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> After years of studying it, I believe that cryptocurrency is an inherently right-wing, hyper-capitalistic technology We need a bingo for when and how people

> After years of studying it, I believe that cryptocurrency is an inherently right-wing, hyper-capitalistic technology We need a bingo for when and how people include 'right-wing' into things for likes.

draw_down 5y ago
Yeah. Flagged this story for politics.
Cthulhu_ 5y ago
I don't see you arguing that it's wrong or inaccurate though.
- serf 5y ago
  rather than arguing which side things fall on i'd rather like to mention that painting every aspect of life as either 'left' or 'right' is at best a vast over-simplification of life and surrounding politics, and at worst a willful method by which to gain mind-share or allies to a cause. it's rarely useful for any level of civil discourse; it's general usage these past few years is to inflame a side or draw a border between Them and Us.
Deukhoofd 5y ago
Isn't the entire point of cryptocurrencies that it's right wing? It's built on the concept of market competition, and the complete lack of government restrictions. It's an incredibly neoliberal concept, which has been the economic policy of the right for decades.
- dragonwriter 5y ago
  > Isn't the entire point of cryptocurrencies that it's right wing? No, its libertarian, not right-wing. They are basically on orthogonal axes (the US’s superficially unidimensional partisan divide and the fact that the right-wing party is the more prone to try to sell itself to libertarians may confuse Americans about this, though.)
  - Deukhoofd 5y ago
    In Western Europe the left/right wing axis is generally considered the economic axis, with socialists on the left, and economic liberals on the right.
    - Zababa 5y ago
      Not exactly. In France the Front National is usually recognized as the most right-wing party, but LREM are way more economically liberal than them, and are considered center/center right. This is why using "right-wing" or "left-wing" is often useless and serves only to create more division.
  - eli 5y ago
    I don't know any left-wing libertarians. I guess they'd be more like anarchists?
    - sudosysgen 5y ago
      Here's one in front of you, but personally I and most people with a similar ideology think that crypto is worse than tradfi in principle and not any better in implementation. You can definitely find some folks into crypto that identify as libertarian socialists or left anarchists, but I think they're a minority.
    - thundergolfer 5y ago
      No they could be socialists, anarchists, anarcho-syndicalists, communists. Much of leftist political theory is coming at libertarianism from the view that liberalism provides necessary but not sufficient conditions for freedom. We have to go further than classical liberalism to get more freedom. Capital L Libertarian is a very right-wing political faction in the USA, but libertarianism is not that.
      - eli 5y ago
        What would be an example of a libertarian socialist solution to healthcare or climate change?
- deleted 5y ago
  [deleted]
- aixi 5y ago
  How can a concept such as 'decentralised currency' be inherently right wing? It's like calling mathematics or even chocolate milk right wing.
  - jazzyjackson 5y ago
    Because the left wing position is that a democratically elected government should be deciding how money is distributed, while the right thinks government should be stripped of this power. Think of blockchain as the privatization of money supply.
    - aixi 5y ago
      I don't think that's necessarily the case. With that criteria, the concept of a society without money at all would also be a 'non left wing' position, and I don't think that's the case. Decentralised currency doesn't strip the government from the ability to redistribute money --- it can still do so via taxes, even without control of the printing machine. Hell, the right implementation of the decentralisation of currency (obviously not what we have right now with bitcoin) could be more equitable than what we have right now with centralised currency.
    - casi 5y ago
      Can’t really talk beyond Europe viewpoint, so might be different elsewhere, but here in the UK the left often talks of removing Westminster central control and empowering smaller local politics. I’m left wing/labour/union/coop worker and work in crypto, same with my colleagues. I really disagree with the projection that it is right wing ultracapitalist. It’s one of the best tools I’ve seen for cooperatives and community organisations

draw_down 5y ago

Yeah. Flagged this story for politics.

Cthulhu_ 5y ago

I don't see you arguing that it's wrong or inaccurate though.

serf 5y ago
rather than arguing which side things fall on i'd rather like to mention that painting every aspect of life as either 'left' or 'right' is at best a vast over-simplification of life and surrounding politics, and at worst a willful method by which to gain mind-share or allies to a cause. it's rarely useful for any level of civil discourse; it's general usage these past few years is to inflame a side or draw a border between Them and Us.

Deukhoofd 5y ago

Isn't the entire point of cryptocurrencies that it's right wing? It's built on the concept of market competition, and the complete lack of government restrictions. It's an incredibly neoliberal concept, which has been the economic policy of the right for decades.

dragonwriter 5y ago
> Isn't the entire point of cryptocurrencies that it's right wing? No, its libertarian, not right-wing. They are basically on orthogonal axes (the US’s superficially unidimensional partisan divide and the fact that the right-wing party is the more prone to try to sell itself to libertarians may confuse Americans about this, though.)
- Deukhoofd 5y ago
  In Western Europe the left/right wing axis is generally considered the economic axis, with socialists on the left, and economic liberals on the right.
  - Zababa 5y ago
    Not exactly. In France the Front National is usually recognized as the most right-wing party, but LREM are way more economically liberal than them, and are considered center/center right. This is why using "right-wing" or "left-wing" is often useless and serves only to create more division.
- eli 5y ago
  I don't know any left-wing libertarians. I guess they'd be more like anarchists?
  - sudosysgen 5y ago
    Here's one in front of you, but personally I and most people with a similar ideology think that crypto is worse than tradfi in principle and not any better in implementation. You can definitely find some folks into crypto that identify as libertarian socialists or left anarchists, but I think they're a minority.
  - thundergolfer 5y ago
    No they could be socialists, anarchists, anarcho-syndicalists, communists. Much of leftist political theory is coming at libertarianism from the view that liberalism provides necessary but not sufficient conditions for freedom. We have to go further than classical liberalism to get more freedom. Capital L Libertarian is a very right-wing political faction in the USA, but libertarianism is not that.
    - eli 5y ago
      What would be an example of a libertarian socialist solution to healthcare or climate change?
deleted 5y ago
[deleted]
aixi 5y ago
How can a concept such as 'decentralised currency' be inherently right wing? It's like calling mathematics or even chocolate milk right wing.
- jazzyjackson 5y ago
  Because the left wing position is that a democratically elected government should be deciding how money is distributed, while the right thinks government should be stripped of this power. Think of blockchain as the privatization of money supply.
  - aixi 5y ago
    I don't think that's necessarily the case. With that criteria, the concept of a society without money at all would also be a 'non left wing' position, and I don't think that's the case. Decentralised currency doesn't strip the government from the ability to redistribute money --- it can still do so via taxes, even without control of the printing machine. Hell, the right implementation of the decentralisation of currency (obviously not what we have right now with bitcoin) could be more equitable than what we have right now with centralised currency.
  - casi 5y ago
    Can’t really talk beyond Europe viewpoint, so might be different elsewhere, but here in the UK the left often talks of removing Westminster central control and empowering smaller local politics. I’m left wing/labour/union/coop worker and work in crypto, same with my colleagues. I really disagree with the projection that it is right wing ultracapitalist. It’s one of the best tools I’ve seen for cooperatives and community organisations