You're setting up a lot of strawmen: I don't think we should blow up securities laws or buy all the politicians. And this project was far from a scam or a pyram

You're setting up a lot of strawmen: I don't think we should blow up securities laws or buy all the politicians. And this project was far from a scam or a pyramid scheme: the core members were known, had good reputations and stated their intentions around community governance. Each person putting $ in should decide whether that's good enough for them. Totally fair. But I wouldn't wish for failure of the whole approach. We had a group of young ambitious people getting folks excited and organized, raising lots of money for collective action to achieve something. They raised > 2x as much as the biggest kickstarter ever. The shift in the balance of power towards individuals is empowering. That empowerment can be used for good or bad, but on balance I'd rather live in a world where people are more empowered.