable to see it as two problems: trafficking and use. Trafficking would be decimated with legaliz…

Trafficking would be decimated with legalization and money fighting it could be spent on programs to help users.

Yes, as Portugal has shown us.

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