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These kinds of recommendations and thoughts are extremely important moving forward. I do not believe the agency of government will be able to keep up with the s

by toolz 5y ago

These kinds of recommendations and thoughts are extremely important moving forward. I do not believe the agency of government will be able to keep up with the speed of progress and it will become increasingly important for us to take lessons learned throughout history and apply them at an individual level. I'm very biased towards crypto as I see the increasing failures of government action leading to massive wealth inequality. If you have any specific resources you'd recommend on reading up on the commerce clause I'd be interested in reading up on them. My bias is unlikely to reveal anything favorable of the for that act, as I'm already quite averse to the overreach the government has taken with that policy used as its launching point.

ShamelessC 5y ago
Wealth inequality is traditionally exacerbated by lack of government regulation. Further, I don't actually see cryptocurrencies actively trying to attack the problem of wealth inequality. Rather, they are staunch proponents of free markets which, left unchecked, result in massive wealth inequality. Food for thought.
- losteric 5y ago
  None of these "cryptocurrencies" address inequality. One can draw parallels between generational wealth in our present system, and the wealth of early adopters in both proof-of-work and proof-of-stake systems. If anything, the attraction seems to be gambling on getting in early in hopes of profiting from these flaws.
  - toolz 5y ago
    Most crypto addresses inequality directly by giving everyone the same access as anyone else. No dark pools, no naked shorts, public ledgers are commonplace, no brokerage license required to participate directly, the list goes on and on. Equality is not equity, in case there was any confusion (maybe there wasn't) but crypto has incredibly strong claims to equality in money.
    - rainonmoon 5y ago
      Except that massive swaths of people disenfranchised by the conventional systems of economics are also shut out of crypto by its byzantine entry requirements. Yes, people with massive amounts of disposable income interested in trading but with no ability to competitively trade against private firms can find a home in crypto, sure. That has nothing to do with the wealth inequality faced by someone who, say, has to work six days a week at minimum wage to support a family and doesn't have the time or energy to figure out how to benefit from this stuff.
      - rmbyrro 5y ago
        Then we need to think how to make crypto accessible to them. There's huge opportunity to create real value to society in this space. These folks are being smashed by inflation. They're getting poorer everyday. We have to figure out how to allow them to quickly escape this rat race through a non-inflationary currency.
        dmitriid 5y ago
        > how to allow them to quickly escape this rat race through a non-inflationary currency. And into a rat race of "how much can you HODL and get rich quick through scams and/or currency trading"
        toolz 5y ago
        We have legalized and normalized gambling almost everywhere in the world. I'm not sure that society wants or has the ability to get rid of "get rich quick scams", but believing crypto is nothing but scams is just revealing a heavily inaccurate biased information source.
        dmitriid 5y ago
        > but believing crypto is nothing but scams is just revealing a heavily inaccurate biased information source. There is no other source. If there was, crypto proponents would actually provide one. As it stands, though, there are exactly three types of crypto projects: - scams (the absolute vast majority) - can be and have been implemented in a better, more efficient, and more scalable way without blockchain. And as such, are borderline scams - circular. The vast majority of "DeFi" which mostly exists to rotate and speculate on cryptocurrencies And there are exactly two types of people in the crypto space: - people who know exactly what's up - gullible fools
- leppr 5y ago
  Current government policies are the biggest causes of wealth inequality[1]. On the other hand global trade, which is an actual free market, seems to result in less wealth inequality over time[2]. As such, I wouldn't be so sure that cryptocurrencies will only exacerbate inequality. "Free markets" often required a central entity to draft and enforce laws, giving this central entity power and incentives to favor certain market participants, by selectively applying or changing the rules. Cryptocurrencies could bring about actual free markets in places where there weren't before, by autonomously codifying and enforcing laws. [1]: https://www.federalreserve.gov/econres/notes/feds-notes/wealth-inequality-and-covid-19-evidence-from-the-distributional-financial-accounts-20210830.htm https://www.federalreserve.gov/econres/notes/feds-notes/weal... > Despite the fall in equity markets that drove a sharp decline in wealth in 2020q1, equity prices rebounded quickly after the Federal Reserve, U.S. Treasury, and Congress took steps to stabilize financial markets and the economy, and households gained over $18 trillion in wealth since the beginning of 2020. This 17% increase over 2019q4 was driven by asset accumulation much more than by debt paydown. Further, asset-price increases were the dominant source of wealth accumulation, accounting for nearly 80%. [2]: https://theconversation.com/global-inequality-may-be-falling-but-the-gap-between-haves-and-have-nots-is-growing-159825 https://theconversation.com/global-inequality-may-be-falling..., https://www.un.org/en/un75/inequality-bridging-divide https://www.un.org/en/un75/inequality-bridging-divide
rmbyrro 5y ago
Producing wealth inequality is the goal of most - if not all - governments nowadays (no external source, my own guessing). This is no failure. It's designed for that.

