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On the one hand, it is true that the entrenched players here have an unreasonable amount of power, but... ...on the other hand, the consequence of pushing too
by codefreeordie 4y ago
On the one hand, it is true that the entrenched players here have an unreasonable amount of power, but...
...on the other hand, the consequence of pushing too hard in terms of making card networks responsible for the stuff bought through them is that we will increasingly find the card networks meddling in what kinds of businesses are allowed to accept their cards. And in the modern world, that means they become the ultimate and barely-accountable arbiters of what kinds of businesses are allowed to exist.
We will be really unhappy with them having that power.
- ggm 4y agoYes. I get this too. "its just money" is important, but that said, a mediating agent has always been in the role of declining to do business, there is no automatic right to a bank (title VI aside: they can't discriminate on some grounds in law) And right now, they're enabling crimes of all kinds. I know a forensic accountant, and she says cryptocurrencies are a delight to law enforcement because they are anything but anonymous. The implication I took from this is that the equivalent process chain in Visa and the like is actually harder.
- codefreeordie 4y agoThis is why cash is so necessary, and why we do need an actual cash economy. Without cash, it is too easy for the entrenched power base to simply un-money people they don't like.