4 ms·

After this, anyone who supports Bitcoin is in the same camp as anyone who supports Parler.

by rriepe 6y ago

arcticbull 6y ago
In a way, they always have been. Bitcoin is a fun Venn diagram of ancaps, people who have been genuinely misled about the extant economic and political system, people who have been brainwashed by moon lambos, and some engineers who find the technology interesting. I suspect that the "Parler" crowd is almost a perfect subset. The problem is not Bitcoin and it's not Parler - they're both symptoms. I've been lucky enough to grow up all over the world, and spent much of my formative years in Canada - a stable, functioning democracy (give or take) with freedom and "SoCiAlISm." I've spent the last 10 years in America watching its descent into failed state territory where people board up their windows for elections, cities create authorized homeless encampments and badgeless secret police disperse gatherings nobody find a common description of. Parler is among the least surprising of recent developments. I guess what I'm saying, and maybe it's off topic, but things are pretty bad here now, man. The best contrast I can point to is that the US Embassy in Ottawa is an absolute fortress, with two rows of bollards, concrete barricades and a giant fence along Sussex Drive. [1] Sitting next to a virtually unguarded Parliament Hill. I mean, it's got a fence, I guess. [2] [1] http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_Skc_MiFdts0/Sx8Gt9gBpQI/AAAAAAAAAzM/QiUXW4bmhFA/s1600-h/2261596.bin.jpeg http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_Skc_MiFdts0/Sx8Gt9gBpQI/AAAAAAAAAz... [2] https://www.kitchenfrau.com/canadian-poutine/img_2645est/ https://www.kitchenfrau.com/canadian-poutine/img_2645est/
- sterlind 6y ago
  Not a perfect subset. You're forgetting people buying drugs on dark net markets. Bitcoin got big because of the Silk Road. Drug use doesn't lean left or right as much as it leans fringe (though certain drugs do, e.g. LSD on the left and meth on the right.) Given everything Bitcoin's been and continues to be used for (drugs, ransomware, investment, remittance across borders) I don't think it'll get significantly more tarnished by association with insurrectionaries.
  - arcticbull 6y ago
    You are absolutely right, my bad! I agree, that was very much one of the pillar use cases.
- redis_mlc 6y ago
  > The best contrast I can point to is that the US Embassy in Ottawa is an absolute fortress, with two rows of bollards, concrete barricades and a giant fence along Sussex Drive. Not sure what your point is. US embassies have been attacked, so it's sound policy to reinforce them before the next incident.
- rriepe 6y ago
  You're right. The problem is the people using Parler and Bitcoin, not the technologies themselves. Luckily, we can use these technologies to track them down.
- rufus_foreman 6y ago
  America is a failed state because of homelessness there? Sorry man, I've walked down East Hastings street in Vancouver. Before you accuse me, take a look at yourself.
  - arcticbull 6y ago
    No a failed state is defined as "a state whose political or economic system has become so weak that the government is no longer in control" - or one who has lost its monopoly on violence. Homelessness is one piece in the mosaic. [1] I'm thinking more about the 21,000 national guard troops sleeping on the floor in DC who have each been screened to make sure it's even possible to transfer power. And to be clear, I was talking about the city-sanctioned homeless encampments, not just the free-form ones. [2] [1] https://fragilestatesindex.org https://fragilestatesindex.org [2] https://www.cnn.com/2020/05/21/us/san-francisco-homeless-tent-camps-covid-19-debate/index.html https://www.cnn.com/2020/05/21/us/san-francisco-homeless-ten...
Eldt 6y ago
How so?
- rriepe 6y ago
  It's Paypal for terrorists.

After this, anyone who supports Bitcoin is in the same camp as anyone who supports Parler.

by rriepe 6y ago

After this, anyone who supports Bitcoin is in the same camp as anyone who supports Parler.

In a way, they always have been. Bitcoin is a fun Venn diagram of ancaps, people who have been genuinely misled about the extant economic and political system, people who have been brainwashed by moon lambos, and some engineers who find the technology interesting. I suspect that the "Parler" crowd is almost a perfect subset. The problem is not Bitcoin and it's not Parler - they're both symptoms. I've been lucky enough to grow up all over the world, and spent much of my formative years in Canada - a stable, functioning democracy (give or take) with freedom and "SoCiAlISm." I've spent the last 10 years in America watching its descent into failed state territory where people board up their windows for elections, cities create authorized homeless encampments and badgeless secret police disperse gatherings nobody find a common description of. Parler is among the least surprising of recent developments. I guess what I'm saying, and maybe it's off topic, but things are pretty bad here now, man. The best contrast I can point to is that the US Embassy in Ottawa is an absolute fortress, with two rows of bollards, concrete barricades and a giant fence along Sussex Drive. [1] Sitting next to a virtually unguarded Parliament Hill. I mean, it's got a fence, I guess. [2] [1] http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_Skc_MiFdts0/Sx8Gt9gBpQI/AAAAAAAAAzM/QiUXW4bmhFA/s1600-h/2261596.bin.jpeg http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_Skc_MiFdts0/Sx8Gt9gBpQI/AAAAAAAAAz... [2] https://www.kitchenfrau.com/canadian-poutine/img_2645est/ https://www.kitchenfrau.com/canadian-poutine/img_2645est/

sterlind 6y ago
Not a perfect subset. You're forgetting people buying drugs on dark net markets. Bitcoin got big because of the Silk Road. Drug use doesn't lean left or right as much as it leans fringe (though certain drugs do, e.g. LSD on the left and meth on the right.) Given everything Bitcoin's been and continues to be used for (drugs, ransomware, investment, remittance across borders) I don't think it'll get significantly more tarnished by association with insurrectionaries.
- arcticbull 6y ago
  You are absolutely right, my bad! I agree, that was very much one of the pillar use cases.
redis_mlc 6y ago
> The best contrast I can point to is that the US Embassy in Ottawa is an absolute fortress, with two rows of bollards, concrete barricades and a giant fence along Sussex Drive. Not sure what your point is. US embassies have been attacked, so it's sound policy to reinforce them before the next incident.
rriepe 6y ago
You're right. The problem is the people using Parler and Bitcoin, not the technologies themselves. Luckily, we can use these technologies to track them down.
rufus_foreman 6y ago
America is a failed state because of homelessness there? Sorry man, I've walked down East Hastings street in Vancouver. Before you accuse me, take a look at yourself.
- arcticbull 6y ago
  No a failed state is defined as "a state whose political or economic system has become so weak that the government is no longer in control" - or one who has lost its monopoly on violence. Homelessness is one piece in the mosaic. [1] I'm thinking more about the 21,000 national guard troops sleeping on the floor in DC who have each been screened to make sure it's even possible to transfer power. And to be clear, I was talking about the city-sanctioned homeless encampments, not just the free-form ones. [2] [1] https://fragilestatesindex.org https://fragilestatesindex.org [2] https://www.cnn.com/2020/05/21/us/san-francisco-homeless-tent-camps-covid-19-debate/index.html https://www.cnn.com/2020/05/21/us/san-francisco-homeless-ten...

Eldt 6y ago

How so?

rriepe 6y ago
It's Paypal for terrorists.