4 ms·

Now imagine trying to be a politician in that hypothetical world. Make one person angry enough to kill you, and you die. If you haven’t, I recommend reading “A

Now imagine trying to be a politician in that hypothetical world. Make one person angry enough to kill you, and you die. If you haven’t, I recommend reading “Assassination Politics” by Jim Bell. It’s an interesting though exercise.

milankragujevic 7y ago
Black Mirror covered this scenario in S03E06: Hated in the Nation.
- Thorrez 7y ago
  That has drone killing, but not an assassination market. No one pays or receives money.
  - milankragujevic 7y ago
    That is true. But they could, they have the technology, they would just need the marketplace.
DrPhish 7y ago
In the 1942 Captain Future pulp "Outlaws of the Moon" [1], President Carthew was anonymously murdered by a drone. [1] https://jamesdavisnicoll.com/review/have-no-fear-of-the-bayin-hounds https://jamesdavisnicoll.com/review/have-no-fear-of-the-bayi...
wavefunction 7y ago
I'd rather imagine I'm an average person who may have said something on an internet forum that set a nutter off if I want to be disturbed.
eprparadox 7y ago
another good one is the calvino short story 'Beheading the Heads'
krapp 7y ago
> Now imagine trying to be a politician in that hypothetical world. Make one person angry enough to kill you, and you die. Politicians already more or less live in that world... it's why they no longer ride in convertibles with the windows down.
- klyrs 7y ago
  Politicians still attend planned outdoor events. Drones can be deployed at the security perimeter, fly rather quickly, and carry an explosive payload. I'm not sure security is good enough to stop a swarm of such.
- barry-cotter 7y ago
  The level of political violence in the US is so low that every time antifa and Proud Boys have a rumble it’s national news. If there was a real political violence problem every governor, senator and congressman would have their own security detail. Supreme Court justices sure as hell wouldn’t take public transport in DC.
  - roenxi 7y ago
    ? https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2017_Congressional_baseball_shooting https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2017_Congressional_baseball_sh... ?
    - slphil 7y ago
      Wrong shooter, wrong targets. Not allowed to talk about that.
  - krapp 7y ago
    And I'm arguing that adding drones and crypto isn't going to move the needle very far. The US already has the Second Amendment, a thoroughly armed populace and a deeply ingrained cultural belief in the necessity of political violence to a free state (watering the "Tree of Liberty" and such.) Violence isn't going to explode exponentially merely because an efficient market forms to enable it - if that were the case, the US would already be knee deep in blood, because having that is literally baked into its system as a feature.
lopmotr 7y ago
They already have that threat from guns, and already have ways to protect themselves. Bulletproof glass would stop a drone too. Drones don't sound like a real problem compared to guns which somehow haven't assassinated every politician despite being remote controlled point and click instant killing machines that are also cheap and widely available.
deleted 7y ago
[deleted]
gdhbcc 7y ago
That's a good thing. The risk of assassination is a core component of the balance of power between the state and the people.

milankragujevic 7y ago

Black Mirror covered this scenario in S03E06: Hated in the Nation.

Thorrez 7y ago
That has drone killing, but not an assassination market. No one pays or receives money.
- milankragujevic 7y ago
  That is true. But they could, they have the technology, they would just need the marketplace.

DrPhish 7y ago

In the 1942 Captain Future pulp "Outlaws of the Moon" [1], President Carthew was anonymously murdered by a drone. [1] https://jamesdavisnicoll.com/review/have-no-fear-of-the-bayin-hounds https://jamesdavisnicoll.com/review/have-no-fear-of-the-bayi...

wavefunction 7y ago

I'd rather imagine I'm an average person who may have said something on an internet forum that set a nutter off if I want to be disturbed.

eprparadox 7y ago

another good one is the calvino short story 'Beheading the Heads'

krapp 7y ago

> Now imagine trying to be a politician in that hypothetical world. Make one person angry enough to kill you, and you die. Politicians already more or less live in that world... it's why they no longer ride in convertibles with the windows down.

klyrs 7y ago
Politicians still attend planned outdoor events. Drones can be deployed at the security perimeter, fly rather quickly, and carry an explosive payload. I'm not sure security is good enough to stop a swarm of such.
barry-cotter 7y ago
The level of political violence in the US is so low that every time antifa and Proud Boys have a rumble it’s national news. If there was a real political violence problem every governor, senator and congressman would have their own security detail. Supreme Court justices sure as hell wouldn’t take public transport in DC.
- roenxi 7y ago
  ? https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2017_Congressional_baseball_shooting https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2017_Congressional_baseball_sh... ?
  - slphil 7y ago
    Wrong shooter, wrong targets. Not allowed to talk about that.
- krapp 7y ago
  And I'm arguing that adding drones and crypto isn't going to move the needle very far. The US already has the Second Amendment, a thoroughly armed populace and a deeply ingrained cultural belief in the necessity of political violence to a free state (watering the "Tree of Liberty" and such.) Violence isn't going to explode exponentially merely because an efficient market forms to enable it - if that were the case, the US would already be knee deep in blood, because having that is literally baked into its system as a feature.

lopmotr 7y ago

They already have that threat from guns, and already have ways to protect themselves. Bulletproof glass would stop a drone too. Drones don't sound like a real problem compared to guns which somehow haven't assassinated every politician despite being remote controlled point and click instant killing machines that are also cheap and widely available.

deleted 7y ago

[deleted]

gdhbcc 7y ago

That's a good thing. The risk of assassination is a core component of the balance of power between the state and the people.