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> But that wincing comes from an assumption: that a transaction is morally just if and only if it is legal. I don't think this is true. The wincing comes from

> But that wincing comes from an assumption: that a transaction is morally just if and only if it is legal. I don't think this is true. The wincing comes from a different assumption; that the state has the right to restrict some transactions. I think almost everyone agrees that there are laws that are either unfair or should be repealed; however, most people don't think that means that the state should be blocked from enforcing laws. While I agree that there needs to be some ability to act outside of the law to allow public opinions on unjust or inappropriate laws to shift, but I don't think being concerned that laws are easy to bypass means that we believe all the laws are just.

bombcar 4y ago
It's not even the state - if Visa and banks, et al decide they will not work with you, then you're severely restricted in the ways you can receive payments: cash and crypto are really the main options at that point.
- cortesoft 4y ago
  That is a different argument. The comment I replied to was about illegal transactions, not transactions that are blocked by private entitites.
- pornel 4y ago
  There's no reason to believe that analogous companies won't emerge in cryptocurrencies (in fact it's already happening). VCs are betting there is a market to capture in reinventing payment gateways for merchants, easy-to-use wallets, privacy protections, insurance, escrow, loans, fraud detection, and so on top of cryptocurrencies. These corporations will stand between you and the merchants, and will be able to refuse doing business with you. Don't expect you will be able to use "bare" decentralized blockchain protocols to bypass the new overlords any more than you can currently by sending cash in an envelope to bypass Visa.
- mmarq 4y ago
  If the state decides to take all your money, it can deploy such force that you will surrender it, regardless of where and how you decide to hide it.

bombcar 4y ago

It's not even the state - if Visa and banks, et al decide they will not work with you, then you're severely restricted in the ways you can receive payments: cash and crypto are really the main options at that point.

cortesoft 4y ago
That is a different argument. The comment I replied to was about illegal transactions, not transactions that are blocked by private entitites.
pornel 4y ago
There's no reason to believe that analogous companies won't emerge in cryptocurrencies (in fact it's already happening). VCs are betting there is a market to capture in reinventing payment gateways for merchants, easy-to-use wallets, privacy protections, insurance, escrow, loans, fraud detection, and so on top of cryptocurrencies. These corporations will stand between you and the merchants, and will be able to refuse doing business with you. Don't expect you will be able to use "bare" decentralized blockchain protocols to bypass the new overlords any more than you can currently by sending cash in an envelope to bypass Visa.
mmarq 4y ago
If the state decides to take all your money, it can deploy such force that you will surrender it, regardless of where and how you decide to hide it.