by toolz 5y ago

ShamelessC 5y ago

Wealth inequality is traditionally exacerbated by lack of government regulation. Further, I don't actually see cryptocurrencies actively trying to attack the problem of wealth inequality. Rather, they are staunch proponents of free markets which, left unchecked, result in massive wealth inequality. Food for thought.

losteric 5y ago
None of these "cryptocurrencies" address inequality. One can draw parallels between generational wealth in our present system, and the wealth of early adopters in both proof-of-work and proof-of-stake systems. If anything, the attraction seems to be gambling on getting in early in hopes of profiting from these flaws.
- toolz 5y ago
  Most crypto addresses inequality directly by giving everyone the same access as anyone else. No dark pools, no naked shorts, public ledgers are commonplace, no brokerage license required to participate directly, the list goes on and on. Equality is not equity, in case there was any confusion (maybe there wasn't) but crypto has incredibly strong claims to equality in money.
  - rainonmoon 5y ago
    Except that massive swaths of people disenfranchised by the conventional systems of economics are also shut out of crypto by its byzantine entry requirements. Yes, people with massive amounts of disposable income interested in trading but with no ability to competitively trade against private firms can find a home in crypto, sure. That has nothing to do with the wealth inequality faced by someone who, say, has to work six days a week at minimum wage to support a family and doesn't have the time or energy to figure out how to benefit from this stuff.
    - rmbyrro 5y ago
      Then we need to think how to make crypto accessible to them. There's huge opportunity to create real value to society in this space. These folks are being smashed by inflation. They're getting poorer everyday. We have to figure out how to allow them to quickly escape this rat race through a non-inflationary currency.
      - dmitriid 5y ago
        > how to allow them to quickly escape this rat race through a non-inflationary currency. And into a rat race of "how much can you HODL and get rich quick through scams and/or currency trading"
        toolz 5y ago
        We have legalized and normalized gambling almost everywhere in the world. I'm not sure that society wants or has the ability to get rid of "get rich quick scams", but believing crypto is nothing but scams is just revealing a heavily inaccurate biased information source.
        dmitriid 5y ago
        > but believing crypto is nothing but scams is just revealing a heavily inaccurate biased information source. There is no other source. If there was, crypto proponents would actually provide one. As it stands, though, there are exactly three types of crypto projects: - scams (the absolute vast majority) - can be and have been implemented in a better, more efficient, and more scalable way without blockchain. And as such, are borderline scams - circular. The vast majority of "DeFi" which mostly exists to rotate and speculate on cryptocurrencies And there are exactly two types of people in the crypto space: - people who know exactly what's up - gullible fools
leppr 5y ago
Current government policies are the biggest causes of wealth inequality[1]. On the other hand global trade, which is an actual free market, seems to result in less wealth inequality over time[2]. As such, I wouldn't be so sure that cryptocurrencies will only exacerbate inequality. "Free markets" often required a central entity to draft and enforce laws, giving this central entity power and incentives to favor certain market participants, by selectively applying or changing the rules. Cryptocurrencies could bring about actual free markets in places where there weren't before, by autonomously codifying and enforcing laws. [1]: https://www.federalreserve.gov/econres/notes/feds-notes/wealth-inequality-and-covid-19-evidence-from-the-distributional-financial-accounts-20210830.htm https://www.federalreserve.gov/econres/notes/feds-notes/weal... > Despite the fall in equity markets that drove a sharp decline in wealth in 2020q1, equity prices rebounded quickly after the Federal Reserve, U.S. Treasury, and Congress took steps to stabilize financial markets and the economy, and households gained over $18 trillion in wealth since the beginning of 2020. This 17% increase over 2019q4 was driven by asset accumulation much more than by debt paydown. Further, asset-price increases were the dominant source of wealth accumulation, accounting for nearly 80%. [2]: https://theconversation.com/global-inequality-may-be-falling-but-the-gap-between-haves-and-have-nots-is-growing-159825 https://theconversation.com/global-inequality-may-be-falling..., https://www.un.org/en/un75/inequality-bridging-divide https://www.un.org/en/un75/inequality-bridging-divide

rmbyrro 5y ago

Producing wealth inequality is the goal of most - if not all - governments nowadays (no external source, my own guessing). This is no failure. It's designed for that.