Facebook, Libra, and the Long Game • Hacker News Board

Re: Facebook, Libra, and the Long Game

#311

Post by camgunz » Sat, Jun 29, 2019, 11:41 PM UTC

BlueTemplar wrote: post #309

camgunz wrote: post #307

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Nah I don't buy that (oooh econ pun!). There are basic human needs: food, water, shelter, medicine, socialization. Goods and services that fulfill those needs have intrinsic worth (to humans). When those goods and services are valued primarily in a given currency (i.e. GBP, USD, EUR), that currency gains worth rooted in the intrinsic worth of those goods and services. And even abstract financial instruments like mort…

The worth of "food, water, shelter, medicine, socialization", financial instruments (including cryptocurrencies) depends on context. For instance water might be extremely precious in some situations (if you're dying of thirst), and have zero, or even negative value in others (like during a flood, because you want to get rid of excess water, even if if by some miracle it happened to stay pure). Hence, no "intrinsic" w…

There's a difference between "can sometimes have negative value" and "can never, ever have any intrinsic worth". You're confusing the two here.

Or, to put it a different way, BTC isn't any less bankrupt because we sometimes grow too much corn. It's a complete non sequitur.

Re: Facebook, Libra, and the Long Game

#312

Post by elmomle » Sun, Jun 30, 2019, 5:24 PM UTC

hinkley wrote: post #247

simias wrote: post #74

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>I really don't know why this isn't a larger part of this conversation. That's been the elephant in the room ever since Satoshi published its paper more than a decade ago. When I discuss with cryptocurrency enthusiasts I often get the impression that they think that banks are this kind of useless parasite body that somehow appears like mosquitoes around a pond in summer. That they only serve to basically operate ATMs…

This also bothers me about the end of Fight Club. You think destroying bank records will remove the power inequality from the system? Good luck with that, kid. Power has money, but money isn't power. It's the table scraps the rest of us chase after. It's also why you can tax the rich all you want and it won't take their power away. The transactions that truly matter to them aren't usually denominated in dollars. Cash…

Wanted to ask for a citation on that last paragraph. I'd be very interested to read more first-hand accounts about what you're talking about.

Re: Facebook, Libra, and the Long Game

#313

Post by JoeSamoa » Thu, Jul 04, 2019, 8:26 AM UTC

codyb wrote: post #173

JoeSamoa wrote: post #154

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I care about my exact bills and your exact bills. I care. Maybe you don't, but I do and so does the person you replied to. That makes at least two of us.

You care about your exact bills? You actually take the time to look at the serial numbers of all the bills you use in a given day/week/month/year? For what purpose? I check for cool serial numbers fairly frequently but I couldn’t say I care about the exact bills. A five’s a five. That’s why currency is great.

If I was interested in financial forensics I'd be interested in the serials. Don't be dense.