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Bitcoin is not "inherently apolitical"; it encodes several political ideas, including that unregulated capitalism is a good thinng and the environment is not wo

Bitcoin is not "inherently apolitical"; it encodes several political ideas, including that unregulated capitalism is a good thinng and the environment is not worth worrying about. There's also some more specific ones, even if you generally agree with those; that a deflationary currency is a good thing, for example. "Apolitical" in this context seems to mean "I agree with its politics".

once_inc 4y ago
No, bitcoin doesn't care what you do with it. It is regulated by the economic majority. If everyone agrees that we want regulations on transactions, it can be added to the protocol; I suggest you create a BIP for it, and see what the response is. Also; the environment not being worth worrying about is not a political idea that Bitcoin encodes; it simply uses Proof of Work because there is no alternative to it that has the same characteristics. Bitcoin isn't a deflationary currency. It's emission is deflating to 0, after which it is neither inflationary nor deflationary. Apolitical means it doesn't enforce you to do things because politics demands it of you; only because the protocol enforces it. Want to change the protocol? Feel free to build an alternative and spend your time convincing people to use it.
- solar-ice 4y ago
  > Also; the environment not being worth worrying about is not a political idea that Bitcoin encodes; it simply uses Proof of Work because there is no alternative to it that has the same characteristics. That the system of Bitcoin users could not exist without that impact is literally what I mean by encoding that political idea. > It is regulated by the economic majority. That definitely sounds political. Why not a democratic majority?
- solar-ice 4y ago
  > Apolitical means it doesn't enforce you to do things because politics demands it of you; only because the protocol enforces it. Why is the protocol defined like it is? Could it be... politics, perhaps? What kind of things does the protocol encourage, and what kind of things does the protocol discourage? Could there be a political ideology described in those things?
- giaour 4y ago
  > Bitcoin isn't a deflationary currency. It's emission is deflating to 0, after which it is neither inflationary nor deflationary. There is no mechanism to replace coins to which private keys have been lost. There are most certainly deflationary pressures that are being compensated for by mining new BTC, but eventually new coin minting will happen less often than coin access loss, leading to an overall deflationary system.

once_inc 4y ago

No, bitcoin doesn't care what you do with it. It is regulated by the economic majority. If everyone agrees that we want regulations on transactions, it can be added to the protocol; I suggest you create a BIP for it, and see what the response is. Also; the environment not being worth worrying about is not a political idea that Bitcoin encodes; it simply uses Proof of Work because there is no alternative to it that has the same characteristics. Bitcoin isn't a deflationary currency. It's emission is deflating to 0, after which it is neither inflationary nor deflationary. Apolitical means it doesn't enforce you to do things because politics demands it of you; only because the protocol enforces it. Want to change the protocol? Feel free to build an alternative and spend your time convincing people to use it.

solar-ice 4y ago
> Also; the environment not being worth worrying about is not a political idea that Bitcoin encodes; it simply uses Proof of Work because there is no alternative to it that has the same characteristics. That the system of Bitcoin users could not exist without that impact is literally what I mean by encoding that political idea. > It is regulated by the economic majority. That definitely sounds political. Why not a democratic majority?
solar-ice 4y ago
> Apolitical means it doesn't enforce you to do things because politics demands it of you; only because the protocol enforces it. Why is the protocol defined like it is? Could it be... politics, perhaps? What kind of things does the protocol encourage, and what kind of things does the protocol discourage? Could there be a political ideology described in those things?
giaour 4y ago
> Bitcoin isn't a deflationary currency. It's emission is deflating to 0, after which it is neither inflationary nor deflationary. There is no mechanism to replace coins to which private keys have been lost. There are most certainly deflationary pressures that are being compensated for by mining new BTC, but eventually new coin minting will happen less often than coin access loss, leading to an overall deflationary system.