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I think you're right, it's difficult to imagine the scale. Let's also look at something else: the US department of defense: "...The U.S. military also produce

I think you're right, it's difficult to imagine the scale. Let's also look at something else: the US department of defense: "...The U.S. military also produced more greenhouse gases than Morocco, Peru, Hungary, Finland, New Zealand and Norway. According to the research from Brown University, the Pentagon would be the world's 55th largest CO2 emitter if it was a country..." [0] I think reasonable people could disagree as to whether or not all those emissions were worth it. The point is that many people think the U.S. military is by and large a complete waste of resources analogous to the waste of the Bitcoin network. If we're going to condemn Bitcoin, let's condemn all the other resource and energy wastes out there. [0]https://www.forbes.com/sites/niallmccarthy/2019/06/13/report-the-u-s-military-emits-more-co2-than-many-industrialized-nations-infographic/ https://www.forbes.com/sites/niallmccarthy/2019/06/13/report...

lmilcin 6y ago
If you think bitcoin will cause military to go away you are naive in the extreme. Military is there because we don't know how to do better. Just like democracy is a shit show of inefficiency but we just have not figured out better system of government yet. But we know how to transfer money without burning huge amount of energy and that is the point.
- djoldman 6y ago
  I didn't mean to imply that Bitcoin or any other cryptocurrency will cause militaries to go away. >Military is there because we don't know how to do better. This is exactly my point. Many people think we *do* know how to do better: stop spending so much of our resources and energy on militarization. If we want to say that Bitcoin is a waste of energy, let's also point out all the other things people think are a waste of energy.
  - lmilcin 6y ago
    You can't get rid of military unless you want to become completely defenseless and open to conquer. Peace is a temporary equilibrium where nobody profits from starting hostilities. Nobody profits from starting hostilities because they know it is going to cost them. If you are not being robbed or beaten or raped that is because there is police and government that can ensure anybody doing this faces good chance of paying high price for this. Between governments this is done with a prospect of war but that prospect only exists if there is military to back it up. Just go and ask China or Russia to reduce their military efforts. See what comes out of it. You need to read some history, man.
    - djoldman 6y ago
      Perhaps the US could significantly lessen its resource and energy spend on the military and achieve the same benefits, no? What about the entertainment industries of the world? Is it ok to spend resources on entertainment but not bitcoin?

lmilcin 6y ago

If you think bitcoin will cause military to go away you are naive in the extreme. Military is there because we don't know how to do better. Just like democracy is a shit show of inefficiency but we just have not figured out better system of government yet. But we know how to transfer money without burning huge amount of energy and that is the point.

djoldman 6y ago
I didn't mean to imply that Bitcoin or any other cryptocurrency will cause militaries to go away. >Military is there because we don't know how to do better. This is exactly my point. Many people think we *do* know how to do better: stop spending so much of our resources and energy on militarization. If we want to say that Bitcoin is a waste of energy, let's also point out all the other things people think are a waste of energy.
- lmilcin 6y ago
  You can't get rid of military unless you want to become completely defenseless and open to conquer. Peace is a temporary equilibrium where nobody profits from starting hostilities. Nobody profits from starting hostilities because they know it is going to cost them. If you are not being robbed or beaten or raped that is because there is police and government that can ensure anybody doing this faces good chance of paying high price for this. Between governments this is done with a prospect of war but that prospect only exists if there is military to back it up. Just go and ask China or Russia to reduce their military efforts. See what comes out of it. You need to read some history, man.
  - djoldman 6y ago
    Perhaps the US could significantly lessen its resource and energy spend on the military and achieve the same benefits, no? What about the entertainment industries of the world? Is it ok to spend resources on entertainment but not bitcoin?