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Criminal endeavours are not equal. Some are trading drugs and murdering people, others are overthrowing authoritarian dictators like Putin or Lukashenko. As yo
by Andrew_nenakhov 5y ago
Criminal endeavours are not equal. Some are trading drugs and murdering people, others are overthrowing authoritarian dictators like Putin or Lukashenko.
As you can imagine, the latter activity is criminal in Russia and Belarus.
- eurasiantiger 5y agoTrading drugs is not equal to murdering people. For many, the only access to life-enabling medicine such as medicinal cannabis is buying it illegally.
- Andrew_nenakhov 5y agoThat depends on drugs. If you hook people on highly addictive expensive drug with severe withdrawal symptoms, like heroin, it naturally spawns more crime, because addicts would resort to anything to get the next doze: theft, robbery, prostitution, murder, etc.
- jakupovic 5y agoPeople hook themselves up, not other people, who may help do so, but the person taking drugs is the one responsible.
- Andrew_nenakhov 5y agoI think you misunderstand how this works in reality. Nobody walks to a shady oerson standing near the corner and says, "hi, I'm joe, today i want to try this meth stuff I've been hearing about, how much for a dose?" When a person is in a vulnerable state, there is always a 'friend' who offers first dose for free, and says, that it is ok and totally safe to try a few times. Consequences come later when it is too late.
- waffle_maniac 5y agoOpioids are added to less addictive drugs to make the customer more regular and thus drive more profit. It's never smart business to kill your customer but it's also not smart business to have a customer that only texts once every few months.
- almost 5y agoOf those three things “crypto” is ok for trading drugs, not very good for murdering people (not for lack of people trying but luckily it seems like death prediction markets and dark web assassins aren’t really a thing), and not at all useful for overthrowing dictators. It’s absolutely fantastic for dictators who want evade sanctions and continue enriching themselves.
- Andrew_nenakhov 5y agoIt is absolutely critically useful for overthrowing dictators. Currently that's the only sure way for Russian citizens to fund anti-Putin opposition without immediate consequences. Source: I'm from Russia.
- lottin 5y agoHow many dictators have been overthrown thanks to bitcoin? I guess none.
- Andrew_nenakhov 5y agoDictators are overthrown at a rate of fewer than one in three years (maybe even lower), and Bitcoin has entered the public consciousness no earlier than in 2017. Give it some time.
- almost 5y agoI’m absolutely sure that Putin and his cronies will find enough use for crypto (avoiding sanctions, carrying out criminal enterprise) that they’ll be more than happy about this minor inconvenience.
- Andrew_nenakhov 5y agoYou are missing the point. Putin and his cronies will find ways to do their criminal business with or without cryptocurrencies. His opponents have little other choice BUT cryptocurrencies to fund their operations.