6 ms·

It's an oligarchy just like the nearest hotdog stand is a dictatorship. Don't like it don't use it. Try saying the same to the governments come tax-time.

codesushi42 7y ago
That's not really an apt analogy. Just wait until vendors only accept Libra as their payment option. It is not unrealistic either. When I was in China, I dined at restaurants that would only accept WeChat Pay as payment. Only because I was a foreigner was I able to get a pass to pay in fiat.
- conanbatt 7y ago
  > Just wait until vendors only accept Libra as their payment option. The vendors are the oligarchs in this scenario. > It is not unrealistic either. When I was in China, I dined at restaurants that would only accept WeChat Pay as payment. Only because I was a foreigner was I able to get a pass to pay in fiat. WeChat is not the result of a private endeavor, it is state-sponsored and controlled. It would be way worse for the government to manage Libra than for Facebook to do it. Gov has USD. This just plain competes. Competition makes all parties work harder on terms for usage. Its strictly positive.
  - codesushi42 7y ago
    >The vendors are the oligarchs in this scenario. Wrong, they won't be. See my example above, just wait until everyday merchants only accept this as payment. >WeChat is not the result of a private endeavor, it is state-sponsored and controlled. It would be way worse for the government to manage Libra than for Facebook to do it. Gov has USD. Fiat currency is controlled by the Chinese government too. You completely missed the point. The Chinese government does not force businesses in China to only accept WeChat Pay, they choose to do so.
bilbo0s 7y ago
>Try saying the same to the governments come tax-time... OK, that was a good one. Literally cut through my anger and indignation and made me laugh out loud. Respect man.
- p1esk 7y ago
  But the same applies to the government: if you don't like it, just move somewhere else!
  - conanbatt 7y ago
    Thats correct, to a degree. You still need to ask permission to your government to leave, and to another government to enter. But with free pass, if you don't like a place you can move, I know I did multiple times.
    - bilbo0s 7y ago
      Only after you pay the tax! ;D
camgunz 7y ago
In the US, we have a democracy, so we have at least some say in how things go: the government is us. Facebook is not us, we obviously didn't elect Zuck or anyone else there. This is a tired, old, fallacious comparison.
- conanbatt 7y ago
  I didn't select the US government. I have no ticket to that ride.
  - camgunz 7y ago
    Please stop freeloading on our electricity, food, sanitation, roads, police/fire/education, the US military, and thousands of other services, renounce your citizenship, and leave at your earliest convenience. The US is pretty frothy about undocumented immigrants these days, so I would advise you not to dither.
    - DanBC 7y ago
      You know not voting isn't a choice for some people, right?
      - camgunz 7y ago
        Oh you mean like, felon/child/etc. suffrage? I'm fully in favor of extending the franchise to every living American; I think it's a fundamental right and morally outrageous that we ever deny it. But I don't think that that means representative democracy in the US is a sham, equivalent to the level of representation I have at Facebook (again, zero). That would be a strawman.
    - conanbatt 7y ago
      I don't live in the us so I'm not using your electricity. I'd argue the pettiness of your argument if it were at least applicable.
      - 7y ago
hinkley 7y ago
Deflection 101: 1) Tell people to vote with their feet/wallet 2) Ridicule them for spending more The dark side of the network effect is that as the network grows it becomes harder and harder to be a conscientious objector. Also abstaining isn't really participating. And by not participating you get no say in the narrative. When you have a coherent thought on the subject, let us know.
- conanbatt 7y ago
  A new currency is what makes it easier to be an objector. Why do you want to be tied to only the dollar?

codesushi42 7y ago

That's not really an apt analogy. Just wait until vendors only accept Libra as their payment option. It is not unrealistic either. When I was in China, I dined at restaurants that would only accept WeChat Pay as payment. Only because I was a foreigner was I able to get a pass to pay in fiat.

conanbatt 7y ago
> Just wait until vendors only accept Libra as their payment option. The vendors are the oligarchs in this scenario. > It is not unrealistic either. When I was in China, I dined at restaurants that would only accept WeChat Pay as payment. Only because I was a foreigner was I able to get a pass to pay in fiat. WeChat is not the result of a private endeavor, it is state-sponsored and controlled. It would be way worse for the government to manage Libra than for Facebook to do it. Gov has USD. This just plain competes. Competition makes all parties work harder on terms for usage. Its strictly positive.
- codesushi42 7y ago
  >The vendors are the oligarchs in this scenario. Wrong, they won't be. See my example above, just wait until everyday merchants only accept this as payment. >WeChat is not the result of a private endeavor, it is state-sponsored and controlled. It would be way worse for the government to manage Libra than for Facebook to do it. Gov has USD. Fiat currency is controlled by the Chinese government too. You completely missed the point. The Chinese government does not force businesses in China to only accept WeChat Pay, they choose to do so.

bilbo0s 7y ago

>Try saying the same to the governments come tax-time... OK, that was a good one. Literally cut through my anger and indignation and made me laugh out loud. Respect man.

p1esk 7y ago
But the same applies to the government: if you don't like it, just move somewhere else!
- conanbatt 7y ago
  Thats correct, to a degree. You still need to ask permission to your government to leave, and to another government to enter. But with free pass, if you don't like a place you can move, I know I did multiple times.
  - bilbo0s 7y ago
    Only after you pay the tax! ;D

camgunz 7y ago

In the US, we have a democracy, so we have at least some say in how things go: the government is us. Facebook is not us, we obviously didn't elect Zuck or anyone else there. This is a tired, old, fallacious comparison.

conanbatt 7y ago
I didn't select the US government. I have no ticket to that ride.
- camgunz 7y ago
  Please stop freeloading on our electricity, food, sanitation, roads, police/fire/education, the US military, and thousands of other services, renounce your citizenship, and leave at your earliest convenience. The US is pretty frothy about undocumented immigrants these days, so I would advise you not to dither.
  - DanBC 7y ago
    You know not voting isn't a choice for some people, right?
    - camgunz 7y ago
      Oh you mean like, felon/child/etc. suffrage? I'm fully in favor of extending the franchise to every living American; I think it's a fundamental right and morally outrageous that we ever deny it. But I don't think that that means representative democracy in the US is a sham, equivalent to the level of representation I have at Facebook (again, zero). That would be a strawman.
  - conanbatt 7y ago
    I don't live in the us so I'm not using your electricity. I'd argue the pettiness of your argument if it were at least applicable.
    - 7y ago

hinkley 7y ago

Deflection 101: 1) Tell people to vote with their feet/wallet 2) Ridicule them for spending more The dark side of the network effect is that as the network grows it becomes harder and harder to be a conscientious objector. Also abstaining isn't really participating. And by not participating you get no say in the narrative. When you have a coherent thought on the subject, let us know.

conanbatt 7y ago
A new currency is what makes it easier to be an objector. Why do you want to be tied to only the dollar?