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As a professional blockchain developer and someone who believes and works towards decentralisation and the economic emancipation of the under-represented, I fin

As a professional blockchain developer and someone who believes and works towards decentralisation and the economic emancipation of the under-represented, I find this type of article very sad. The author probably buys his drugs in a store like most people do, but he fixates on the payment technology that can allow other to buy them semi-anonymously and securely in the privacy of their own homes, while ignoring TCP/IP or PHP or whatever browser that needs to be used in the same transaction. This seems like an agenda but experience has thought me that I shouldn't attribute to malice what can be adequately explained by incompetence. On the topic of what a blockchain is and what it enables, Thomas is ignorant but also incredibly unaware of his own privilege. I need a public, decentralised blockchain, smart-contracts and cryptoeconomics to bootstrap digital economies that don't rely on advertising or selling user's data. I also need them to help bring electric power, clean water and food to people that don't buy drugs online with the tokens I create. You know why? Because they are too busy trying to survive failed nation-states. Thomas, if you read this, please consider that your opinion is your own and you do have the right to express it anyway you want but for now the only thing you've accomplished is that I will stop using and advising Solarwinds to my customers.

icebraining 8y ago
Sounds like another example of the politician's fallacy. Yes, people need those thing, but one can recognize that while still disagreeing that the blockchain will in any significant way help with that. And that kind of argument - "either you're with me or you hate poor people in failed nation-states!" - is just emotional manipulation.
- decentralised 8y ago
  I might feel more emotional about this because I'm involved right? From my perspective, I'm not appealing to your feelings, I'm telling you that buying drugs is a very small portion of what makes cryptocurrencies relevant and blockchain based commerce a necessity. I was just at a talk where Steward Brand, a man known for the Whole Earth Catalog, the Hackers Conferences, the Mother of all Demos as well as the Trips festival (early SF psy-scene) was showing incredible vitality and enthusiasm about what the Ethereum community is accomplishing right now. Before that, there was this fantastic presentation by Glen Weyl from Radical Markets fame who has a vision for empowering under-privileged and under-represented that relies on blockchain. His work with Vitalik Buterin and others (https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=3243656 https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=3243656) on Liberal Radicalism is a step forward towards funding of commons and allowing communities to self-organise. At no point during the last 5 days did I hear one person at this conference mention buying drugs with cryptos.

icebraining 8y ago

Sounds like another example of the politician's fallacy. Yes, people need those thing, but one can recognize that while still disagreeing that the blockchain will in any significant way help with that. And that kind of argument - "either you're with me or you hate poor people in failed nation-states!" - is just emotional manipulation.

decentralised 8y ago
I might feel more emotional about this because I'm involved right? From my perspective, I'm not appealing to your feelings, I'm telling you that buying drugs is a very small portion of what makes cryptocurrencies relevant and blockchain based commerce a necessity. I was just at a talk where Steward Brand, a man known for the Whole Earth Catalog, the Hackers Conferences, the Mother of all Demos as well as the Trips festival (early SF psy-scene) was showing incredible vitality and enthusiasm about what the Ethereum community is accomplishing right now. Before that, there was this fantastic presentation by Glen Weyl from Radical Markets fame who has a vision for empowering under-privileged and under-represented that relies on blockchain. His work with Vitalik Buterin and others (https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=3243656 https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=3243656) on Liberal Radicalism is a step forward towards funding of commons and allowing communities to self-organise. At no point during the last 5 days did I hear one person at this conference mention buying drugs with cryptos.