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My concern about Libra is that it suggests that Facebook is trying to control things that have normally been the purview of the government. This is concerning i

My concern about Libra is that it suggests that Facebook is trying to control things that have normally been the purview of the government. This is concerning in the long run because Facebook is not run democratically. Any institution performing government-like functions should be at least as accountable as the government itself.

50656E6973 7y ago
I agree with you, but central banks like the Fed are not accountable like the government is
- jasonhansel 7y ago
  The Fed is certainly more accountable than Facebook. The Fed chair is appointed by an elected president; Mark Zuckerberg is appointed by various unelected rich people.
  - MrMember 7y ago
    Mark Zuckerberg is appointed by Mark Zuckerberg. He controls a majority of voting rights in the company. If he wanted to he could completely ignore all other shareholders and there isn't a whole lot anyone could do about it.
- nixonpjoshua1 7y ago
  Not directly accountable but still much more accountable than Facebook is. Even in a non-elected position there is still a duty to the people and greater good rather than fiduciary duty to shareholders.
  - 50656E6973 7y ago
    The only real way the Fed is accountable to the people and greater good is to the extent that they don't screw the people so obviously and badly that the people (including the police and military) revolt against them, which is the same level of accountability for any dictatorship
dumbass123 7y ago
Your concern makes no sense whatsoever. First of all, history has shown that "democratically" controlled currencies are a pretty terrible idea. That's why the ECB, Fed, Bank of Canada, etc. etc. all make a point of being independent of the rest of the government. Second of all, it IS accountable to far more than just "rich people". There's many times of democracies... and one way of breaking it down is democracy by vote vs. democracy by exit. The US Government is a democracy by vote. Starbucks is a democracy by exit. You have no control over how Starbucks makes their coffee, but if you don't like it...then you can just go across the street to another coffee shop. That way, Starbucks is extremely accountable to their customers...because if they stop meeting customer demand then they'll go out of business. I'd personally argue Starbucks operates much more efficiently than the US Government (but that's a separate issue). Libra works the same way. Right now, you're forced to use the US Dollar to pay. With Libra, you're under no such compulsion. If you don't like the way Libra is being operated...use some other currency to do your transactions. This will cause less money to be in Libra reserves... resulting in less money to Libra shareholders... and on and on. Therefore, Libra IS democratically accountable.
- jasonhansel 7y ago
  A "democracy by exit" is not a kind of democracy. There are plenty of horribly undemocratic countries where people don't need exit visas to leave. Likewise, when corporations become too powerful and monopolistic, they are technically "democracies by exit." But, much like some countries, they are not democratic in the important sense. When such companies exercise too much power, most ordinary people do not have any control over the forces that most significantly impact their lives. And it is this sort of distributed control which makes a system democratic or undemocratic.
  - dumbass123 7y ago
    > There are plenty of horribly undemocratic countries where people don't need exit visas to leave I have no idea what you're trying to say with this. Just because you don't need an exit visa to leave doesn't mean other countries will just take you in.... That's why you have refugee crises. You're going off on a completely different tangent. When corporations become too powerful and monopolistic then it's the government's job to break them up and preserve competition. We're specifically talking about Libra right now. Libra will have competition with the US Dollar. Unless you're suggesting Libra will become so powerful as to replace the US Dollar...then your point is completely invalid. Additionally, if Libra is extremely successful, you can almost certainly bet that other companies will come out with their own digital currency.

50656E6973 7y ago

I agree with you, but central banks like the Fed are not accountable like the government is

jasonhansel 7y ago
The Fed is certainly more accountable than Facebook. The Fed chair is appointed by an elected president; Mark Zuckerberg is appointed by various unelected rich people.
- MrMember 7y ago
  Mark Zuckerberg is appointed by Mark Zuckerberg. He controls a majority of voting rights in the company. If he wanted to he could completely ignore all other shareholders and there isn't a whole lot anyone could do about it.
nixonpjoshua1 7y ago
Not directly accountable but still much more accountable than Facebook is. Even in a non-elected position there is still a duty to the people and greater good rather than fiduciary duty to shareholders.
- 50656E6973 7y ago
  The only real way the Fed is accountable to the people and greater good is to the extent that they don't screw the people so obviously and badly that the people (including the police and military) revolt against them, which is the same level of accountability for any dictatorship

dumbass123 7y ago

Your concern makes no sense whatsoever. First of all, history has shown that "democratically" controlled currencies are a pretty terrible idea. That's why the ECB, Fed, Bank of Canada, etc. etc. all make a point of being independent of the rest of the government. Second of all, it IS accountable to far more than just "rich people". There's many times of democracies... and one way of breaking it down is democracy by vote vs. democracy by exit. The US Government is a democracy by vote. Starbucks is a democracy by exit. You have no control over how Starbucks makes their coffee, but if you don't like it...then you can just go across the street to another coffee shop. That way, Starbucks is extremely accountable to their customers...because if they stop meeting customer demand then they'll go out of business. I'd personally argue Starbucks operates much more efficiently than the US Government (but that's a separate issue). Libra works the same way. Right now, you're forced to use the US Dollar to pay. With Libra, you're under no such compulsion. If you don't like the way Libra is being operated...use some other currency to do your transactions. This will cause less money to be in Libra reserves... resulting in less money to Libra shareholders... and on and on. Therefore, Libra IS democratically accountable.

jasonhansel 7y ago
A "democracy by exit" is not a kind of democracy. There are plenty of horribly undemocratic countries where people don't need exit visas to leave. Likewise, when corporations become too powerful and monopolistic, they are technically "democracies by exit." But, much like some countries, they are not democratic in the important sense. When such companies exercise too much power, most ordinary people do not have any control over the forces that most significantly impact their lives. And it is this sort of distributed control which makes a system democratic or undemocratic.
- dumbass123 7y ago
  > There are plenty of horribly undemocratic countries where people don't need exit visas to leave I have no idea what you're trying to say with this. Just because you don't need an exit visa to leave doesn't mean other countries will just take you in.... That's why you have refugee crises. You're going off on a completely different tangent. When corporations become too powerful and monopolistic then it's the government's job to break them up and preserve competition. We're specifically talking about Libra right now. Libra will have competition with the US Dollar. Unless you're suggesting Libra will become so powerful as to replace the US Dollar...then your point is completely invalid. Additionally, if Libra is extremely successful, you can almost certainly bet that other companies will come out with their own digital currency.